UX designer Roderick Wilkins strives to make the tech industry more inclusive.

Tech Journey

The Quincy, FL, native has always had a deep interest in technology and began fixing computers at a young age, which guided his educational pursuits at Florida A&M University (FAMU). He earned a bachelor’s degree in information technology in 2019 and went on to Louisiana State University, where he earned a master’s in digital media art and engineering with a focus on UX in 2021.

“When you open that app and you see the first screen, you’re scrolling and you’re interacting with it, I always say someone had to design that,” Wilkins told AFROTECH™. “So I would say, within UX, there are designers, which is what I am, and someone designed that whole page that you’re seeing and you’re interacting with.”

While UX includes various verticals one can explore — such as research and accessibility — Wilkins’ interest in graphic design aligned with his goal of becoming a UX designer, which was affirmed during a summer 2018 workshop hosted by the Black-led, San Francisco, CA-based nonprofit Code2040.

Work Responsibilities

After obtaining his master’s, Wilkins has worked full-time at Bank of America since 2021, where he previously served as an experience design intern the year before, according to his LinkedIn. He is now its senior user experience designer in Charlotte, NC, and is tasked with leading projects around the design of web and mobile applications and on WCAG 2.1 to 2.2 accessibility compliance, among others.

“When you log in to your Bank of America app, and you see your checking and savings account, that’s your accounts overview. On the website, when you log in on your laptop, I’m working on getting that whole page itself to be 2.2 compliant in terms of ADA, so making sure if a person is using a screen reader, or if they’re just navigating with a keyboard or things, just all of those guidelines I’m responsible for making sure those experiences are updated,” he said.

Speaking further on his responsibilities, Wilkins later added, “As more of a PL (project lead) and designer, I really focus on a lot more, making sure tasks are being handled properly, reviewing different work, working a lot with our product and business partners to making sure we’re doing what we need to do on the design side. And all of our boxes are checked. And when I do have smaller design efforts that I focus on myself, I knock out those deliverables as well.”

Diversifying Tech Industry

Beyond his professional role, Wilkins is passionate about diversifying the tech industry. He has spoken at workshops, including one at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture in Charlotte, and will host QCUX 2025, a conference featuring UX workshops and panels with seasoned professionals in September.

“It’s been really important to me, just because when I’ve looked around when I was starting out, I didn’t see many people that look like me, and I’ve personally really thrived in this space,” he mentioned. “So I thought, any chance I get to teach people about it, or tell people about it, I’ve always been really enthusiastic about it… When people think about tech, people may just think about one thing in terms of coding. So, I just like bringing that different aspect to the space that people may not have considered.”

AFROTECH™ Conference

Wilkins will be taking his passion for educating others even further as part of the 2025 AFROTECH™ Conference. He first attended in 2023 and set a personal goal to return as a speaker, which will now be fulfilled when THE tech event for Black professionals takes place Oct. 27–31, 2025, in Houston, TX.

Be on the lookout for more details surrounding his session, and purchase your tickets to the conference here.