Meet the team — Mariin
Hi, I’m Mariin!
How I ended up in DUX
DUX visited the interaction design course in EKA where I decided to boost my design skills. Kevin and Kristian injected a big load of energy into me with their attitude. On top of the vibe, there is this determination to stay within a niche and do it the best way possible. If someone doesn’t know what this niche is: it’s making good user interfaces that are well thought through. When they were looking for an addition I ended up running to the office and be the last applicant for the job, sweaty as hell. They were looking for a visual designer but the job title definitely doesn’t describe my job the best. I guess I’m just a designer.
Here I am, enjoying the team work. It is nice to see that there is no one definition for ui, ux designer. Everyone has a little bit of an extra touch or way of thinking. Cool to see them come out in discussions and styles. My role in team changes by project. I think it’s rather natural. Sometimes I do visual, but the next moment I find myself at a kickoff entering someone’s concept to break it down and build it up. Again, I’m just a designer.
What is UX/UI design for you?
What it should do for the user:
I think a good interface succeeds when there is a sort of effortlessness for the user and the surprise when the goal is reached without thinking back how. Even better is when the user is surprised how nice the communication tone was and how easy it was to navigate from one state to another. It makes the user feel like this specific experience is part of a daily routine.
How I try to create the feelings above:
1. Taking my own experiences as a designer and user,
2. combining it with other designers’ experiences around me,
3. adding the most important layer: how users would enjoy it and then
4. topping it with a touch of newness, taking a risk here or there if possible.
Favourite part of the design process
I truly enjoy stories. So when a client walks in with a nice one then I get excited. But concept importance aside, I think it’s wireframing and visual design. User research is just another thing that satisfies my need for stories.
My secret love is client kickoffs–creating something together from the start.
What’s a design myth you want to abolish?
I don’t now if it’s a myth by definition but…I think it’s the beauty aspect. “Design something nice”. This need is of course super relevant, but the question is: nice in whose opinion? I believe it’s in the eyes of the designer, the client and the users. We can of course validate among us, designers, and the client. I have never done a beauty test on users though. The hard thing about it is that visual likability often can’t be explained, it’s the gut feeling.
I guess sometimes as a designer you have to sacrifice some bits of beauty for a better experience and vice versa. It’s a good feeling of course when both can be achieved in a nice symbiosis!
Spotlight projects
Telliskivi Loomelinnak
This was a project were kickoffs and story creation with the client’s team was exactly what I need from a project. The whole process was so to say hand in hand with the client and generally a nice collaboration.
Smell The Money (student work)
It was an awesome freestyle project where we shuffled through loads of ideas. The prototyping phase with Arduino was especially fun and the idea itself was raising some pairs of eyebrows. So we guess it was a hot topic that we put out there.
View more of our work on our website.
