"For more girls and young women to see tech as a viable career path, they need to see more examples of women succeeding in this field," she said. While David might not have had many female role models in her field growing up, she's in good company now. "It still felt like we were connected despite the distance because we always had a Words With Friends move from one another waiting in each other's games lists," David said. When her father was living in Guam, the two were constantly playing phone tag because of the 18-hour time difference. The game has touched David's life personally as well. In addition to just playing with friends and family, the team has heard stories of players finding new friendships and even romantic partners through random matches in the game. Learning how much the game means to players has been a rewarding part of the job, David said. "It's such a recognized game that at least a couple times a week, someone will casually mention Words With Friends in a random comment and I get to say, 'I work on that game!'" Part of the appeal of the game is how it toes the line between escapism and intellectual pursuit, David said. Words with Friends is a well-known mobile game where players can get competitive in a digital mashup of Scrabble and crossword puzzles. Now I see so many confident and smart women in leadership roles all around me who continue to inspire." The World of Words with Friends "However, with the help of both female and male mentors in various disciplines, I realized along the way that my voice was just as important. I grappled a lot with imposter syndrome, and still do from time to time," she said. "At times, I think I struggled to find my confidence and voice. Most of the time, David recalls, the people who had a seat at the table were men. Looking back on her early career, David said that it was rare to see women in traditional leadership roles and women role models. Women remain underrepresented across the tech workforce, and a pay gap in the industry still holds strong. Women working in the tech industry often face discrimination, from the intern level to the board room. Michelle David is a UX designer for Words with Friends 2. Eventually, she caught the attention of Zygna, the developers of Words with Friends and its sequel, Words with Friends 2. After working as a game artist for an educational mobile game company, she tried her hand at UI and UX in addition to game art. "After school, I looked around and noticed this new wave of gaming blossoming on smartphones."ĭavid paid attention to the trend and started freelancing - creating props, characters and icons for various indie mobile games. "I knew I wanted to be a creator," David said. As a kid, she certainly didn't know she'd grow up to become the UX designer at Zynga, working on the extremely popular game Words With Friends. Michelle David played video games growing up, but she never expected to work in the industry.
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