ConversationDesign.ai
How did we get here?
Sometime in 2015 while I was studying applied linguistics at Teachers College, Columbia University, I was talking to Iheanyi and trying to understand what he did for work. During this conversation he showed me his personal website. "Did you use Wordpress?" I asked. He laughed a bit and explained that he created the whole thing from scratch. I was mind blown. I was already studing computer assisted language learning and applications for gamification in education through my graduate studies but this was from more of a subject matter expert perspective. I wanted to get my hands dirty and finally, finally learn to code.
How did I get started?
2015 was what I like to think as right around the height of the "learn to code" movement. I had previously tried to learn back in 2010 but gave up because honestly, it was really really difficult. This time I was determined that I was going to be "one of thos guys". This is actually a loose quote from Jerry Seinfeld about how when he first got started in stand up he wasn't concerned about being good, he just wanted to be a comedian. I was listening to Talking Funny (opens in a new tab) as for a discourse analysis course and found that particualar section especially motivating.
How I landed my first software development job in 90 days
Short answer, I didn't. During this time, it seemed like every day on Twitter or Reddit, I'd be reading about someone who learned how to code and got a job really quickly. I thought maybe I could be one of them. I can't emphasize enough that there were great resources out there that were really just getting started. I found FreeCodeCamp (opens in a new tab) and used it as my main curriculum guide. As a podcaster myself, I was already in the podcast space and found CodeNewbie (opens in a new tab) and the community they created helped to keep me motivated and learn about how people were turning their passions into careers. These communities would provide a base for my learning and motivation.
A journey is never a straight line
After I graduated in 2016, I proposed to Crystal and moved to Beijing China to study Chinese at Communication University of China through the Chinese Government Scholarship. We both wanted to go we both got accepted and we just packed our things and left. Probably one of the best decisions of my life, besides marrying Crystal while we were in China. The details of that are probably best for another post. So at CUC I was able to spend all day learning Chinese and all night learning web development.
A whole new world
Learning web development opened up the world of entreprenuership and Beijing was just the place to get involved. I participated in TechStars Startup Weekend (opens in a new tab) and pitched an idea for an app with an amazing team. We didn't win but got lots of kudos for our pitch. I made some great connections and learned valuable lessons from the start up community in Beijing. This eventually lead to me interning at Akkadu (opens in a new tab) as a frontend devleoper.
From teaching humans to teaching machines
I was determined to combine my background and education in teaching and applied linguistics with my new love of computer programming. I wasn't sure where to start so, I asked Google Sensei. I got the idea to just keep googling my interests + "jobs" to figure out how I could make a career out of doing the things I loved. Eventually I got a hit: Conversation Design. For those of you wondering "What is conversation design?" Here's a great definition from Greg Bennet, Director of Conversation Design, Einstein GPT at Salesforce:
The practice of designing interaction flows and strategizing forms of language to build a natural conversation between a user and a system, where conversation is defined as an exchange of language between two or more participants taking turns toward accomplishing a goal.
— Greg Bennett (@gabennett45) March 25, 2021 (opens in a new tab)
This checked all my boxes. I learned everything I could about conversation design. This, combined with my expertise in applied linguistics and newly-learned web development skills, helped me to land a role as an Enterprise AI Conversation Designer at Drift (opens in a new tab).
Never stop learning
I'm still learning every day. Web development has a special place in my heart and allows me to be creative while expanding my knowledge about how the technology that we use everyday is made and how it impacts nearly everything about modern life. If you spend enough time online reading about how to learn to code in any way shape or form you'll find the not-so-helpful advice of "build something". But how do you build something when you don't even know what to build?
Build what you know
I did not land a role as a software developer in 90 days. I started a career in an adjacent field but I've continued to learn and build. I've built many side projects following various video or written tutorials. I enjoy it, I really do. When people say you should build something, I like to think that they mean build something close to you. I was cataloguing conversational AI technology, companies, and resources for myself and though that this could be a fun web development project. I created ConversationDesign.ai (opens in a new tab) for me but I hope that other people find value in it and maybe it will grow into something else. If you're interested in conversational ai, generative ai, language technology, web development or language learning let's chat. Check out ConversationDesign.ai (opens in a new tab) and let me know what you think.