Meet the team–Kristian
Hi, I’m Kristian! I’m a designer and partner at DUX. My roles and duties are not only tied to design process — how to get new clients, what about business export, finances, cooperation, etc… These are all topics with which we deal on a daily basis. In a way it’s quite difficult to put a specific title on my business card, because it changes according to the situation :)
What is UX/UI design for you?
In short, it makes things work. It’s focusing on the user who should get the best possible experience out of interacting with systems and with other users. A designer’s job is to create this experience.
It’s a really interesting time to be a designer. The burst of digital technology has defined and changed design as a practice a lot. There are new terminologies and interactions, not to mention a new breed of designers who are let loose upon the world. It makes the whole picture more diverse, but it also sometimes makes it difficult to understand the aims, borders and clear definitions between different design systems and methods. It seems that design is having a bit of identity crisis in itself.
I predict that the next wave in design tries to make more sense of defining the role of a designer and will try to bring design in to everyday businesses and organisations. It’s already happening now, but it still has a long way to go.
Favourite part of the design process
Ideating the first concepts. Basically kicking off projects and giving them some form.
As a designer — and as a person — our roles and interests are shifting. That makes our lives and our job exciting.
If you would have asked me the same question a year ago, I would’ve probably said prototyping UI’s. But I guess the older you get, the more you like to go deeper into the product and service rather than just the frame and form of an interface.
To be honest, it also depends a lot on the project’s topic and the sync and communication with the client. If the trust is there between the client and the designer, it’s a lot easier to achieve the project goals. Then you can enjoy all the steps and phases within the design process.
We also like to take part in the design education. Over the years we have developed a habit of giving talks or lead some design programs in universities like the Estonian Art Academy. Currently I am involved with the Tallinn Technical University lecturing in a User Interface Design program for future developers. I hope we can help spread the word about the design process and thinking.
What’s a design myth you want to abolish?
The most obvious one is how designers often are viewed as just a person who makes “pretty” things. Some people don’t see the hard work and process behind the decisions.
It can be easy to blame a “stupid” client, but for me most of the responsibilities lie with the designer. They need to explain the role and aim of design. Only by doing that can we improve the general understanding and need of it.
So I would like to remind the designer of what their role actually is — you’re a problem solver and not an artist, so don’t pretend to be creating art and know how to argument your choices. I would also like to give those that lose their way a swift kick in the butt :)
Spotlight projects
Movingo
I was quite happy with the train ticket app project for Movingo which we created in cooperation with Ridango for the Swedish market. For me this project confirmed that you need to be able to interview the users in their own environment and context. Otherwise you might create something which won’t meet the user’s needs. In this project we actually went to streets of Stockholm, talked to real people and tested out concepts on them. It gave us valuable insights and feedback. I was happy with the result and that we were able to fully implement the design process as it should always be done.
