What if your UX design skills could help people make better decisions during a disaster?

In this episode of Majors, Minors & Maybes, we uncover the unexpected career of the Disaster Response UX Designer. A career at the intersection of UX design, human-centered design, technology, psychology, accessibility, and emergency management.

When a hurricane approaches, an evacuation order is issued, or first responders are working in chaotic conditions, having the right information isn't enough. People need to be able to find it, understand it, and act on it quickly. That's where UX design can make a critical difference.

We'll follow a day in the life of a disaster response UX designer and explore what happens behind the scenes when designers create digital tools for emergency managers, first responders, and communities. From user research and usability testing to accessibility, information architecture, prototyping, and designing for people under stress, this career goes far beyond making an app or website look good.

In this episode, Dr. W explores:

• What does a Disaster Response UX Designer actually do?
• How does human behavior change during an emergency and why does that matter for UX design?
• How can UX design improve emergency alerts, evacuation tools, dashboards, and disaster-response technology?
• What should you major in if you're interested in UX, emergency management, psychology, or human-centered design?
• Where can students find internships and experiences that combine technology, design, and disaster response?
• What can you expect to earn in a UX design career?

Whether you're a high school student exploring STEM careers, a college student choosing a major, a parent helping a student navigate career options, or simply someone fascinated by unusual careers, this episode is your reminder that your major doesn't have to define your career. Your major is just the beginning of the story.

Don't forget to check out our new website www.thequasibox.com/majorsminorsmaybes

Show Notes:

Disaster Response UX Designer: Designing Calm, Clarity, and Accessibility Under Pressure

The episode introduces the career of a disaster response UX designer, explaining how user experience design becomes critical in emergencies when people are stressed, time is limited, and conditions like weak Wi‑Fi or power outages can affect access. Through a vignette following Julia, a UX designer redesigning an emergency operations dashboard, it highlights testing with emergency managers, accessibility reviews to avoid color-only communication, and observing live response exercises to understand trust, cognitive load, and decision-making under pressure. The script outlines core tasks such as user research, journey mapping, prototyping, usability and accessibility testing, information architecture, and iterative redesign, emphasizing that good UX often means removing unused features. It discusses pathways into the field via majors like UX/HCI, psychology, emergency management, or computer/information science, plus internships in agencies and NGOs, and provides salary and job growth context using web and digital interface designer data.

00:00 What Is Disaster UX

02:36 Design Under Pressure

03:20 Meet Julia A Day

04:32 Testing With Managers

04:56 Accessibility In Crisis

05:37 Field Exercise Observations

07:51 Skills And Pathways

08:32 Office Hours Questions

10:25 Daily Tasks Breakdown

12:11 Majors And Career Stack

13:57 Internships And Research

15:23 Salary And Work Life

16:53 Curious Career Fact

17:17 Cognitive Load Lessons

18:06 Wrap Up And Next Episode

What if your future career doesn’t have a job title yet?

The job market is changing fast. AI is reshaping work, new industries are emerging, and the skills employers want today may look very different a few years from now. Who’s actually paying attention to all of those changes and helping organizations figure out what comes next? Meet the Labor Market Futurist.

In this episode of Majors, Minors & Maybes, we explore a career that sits at the intersection of economics, data, research, technology, and a whole lot of curiosity. We talk about what labor market futurists actually do, how they spot emerging trends, what you can major in to get there, and where you might intern if you're intrigued by the future of work.

Here's a twist: The Labor Market Futurist isn't necessarily a job title you'll find on a college career website. You might build your way into it through economics, data science, public policy, sociology, business, or another field entirely.

We'll also look at the numbers behind some of the fastest-changing careers, what employers are likely to need next, and why being comfortable with uncertainty might be one of the most valuable career skills you can develop.

Majors Minors & Maybes has a new website. Check us out at www.thequasibox.com/majorsminorsmaybes

Show Notes:

Labor Market Futurist: Charting the Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet

Dr. W introduces the career of the labor market futurist, a role focused on forecasting how work will change as technology, demographics, education, migration, economic conditions, climate and energy transitions, and consumer behavior reshape industries and skills. The episode explains that these professionals don’t predict certainties but build data-informed scenarios to help universities, employers, workforce organizations, and policymakers prepare for emerging opportunities and risks, citing BLS projections of 5.2 million new U.S. jobs from 2024–2034 and World Economic Forum estimates of major global job churn and nearly 40% skill change by 2030. A vignette follows Diane, a sociologist-turned-futurist, who uses hiring trends, patents, investment flows, and climate reports to identify clean energy logistics growth in mid-sized rail cities, spurring new training programs and jobs. The script covers daily tasks, workplaces, key skills, related job titles, suggested majors/minors, internship targets, salary benchmarks, and fast-growing and declining occupations, concluding that “labor market futurist” is a build-your-own “definitely maybe” career and teasing a future episode on disaster response UX design.

00:00 Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet

00:49 Meet the Labor Market Futurist

01:20 Forces Shaping Future Work

02:25 Big Projections and Skill Shifts

03:33 Diane’s Clean Energy Breakthrough

04:46 Turning Data Into Decisions

07:01 Office Hours and Fit Check

07:42 What the Job Actually Is

09:50 Day to Day and Workplaces

11:02 Skills and Majors to Combine

14:17 Internships and Entry Paths

15:58 Salary Benchmarks and Choices

17:29 Fast Growth Jobs and Declines

18:33 Definitely Maybe and Wrap Up

19:45 Listener Call and Next Episode

Who designs the cities of tomorrow?

When you think about the future of cities, you might picture self-driving cars, futuristic buildings, or streets filled with sensors. But behind the technology is a very human profession: the Smart City Planner.

In this episode of Majors, Minors & Maybes, we go behind the scenes of a career that blends urban planning, technology, data, sustainability, and problem-solving. You'll spend a day in the life of a Smart City Planner, discovering what happens when traffic patterns, public transportation, water systems, energy use, and the needs of real people all collide.

You'll also hear from Curtis Ostrodka, a Smart City Planner, about how he found his way into the field, the misconceptions people have about smart city planning, and some of the most interesting problems he's been asked to solve.

Plus, we're answering the questions curious students and curious adults really want to know:

What does a Smart City Planner actually do? What should you major in? Where can you find internships and experience? What can you expect to earn? What skills matter most?

Dr. W. asks, could this be a career hiding in plain sight for you?!

Special Guest:

Curtis Ostrodka, AICP, LEED AP;

Director of Smart Communities

Show Notes:

Smart City Planner: Designing the City You Rarely Notice

The episode explores the career of a smart city planner through a day in the life of Louise Alvarez, who monitors city sensor dashboards to detect issues like an emerging water main leak, coordinates cross-department planning for a new neighborhood, observes real street behavior to improve intersection safety, and helps design an easy-to-use resident reporting app; her success is measured by how seamlessly the city works without residents noticing. Dr. W. explains that smart city planners use technology, data, and infrastructure to solve everyday urban problems while translating between technologists, government, and communities, and that paths into the field come from varied majors (e.g., urban planning, engineering, environmental science, computer science) and minors (e.g., GIS, data science). Curtis Ostrodka describes moving from aquatic ecology to urban planning and emphasizes the key misconception: it’s not about tech for its own sake, but community needs. The episode covers internships, typical tasks, salary ranges, and a pandemic project addressing the digital divide via public Wi-Fi and device programs, plus an 1850s sewer-system “smart city” fact, then teases a next episode on labor market futurists.

00:00 City Life Choreography

00:52 Meet Louise Alvarez

01:51 Designing A New Neighborhood

03:31 Field Observations

04:14 City App And Results

05:41 Office Hours Explained

06:54 Degrees And Pathways

08:35 Curtis Career Journey

09:45 Real Work And Misconceptions

12:02 Breaking In And Salaries

14:28 Digital Divide Case Study

15:47 Curious Career Fact

16:24 Wrap Up And Next Episode