Andreia Gonçalves won this year the Portuguese Women in tech Award for best Lead Designer track. The Portuguese Woman in tech Award celebrates women who have the biggest impact on the Portuguese startup ecosystem. Andreia is a CMU Portugal Master Alumna in Human-Computer Interaction and currently works as an Interaction designer at Nokia Solutions and Networks. Proud to have been disguinshed with this Award, she explained us how she became a woman in tech, her experience under the CMU Portugal Program and her main ambitions. Most of all, the message that she wants to leave for other young women is the importance of education and of believing in yourself.
You were one of the winners of this year ‘s edition of the Portuguese Women in tech Awards, what’s the feeling?
The nomination and the being one of the winners of the Portuguese Women in Tech awards was a very special achievement for me, as it not only reflects the recognition of my peers for all my hard work but also the awesome and supportive environment that I currently work in.
When and why did you decide to be a “tech woman”? What were the main challenges?
I don’t know if I ever made a conscious decision; things evolved naturally. All the decisions and choices that I have done were based on my personal interests and the wish to continuously evolve as a person and as a professional.
Regarding challenges I believe the main were related to cultural differences, but with respect and persistence everything is possible.
Can you briefly talk us through your background and academic experience?
All my education up to my master’s was done in Madeira. After finishing my design degree, I felt that I was lacking field knowledge. I got to know about the HCI Master through a close friend that was enrolled in the program so I decided to get more information about it. I did my application and after all the interviews and exams, I was accepted.
The Master in HCI was an essential step for my personal and professional growth as it allowed me to develop skills and learn about the best practices used both in the academic and industry environment. It was also important in terms of networking as it allowed me to establish contact with people with different domain knowledge, and professional experience.
After your Master you worked as a usability analyst in Brazil and now you are an Interaction designer at Nokia. Can you share the best part of both experiences?
Both experiences have been and continue to be, in case of Nokia, very enriching for my professional career. The experience in Brazil was very interesting because I had the opportunity to support projects in different domains like Health, Smart house appliances, streaming services, subscriptions-based television services, etc., allowing me to expand my knowledge in those areas.
In the case of Nokia, the domain is telecommunications and it does not diverge much from that, but since it is continuously evolving in terms technology and possibilities it is a very challenging and nurturing environment to work in and I really appreciate that.
Nowadays, what part of your work do you love the most?
I really love gathering information and getting feedback from our customers, as we get the chance to know them a bit more, straighten relationships and engage in a collaborative design process. But I also enjoy transforming the requirements and/or findings into tangible solutions, so going from theory to practice.
Ideally, what would be your “dream job”?
I am a very curious person by nature; hence I value immensely an inspiring work environment. Having that said, a dream job would be one that allows me to learn something new every day, that would challenge myself to evolve constantly.
What’s the best advice you could give to young women that are thinking of following the same path?
Technology is becoming a big part of our day to day, independently of the career path you aim to follow. And as we move to a time where diversity and multidisciplinary teams will become a standard.
