Meet the UX Research & Design Team: What got you started in User Experience?

In this first Meet The UX Research & Design Team blog post we asked our team what got them into UX research & design and their different journeys in the industry.

Welcome to the Meet the UX Research & Design Team series. This is a new recurring series of articles that will introduce you to the researchers and designers in our User Experience Team. Each post will feature insights and advice from some of our team members.

In today’s post, we’ll take a look at the different ways people became interested in UX research and design. Plus, how they got started in the industry by answering the following questions.

1. What or who sparked your interest in UX research/design?
2. What was your route into working within the field of User Experience?

Louis Bennett — UX Product Designer

I originally wanted to be an illustrator, after being introduced to Daniel Clowes by my boss at HMV (thanks Velda). I went to university and slowly got more engrossed in the typography side of things. This led to a love of Swiss graphic design and obsession with Josef Muller-Brockmann which continues to this day. From there I learned about Peter Saville, Veronica Ditting and Gunter Rambow and knew I had to switch to graphic design.

I got started in the design industry working for magazines but I quickly realised the limitations of print and saw the potential for endless creativity in the digital space. I joined a design studio where I worked on numerous digital projects which lead me to join Tech Will Save Us. Here I worked alongside the UX lead, Ricardo Gonçalves, who introduced me to the world of UX and rapid testing. Being exposed to the UX process and driving change for the user was liberating. From that point on I was hooked and continued learning everything I could about UX.

Sandra Meek — UX Design Lead

I’ve always loved crafting and making things, but I originally wanted to do something with languages as I had visions of being a Diplomat at grand embassy parties. I had a last-minute change of heart though when it came to deciding on a degree. I had bought the seminal classic The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher around that time and realised that design could combine my love of hands-on making with my growing interest in type and graphics.

My route into working within the field of User Experience was very, very gradual. After University I interned and worked as a more traditional graphic designer creating everything from t-shirt graphics, art catalogues, brands and marketing websites. That slowly morphed into a more UX/UI focussed role as the agency I worked for developed and the field of user experience grew. But once I’d discovered UX, I knew it was perfect for me as I really enjoy the mix of thinking about and empathising with our users and then creating something that works for them both practically and emotionally.

Lauren Coetzer — UX Researcher

I really wanted to work in a field where I could apply my background in psychology and neuroscience in creative ways. At the tender post-university stage of being an overqualified bartender, I met someone at a party and got into a deep discussion about career paths for psych-graduates — he was a UX designer! His story inspired me to explore the field further and ultimately led me to enrol on an MA user experience design degree.

I started out as a research analyst at a consultancy that was developing a digital health management program. I was initially coached in pulling together and making sense of clinical guidelines, but applied my shiny new degree in UX design by folding in UX best practices, patient experiences and behaviour-change theories. I quickly progressed to ‘UX consultant’ and was a bit of a one-woman-UX show, juggling responsibilities for both product design and research. Over time, I developed a niche in translating real-world practices into digital experiences.

Craig Smith — UX Product Designer

My interest in UX design came from my friends at Loughborough University. I remember them working on a module all around how to improve the user experience of a product of their choice. Once I discovered that UX is all around understanding the users’ or customers’ point of view and what it takes to design a successful product, it grabbed my attention right away.

Why? Because my personality leads me naturally to ask a lot of questions and being a deep thinker! And so I thought it was a great match for a potential career.

Once I found out about UX Design from my friends at university, I began studying this a lot, first outside of my current Graphic Communication Degree, and then I was able to start to introduce Product and UX design into my final 2 years of study and focus on that entirely. I was able to use this work to put a portfolio together and start to actively network and make myself known that I am looking for a role after I graduated. I was then lucky enough to get contacted by an employer from a digital design agency about a UX Design role they had available… and it all went from there!

Russell Murton-Cole — Director of Design

I would say it was a very organic process. Looking back, it starts at an early age with Star Wars, Garfield comics, graphic novels, graffiti and hip-hop/skate culture. Art college opened my eyes to editorial design, I was obsessed with The Face, Raygun, Blah Blah Blah, and the motion graphics of MTV. University led me in the direction of CD Roms and Flash, The work of Volume One, 123 Klan and Joshua Davis where I learned I could bring graphic design to life and introduce interactive narratives to my work. It took an Easter internship in London designing websites way before UX was a commonly used word, to help me realise that this was what I wanted to do for a living, and thankfully, that agency, Outsideline, were willing to take a chance on hiring me… (Thanks Ant & Lloyd.)

I was a 9-year-old freckle-faced kid when I declared I wanted to be a graphic designer (I had no idea what it meant but I thought it sounded cool). After being ‘politely asked’ to leave my 6th form A-levels I told my parents I would either go into the RAF or go to art college, to which my dad replied in a typical dry manor, ‘come on lad, let’s go buy you a new set of pencils’. Art college was the most amazing experience and I loved every day of it, my tutor Gary Will and I are still good friends to this day. I was introduced to the works of Carson, Brody, Vaughn Oliver who I was lucky enough to intern with, Why Not Associates, Intro, Attik and many many more. University soon followed and a chance work experience designing websites (which I had no experience of or idea how to do at the time) quickly turned into a full-time job. The days of Flash microsites and a brief stint creating an animated TV show soon gave way to larger site builds, and then ‘digital product’ happened… The rest, as they say, is history.

Ian Roberts — UX Product Designer

As a designer, the first tool I picked up which really sparked my interest and allowed me to create was Macromedia Flash. At the time in the early 2000s, there was a group of designers who inspired me with their boundary-pushing work at the cross-section between design, art and code. The commercial work of Yugo Nakamura really caught my eye, as did the work of Joshua Davis and Hillman Curtis and I spent many a late-night reading their books, playing with keyframes and writing ActionScript to emulate their style. This eventually led me into a career in applied interactive design and set the foundations for the work I do today.

Like many designers I know I have taken a somewhat non-linear route into working in the user experience field. While studying educational technology at university I began to specialise in interaction design for educational gaming to the point where I no longer had aspirations to work in a classroom setting, but instead pivoted into a career in design. When I started, the UX discipline was just beginning to establish itself and I was part of that initial first wave of designers and non-designers from different disciplines that suddenly found themselves with the job title ‘UX designer’. The diversity of backstories and the range of skills of designers I have worked with over the years has enabled me to constantly learn, be challenged and grow as a designer and I hope that UX will continue to draft in talent from such a wide source.

Tracey Walker — UX Researcher

Watching my 80-year old mum struggle using Facebook and other apps made me sometimes wonder whether web designers considered the needs of people who were less tech-savvy. I wanted to get into UX research to be part of the future of Human-Computer interaction, but more importantly, to bring my background in qualitative research, psychology, and psychosocial studies into the conversation so as to make sure that this interaction was as ‘human’ and stress-free as possible.

My passion is to make sure that the experiences and relationships that humans have with computers and online products are useful, valuable and create a sense of well being and empowerment. I also draw inspiration from the days when I was training to be a psychotherapist and I now see myself as a sort of ‘tech-therapist’ working behind the scenes to understand learners’ needs, frustrations and desires in order to create user experiences that encourage delight and well-being!

My route into UX research started in Market research where I worked in several industries including health, advertising, music and TV. I loved doing research across different disciplines as it enabled me to meet an array of different people and gain knowledge about how different industries work. During this time I started to do work with the NHS to help them understand how well their new website performed with the general public. I enjoyed conducting this research to reveal the design changes needed. Later I found out I was actually doing ‘UX’ research! After doing many research projects like this I stumbled upon FutureLearn who were looking for UX researchers to help product teams design the best learning experiences possible. I have been at FutureLearn for nearly 5 years now and can say that it’s been an amazing experience. The best part is receiving testimonials from learners telling us how much FutureLearn has helped them to achieve their learning goals and advance their career. Making experiences fun and engaging for learners never gets boring! It’s a very fulfilling job and I look forward to continuing to work hard to understand learners’ needs and help design the best learning experience ever!

Dereck Johnson — Head of UX

Through my love of BMX, I became hooked on bike graphics and stickers, often drawing them all over my school books. This interest led me to take O-levels in both graphic design and graphic communication, and then further expanding my interest in letterforms through graffiti and signwriting. My graphic design teacher suggested I consider applying for art college — which at the time I didn’t know existed. My application was successful and I studied technical illustration for a couple of years which set me up well for starting out in commercial illustration and graphic design. Who knows where I may have ended up had my teacher not nudged me in the right direction.

After a few years in publishing, design consultancies and advertising agencies, a new field of web design started to emerge. I was soon drawn into creating visuals for websites but nothing more than individual pages. Fast forward into this millennium and I was head of design at a small design agency where I was mainly focused on brand and print work but noticed there were continued problems delivering web-projects. Using my publishing experience I suggested we create a flat-plan for the pages and content of a current web site project and have our client sign off those before they built anything. This was successful and at the time I didn’t know sitemaps and wireframes were actual things. Once I discovered the field of information architecture, I started exploring further and loved the way that within the field of UX you could test, learn and base your ideas on real data rather than subjective views. This, plus the ability to amplify the users’ voice really appealed to me and I moved to focus solely on UX.

Isaac Anderson — UX Researcher

My dissertation! It was about finding ways to optimise concept development — so I spent around six weeks shadowing design teams as they brainstormed ideas, and turned these into concepts, trying to find patterns in the way they interacted with one another. While it was the toughest thing I’d ever done workwise, and time-consuming as hell (anyone who’s ever transcribed a conversation can attest), I loved what I was doing way more than anything else I’d done in the previous 4.5 years of my Masters.

My degree was in engineering design, so I’m used to working with 3D printers, hovercraft and mechanical systems. The process and technique is more similar to user experience than you’d think — but think of physical products instead of digital ones!

My switch to user experience came after I finished my Masters. It seemed interesting enough for me to see if this was something I could make a living doing, and so I basically “upskilled” myself — finding the knowledge, building things using it and learning from my mistakes. Then I landed my first job — and eighteen months later, ended up at FutureLearn!

Storm MacSporran — UX Design Lead

My aunt Sandra was incredibly creative, gregarious, and affluent in the design industry. She opened my eyes to new things and challenged the way I thought or did things. I was very close to her. She was someone I looked up to and couldn’t wait to grow up to be like. Sandra died tragically young but she left something that I kept for the rest of my life that I promised I would pass on. People matter. Everyone is unique and valuable. You have to create spaces or things that allow people to thrive. To dream big. To feel inspired. And to inspire others.

As I developed in my career I started to learn more about UX design. It’s the magical ingredient that makes my work exciting and fulfilling. Every day I get to solve interesting problems and come up with quality solutions that enhance the user experience and answers business goals. Even with years of experience, you are always learning and I’m lucky to be surrounded by really smart people who keep me on my toes.

If you’re interested in joining the FutureLearn UX Research & Design Team, we’re currently hiring for several roles, which you can see on our jobs page.