In my job there really isn't a "typical day", but I can walk through what is going on right now in my job to give you an idea. The product I am working on is a future version of our Netscape Communicator product. Because it is a future product we really don't know what it will look like or the exact features that it will have. All we know is that users are getting more and more familiar with the computer and the Internet and that in order for us to be competitive with Microsoft in 1998 or later we need to really innovate.

Knowing this we have put together a small team that consists of marketing, interface designers (who actually design how the interface behaves), visual designers (who make the interface look good) and usability engineers (me, who make sure the product is easy to use). For the last couple of months this group has been getting together on a daily basis to discuss the feature set that users need, what the design of the interface should be like, and how the product should look & feel. It seems like this would be a simple process, but every window that you open, every button you click or every menu you select has to be thought through to make sure it's easy to use and everything the user needs is available when they need it. During this process we have come up with a variety of designs that we feel are viable solutions for our next product. The next step is to ask our users what they think.

This next week I do actually that, I will bring in some users and non-users and have them work with some of these new designs. Out of the pencil sketches we created in our meetings the designers have made them come alive in a "prototype" and this prototype actually looks and acts like a real product. While they are creating this prototype I am creating a task list, which will ask users to carry out very typical tasks (that most of users do on a daily basis). Some of these typical tasks might be searching for a web page, saving the page as a bookmark, reading an email message, replying to that message and so on.

While uses work through this task list I am either sitting in the room with them or I will go back to our control room and watch them through a one-way mirror. In this control room I can see their computer screen, a view of the user themselves so I can observe facial expressions, and a view of their keyboard so I know what they are typing. As I watch users work through these tasks I make notes of what they can and cannot find, where they make a mistake and how many they make, what frustrates them, what they like, how long it takes them to carry out a task, etc.

The data we collect is both quantitative and qualitative. After this study I will look at the data I have collected, make notes on the biggest problems areas (like the places users made the most mistakes, the tasks that took the longest, the processes and features users like the least) and I will make recommendations for their improvement. I will then take these recommendations back to our small design groups and we will start this process all over, but with more information on what to do and what not to do. This process will continue until we are confident that we have a product that is easy to use and that people will want to buy!

2. Did a degree in psychology help you in your career and are you happy with the major you chose?

The degree in Psychology definitely did help my career. In my job I am not a technical person, I know how to use computers and I know a little bit about how they work and how to troubleshoot a problem, but my main focus is on the user and how they interact with the computer. To understand where users might have problems it's important to understand a lot about psychology, especially cognitive...how the brain works, how users will process information, what will be visually appealing to users, etc. Psychology is the best major you could have for a career in my field.

I am very happy with the major I chose as well. I enjoy psychology and seeing how people work, act and react to various factors in their environment. It's fun to see how you can help a user be more productive by improving the interface of a computer application or creating a product that will help them carry out a task that they have been doing by hand.

3. How and why did you choose a degree in psychology?

It actually happened somewhat by accident. I was sure when I came to GAC that I was going to be a Vet and that a major in Biology was the way to go. But once I realized I had to take Genetics I decided that perhaps a Vet career wasn't the way to go. So I tried to figure out what I could do that would involve my love for animals and my dislike for genetics and realized that Animal Behavior might be the way to go, but that relied on me knowing something about Psychology. So I decided I would start taking some Psychology courses. Once, I started taking them I realized I really enjoyed psychology and decided to examine a careers in this field. It also didn't hurt that my sister graduated 4 years before in my Psychology at GAC as well, and is also in the Usability field.

4. What is the best advice that you can give to an undergrad in psych and what classes or experiences have helped you the most with where you are today?

My best advice is to realize that with a degree in Psychology you can do a lot of different things, it's not just good for academia or counseling there are a lot of other opportunities out there for people with degrees in psychology. So don't close the doors on all those other opportunities, use networks like this to help you identify other career opportunities that might be just right for you. The experiences that were the best for me were the internships or co-ops that I had with various companies. This is something I did in graduate school, but I wish I would have started in undergrad during J-term or over the summers. I found that what you learn in the classroom can only take you so far, you really need real-world experiences to augment your education. Internships and classroom experience will get you far, if you can put on your resume that you have actually worked in some corporations you will be way ahead of those that don't. The classes that were the best for me were the Cognitive and Social classes that I took at GAC, when I was there there were no classes that focused on Human-Computer Interaction or Human Factors. I started to focus on those when I went to graduate school. If you are interested in a career in the computer industry I highly recommend you take a class like that. Perhaps GAC does offer them now, if not the U probably does and it's worth just having an introduction to it to see if you really like it.

5. Are you doing what you thought you were going to do with a degree in psych?

I am actually doing what I thought I would be doing once I entered my senior year. I think I was lucky in that my sister had already gone down this path I realized I wanted to get into this career as well. But, never in a million years did I think I would be working at Netscape. So in that respect I am not doing what I thought I would!

6. I find the area of human-computer interaction really interesting. What does training in this field involve? Do you think that this will become a popular area? What is the job market like for someone with your training?

Let's take this one question at a time. The training in this field is fairly simple. The best place to start is where you are right now with a degree in Psychology. Then, it's not a requisite that you go on to graduate school, but it's helpful to start focusing the classes more directly onto Human-Computer interaction. Having real-world work experience is also a huge benefit and is something when I am reviewing resumes will look for. Lots of computer companies will hire college students over the summer or for a semester you can either do this during undergrad or it's very easy to do while in grad school (it's usually a requirement of the grad program).

This is becoming a very popular field. All the major computer companies have User Interface and Usability groups to help them create killer products that people can actually use. This is a field that will continue to become more and more popular. Even Financial Institutions, hardware manufacturer, and toy companies all have departments similar to what can be found in computer industries. Listening and catering to the consumer is the focus for industry and they are finally doing something about it.

The job market is booming right now. Especially out here in the Silicon Valley of California, but I know it is elsewhere in the country as well. Again, real work experience and a master's degree is something that many companies look for so keep that in mind.

7. What kinds of jobs are available for someone with a degree in engineering psychology? Are there different types of specialization?

As I mentioned above the jobs are definitely varied depending on the type of product you would like to work on. The biggest area is in the computer industry but you are not limited to that. There are different areas of specialization, if you are interested in design furniture or keyboards or actual "things" for the consumer this is usually called Ergonomics. People who specialize in Ergonomics can work in areas like medicine, corporations, or manufacturing plants. If you are interested in airplanes and cockpit design this is sometimes called Aviation Psychology or Human Factors (knobs & dials, is a nickname for Human Factors). If you are interested in working more with the computer in general and how uses interact with it then your focus will be Human-Computer Interaction.

8. You mentioned that you conduct studies. Are your studies similar to the ones we run in research methods class or do you do research differently?

The studies I conduct are very similar to what you do in research methods. However, with fewer subjects. Although in my job we focus on qualitative and quantitative data the information we get will is not statistically significant. This is because after seeing 3-4 users use the product and walk through a task list you can see the pattern and identify areas that you need to improve upon.

Because I work in a corporation time and money is a huge factor so once that pattern is observed you still want to watch a couple more users, but then you need to make your recommendations and let the company continue improving the product. Running 20-40 users is not feasible for a corporation, unless we need to examine something that we feel needs a large sample size. These studies usually revolve around what icons will be used in the interface. For something like that I feel like just getting 6-12 users opinions on what icon is the best isn't appropriate. So we will create some automated computer program that will allow us to quickly run a very large sample size and then carry out stats on the data and determine what icon is the best.

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  Kristi has a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Princeton University.  Postdoctoral training in aging at Washington University.

  She teaches introduction to psychology, psychology of aging,  aging and memory and supervises independent study projects.

  Kristi is developing Davidson College's first aging research laboratory.  She designs experiments, trains research assistants, analyzes data and writes up data for conference presentations and journal publications.

  She serves on several college committees, reviews articles for 9 professional journals, reviews textbooks and continues to collaborate on research projects with colleagues at Princeton University, Washington University, Duke University, Michigan State University, University of Arizona and University of South Alabama.

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   Ask Kristi a question! The following questions were submitted to Kristi by Gustavus Students:

1. What is a typical day at your job like?

That depends on the day of the week. Let me give you an example of scheduled aspects of my day first. This past semester:

Fall Semester Schedule
Monday	9:30-10:20	taught lecture course on Psych of Aging
	11:30-12:20	taught Psych 101
	2:00-4:00	office hours
Tuesday	11:00-1:00	office hours
	1:00-3:00	tutorial meeting with thesis student
	4:00-5:00	faculty meeting once a month
Wednesday	9:30-10:20	taught lecture course on Psych of Aging
	11:30-12:20	taught Psych 101
	2:00-4:00	office hours
Thursday	2:00-4:00	independent study student
Friday	9:30-10:20	taught lecture course on Psych of Aging
	11:30-12:20	taught Psych 101
	2:30-3:30	Bi-weekly Psych Dept meeting

That contrasts with scheduled time SO FAR next semester:

Spring Semester Schedule
Monday
Tuesday	8:30-9:45	teach lecture component of memory course
	1:00-2:15	teach advanced seminar on aging & memory
	4:00-5:00	faculty meeting once a month
Wednesday
Thursday	8:30-9:45	teach lecture component of memory course
	1:00-2:15	teach advanced seminar on aging & memory
Friday	2:30-3:30	Bi-weekly Psych Dept meeting

What still needs to be determined are office hours, tutorial student and thesis student meeting times, AND 4 to 6 laboratory section meetingsfor my memory course (roughly an hour PER section each week).

You may have noticed that I kept using the term "scheduled time". That's important because most of what I do has to be fit in around scheduled commitments. These things include lecture preparation, deciding on texts for the NEXT semester, writing exams, grading exams and papers, committee meetings (often called at 7:00a.m. because that is the only time that none of us have another commitment), reviewing articles for journals, moving my own research forward (e.g., training research assistants, analyzing data), meeting with community groups to let them know about our need for older adult volunteers to do our research, meeting with students who couldn't make office hours, etc.

Above and beyond these commitments are responsibilities such as bringing in and entertaining speakers for the psychology department, evaluating job candidate folders for job searches, participating in faculty fora on important issues (e.g., should Davidson invite sororities to campus), and miscellaneous events (e.g., being part of a faculty panel to discuss Davidson with high school guidance counselors, meet with RA's--what Gustavus used to called CF's--to talk about ways to improve student/faculty relationships).

As one of my former mentors said to an undergraduate who expressed interest in being a professor because of the "great hours", "Yes, I get to work my 80 or more hours per week at any time that I want to." The hours are long Monday-Friday and typically include work on the weekends as well. The long hours can be tough, but when you love what you do, they tend to fly by. And, for me, part of the fun is that I don't have a set "typical" day.

2. Did a degree in psychology help you in your career and are you happy with the major you chose?

"Yes!" to both. I'm a psychology professor which probably says it all.

3. How and why did you choose a degree in psychology?

The following is from an interview that was in Emil's Epilogue:

When I started college I intended to become an education major. I wanted to teach high school math and coach girls' sports. Psychology 101 was a requirement for education so I took it in the fall of my sophomore year. Tim Robinson taught the class and everything that we talked about fascinated me. I kept taking psychology and cognitive science courses, many with Mark Kruger. It became clear to me that the aspect of cognitive science that most fascinated me was psychology so I switched majors and took just about every course that the department offered.

4. What is the best advice that you can give to an undergrad in psych and what classes or experiences have helped you the most with where you are today?

The following is from an interview that was in Emil's Epilogue:

Regarding advice: Decide what you want to do before you go to graduate school. Do not go just because you like school, you are unsure of what else to do, and everyone else seems to be going off to med school, law school, seminary, and other graduate programs. Graduate school is meant to train you to enter a particular field and be sure that you want to be in that field before taking your time to train and taking other people's time and resources to train you.

Also, don't be afraid to set your own time table. When I was a senior I received a fair amount of pressure to go straight into graduate school, but I felt that I wanted at least a year off. I stuck to my position and found a job that gave me more experience in psychology and made it clear to me that graduate school was the right path for me. On the other hand, I have numerous friends who went straight through from undergraduate to graduate training. It's YOUR life so choose the path that's best for YOU.

So far my comments seem to assume that people are thinking about graduate school. Some may not be and that's fine. Because I took the graduate school path, that's the one that I'm most familiar with. There are, however, many other possibilities for you. My more general advice is to try to make your career decision based on experiences rather than in the abstract. If you think that you want to work with kids, volunteer or get an internship doing so. If you think that mental illness interests you, find a way to gain some first hand experience in that area. If you think that research is for you, get involved in research at Gustavus.

Something that sounds great in the abstract may not be for you once you actually try it, or it may become even more attractive. The bottom line is try to make your decision based on experiences rather than in the abstract.

RE experiences that helped me: My classes at Gustavus definitely gave me a solid background. In addition, between my junior and senior years I was able to get a summer intership at the National Institutes of Health and after college I did research at the Minneapolos VA. Both of the research opportunities were made possible because of Gustavus connections. NIH had such good interns from Gustavus in the past that we were one of relatively few schools that NIH visited to interview students. John Kendall helped me make the contacts that resulted in my VA job.

In addition (something NOT from Emil's), all of my classes at Gustavus--not just psychology classes--prepared me for where I am today. For example, Kevin Byrne's history classroom was a very exciting place for me to be. I try to draw on all such experiences as I develop the environment in each of my classrooms.

5. Are you doing what you thoght your were going to do with a degree in psych?

That's tough to answer. Do you mean what I thought I was going to do when I first declared my major, after several psychology classes, upon graduation, or when? Like most majors, I found many areas of psychology interesting and as I took courses I considered pursuing those areas. At one point I considered the possibility of counseling. I spent time working on the Gustavus "hot-line" and found that counseling was not something that I would want to do full-time. My interest in memory was always there and that's what I ultimately pursued, although it now has a strong aging component that I didn't formally add until I started my research job after college.

Basically there was a brief time when I considered a different specialization, but overall I'm doing what I expected to do in terms of being involved in teaching and research.

6. When did you know that you wanted to be a college professor?

I think that I had it in the back of my head since my Gustavus professors started encouraging me to think about going to graduate school. This thought was reinforced when I got the message that I was spending too much time on my teaching when I was a graduate student teaching assistant and a visiting assistant professor. I knew that to be happy in my job, I wanted to be at a place that rewarded my teaching efforts and still encouraged me to pursue my research interests. Davidson College seems to be that kind of place.

7. What if you had finished grad. school and decided you did not want to be a college professor? Were there any other career options for you?

Yes. A person who trained in the same laboratory that I did took a job in industry doing research. Similarly, someone in the lab years before me went on to work as a computer programmer. Those people both trained in cognitive psychology. One of my friends who was in social psychology also took a job in industry doing research. Another of my friends in social psychology used his statistical training to get a job in a hospital as a biostatistician. A friend in neuroscience is working part-time for a drug company. People in areas such as clinical and industrial/organizational psychology have options in private practice, consulting, and industry.

One of my colleagues here mentioned to me that one of her graduate student friends got her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology, but before she even finished her degree she was hired by IBM to work on human factors problems (e.g., how to improve computer displays, keyboards).

By the way, I strongly recommend that you look at the terrific web site that Dr. Goldstein set up about careers in psychology. There is a link to a summary of non-academic careers that psychologists have taken.

8. Based on your research and knowlege, does music increase ones ability to remember? In other words, if I listen to soft clasical music while I study, will I retain the information beter?

I have not seen any research to support the idea that music in and of itself increases college student performance. (However, if the music serves as white noise to block out distracting noises of other people in the dorm, that may help you keep focused on what you are doing.)

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  Cameron is responsible for purchase order writing, and product allocation for seasonal candy (Halloween, Xmas, Valentines, Easter) for the entire Target chain (about 800 stores).

   He uses computerized replenishment systems to balance the inventory, and get the right items to the right store at the right time.

   Cameron works with buyers to establish right item assortment and advertising.  He works with vendors to resolve freight shipment issues.  He prepares and reviews the monthly sales, markdowns and inventory forecast for a category that represent  $290 million in purchases per year.

   He is also enrolled in a night-time Masters program in Human Resources/Industrial Relations at the U of M.  His goal is to seek  advancement to the Training and and Recruiting division of Target.
 
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   Ask Cameron a question! The following questions were submitted to Cameron by Gustavus Students:

1. What is a typcial day at your job like?

Very few days are the same. I spend most days writing purchase orders, planning orders, planning the timing and quantities of product arrival, forecasting ad purchases, working with buyers on item selection and assortment decisions, and dept financial forecasting. It's a VERY busy job, but there's always a new challenge, and Target is a VERY good company to work for.

2. Did a degree in psychology help you in your career and are you happy with the major you chose?

I am very happy with my Psych major. Although it does not play into my current job responsibilities, both Psychology and Economics are the basis for the field of Human Resources.

3. How and why did you choose a degree in psychology?

Coming out of high school I thought I wanted to pursue clinical psychology, but during my time at GAC became increasingly interested in the Industrial, Organizational side of Pyschology. From there the choice was between Human Resources or advanced degrees/work in I/O Psych.

4. What is the best advice that you can give to an undergrad in psych and what classes or experiences have helped you the most with where you are today?

Whether or not you are planning to go to grad school or to a job, the best advice I have is to find an internship or work experience in your area of interest WHILE you are in school. Whether it is during the summer, J-term, or at night, this is very important in beginning to build your experience base and is looked at highly by both grad schools and employers alike. I REALLY wish I had done this, it would have helped immensely. My wife, Amy, did an internship at River Hills Mall in Mankato, and is now a Marketing Director for a Mall here in the Twin Cities that is owned by the same company. Each experience and contact made built upon the next to get her there.

After taking the core requirements for Psych, work with your advisor in tailoring the remaining classes to your area of interest. Also, if you can, take Group Deliberative Process in Speech/Comm. You will work in groups in either grad school or at work, and the class teaches the theory and dynamics involved with group work environments. It is perhaps the most applicable class I took at Gustavus.

5. Are you doing what you thought your were going to do with a degree in psych?

Not currently at work, but I am with the Master of Arts in Human Resoures and Industrial Relations program at the Univeristy of Minnesota. The prerequisite undergraduate courses were General Psychology, MicroEconomics & MacroEconomics. The Psychology Statistics and Methods classes will be extremely important in the statistics class I'm currently in, and the research yet to come in the degree program.

6. Why did you decide to work instead of going straight into grad school?

Three main reasons:

a) If you can find a company with a tuition reimbursement program, they help you pay for it while you go. With the loans I left GAC with, I wasn't interested in adding to them.

b) Some students go straight to grad school, but still don't have any work experience to draw from when they finish and are ready to look for work. This way when I finish the degree, I will also have three or four years of experience.

c) Many companies are now looking for Human Resource manangers who also have some background doing what the company does, such as buying, merchandising and selling product (like Target or other Retailers). It helps the HR person have a sense of the company's objectives as they develop HR policies and programs that fit.

7. As far as you know, did the fact that you had been working have a positive influence on your getting into grad school?

I do think it helps. They still primarily look at undergrad GPA and GRE scores, but they also then look at experience and other involvements.

8. In getting your current position, was your major in psych relevant at all, or was it simply that you graduated from a college? If it had nothing to do with psychology, did you take economics classes while you were here at GAC or did you learn all that on the job?

For my position at Target, only a college degree was required. In this case, the liberal arts basis demonstrated roundedness and an ability to learn. I was trained on everything job related, and am continuing to learn. They even have classes here on things like Time Management, Speaking Skills and Assertiveness training. I did not take Econ at Gustavus and had to go back and take it for the Master's program. I know others here with degrees ranging from Fashion Design to Political Science to Philosophy.

9. I have been rethinking my plans to go on for graduate degrees after GAC, but I have been hearing those "you'll never do anything with a BA in Psych..." comments, which have me worried. My question (finally) is this--To your knowledge, is it difficult to find a job related to the field of psych with only a BA? Do you have any stats about such jobs (i.e., salary, position, opportunity for advancement)?

From what I know, yes, it is difficult in the worlds of Clinical or Counseling Pyschology with only a BA. You're up against many people who DO have the advanced degrees. In I/O Psych I think it is somewhat easier at the starting level, with positions starting in the low to mid twenties. But again, advancement may become difficult without those advanced degrees.

Ask a Question!   You might win a Pizza!

Thanks to all of you who submitted questions! Another edition of the Gustavus Psychology Alum Project is in the works! And yes, once again, those who submit a question will be entered in a raffle for a Pizza and bottle of soda. Stay tuned!
   Questions about this site? Feel free to ask your questions now!
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