UX Design

After years of building web sites as well as being about two years into the Web Design & Development degree at Full Sail University, I believe I've finally found where I fit into the grand scheme of things. I'll still be keeping my eyes & ears open, but UX Design seems to fit the bill for me given that I love research, figuring out what works (and why), writing code AND have a fetish for minimalistic design. There was a time when I thought that I was strictly a developer but I've learned that my creative side absolutely starves to death & for me to ignore that would be insane. To go a step farther, I love stats...just can't help myself & once I took the HCI class at Full Sail & learned of the psychology behind making things worked, I knew I was on to something.

Unlearning

I'm not even sure that "unlearning" is a word but I have definitely come to realize that learning new ideas in place of the old ones is quite a chore. In the past few years I've done quite a bit of unlearning & can't say that I recommend it but it sure as hell beats the alternative if something isn't working for you anymore. It takes time and I've gained something I really never thought I have - patience. The trick for me has been to keep doing the new until it becomes second nature. Now the old ways just seem to be a whole other lifetime away most of the time.

At any rate, my latest unlearning experience is in the HTML area & has proven itself to be no exception to this rule. Years ago I fell in love with HTML & could build tables with my eyes closed. Sound great, right? Not so much at this point. HTML5 is quite crafty & really does some kick ass tricks but damn...pretty much none of what I know about HTML is applicable now. With that said, I'd love to hear back from some of you nerds out there that have gone through (or are currently going through) the same struggle. What's your trick to unlearning the old HTML & dreaming in HTML5?

I've completed a couple of small sites via my educational adventure at Full Sail University but I'd like to gain some real world experience before graduation. I'm currently practicing Actionscript chops as well so if you can offer anything there as well, great!