Introducing Hamish, Qwilr’s new Senior Product Designer
For our third post in our meet-the-team series, I’m veeeerry excited to introduce Hamish Williams, who I worked with at a previous startup in Sydney a few years ago.
As a Senior Product Designer & Front End Engineer, Hamish is able to prototype and explore novel interactive concepts at speed, and directly shape how Kaleidoscope — Qwilr’s Design System—is contributed to and leveraged across the entire product process.
Tell us about yourself…
I’ve always enjoyed making things ever since I was a kid. I think that’s what gravitated me towards design. A natural progression of this was learning how to code, which allowed me to explore not only how a design looks, but how it functions too. I studied Computer Graphic Design at university, which was a combination of graphic design and computer science. After moving to Sydney from New Zealand I worked as a product designer at Smart Sparrow (where I met Dom) for almost 6 years before joining Qwilr.
What’s a core value you like to practice in your work?
I try to be humble, mindful, and open to change.
Horcruxs are a longstanding Qwilr tradition, to symbolise a memory, experience, or value we care about. What’s your Horcrux, and what does it symbolise?
I chose a pentapus as my horcrux (as reluctant as I am to reveal one of my horcruxes lest I be defeated in wizard combat). A pentapus is a fictional creature similar to an octopus, but with five arms instead of eight. This one is made by my partner — she likes to make cephalopods (like octopuses, cuttlefish, and squids) as a hobby. Cephalopods are highly intelligent creatures, they use chromatophores in their skin to actively blend with different environments, and are incredibly flexible. When solving design problems I think we should strive to develop solutions that are smart and flexible to change like a cephalopod.
What’s in your personal toolkit?
Excessive amounts of caffeine.
Where are you based?
The Sydney HQ
What do you like to get up to outside of Qwilr?
I like to practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as a way to clear my mind and keep active. Usually I have a side project or two that I’m working on to explore cool tech or learn something new. Other than that I enjoy playing video games, reading, and watching movies.
What are you most looking forward to working on at Qwilr?
Exploring ways to push forward the quality of interaction design in the product and working with the team to make some sick design tooling.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to do what you do?
Just make things. Actually jumping into a project and not necessarily knowing how to solve everything can be a really good way to learn.
How can people find more of you online!
My website is hamishw.com. There are a few social links and contact details there if you want to stalk me.
As a growing team, we’re always on the search for thinkers, creators, and people ready to make a difference. Take a peek into life at Qwilr and explore our open roles ✨
