Meet Ken Seeno, Lead Product Designer at Headspace
Interview by Rob Johnston for Meet the Creatives
Can you tell me about your journey? When did you first find your love for Design/Product Design?
Sure. I haven’t had a very conventional route into what I’m doing now. Here goes…
I actually went to school for conceptual art at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore (my major was Interdisciplinary Sculpture). MICA (for short) is a big oil painting school, maybe even the oldest in the country, but I enrolled in mostly experimental classes which focused on learning how to think. I was completely turned off by graphic design at the time and never enrolled in a single class from that department. I was making video projections and paintings based off of logos I found on the internet; heady, digital stuff and completely non-functional. While in school, I was somewhat randomly placed into a rock’n’roll band as part of one of these experimental classes. Our band (called Ponytail) ended up sticking together for 5 years, released 3 records, and toured internationally, which is what I did for my first few years out of college. I had nothing in my bank account, a very small storage unit, and a duffle bag, but I saw the world for free and lived out that dream.
When Ponytail came to a close, I moved to Los Angeles where friends from school and around town started hitting me up to help them out with various design-adjacent projects. Eventually, I convinced a multidisciplinary design firm called Commune to hire me based off of a single portfolio piece from one of these projects I had picked up. I brought my favorite books and records to the interview and basically said “I don’t know if you call these [holds up album art] design, but this is what I want to make” and they hired me on the spot.
I spent almost 3 years doing branding and identities for luxury brands and special projects for things like the Ace Hotels, R+Co, etc. before my interest in web design really started to take over (Branding is still my first design-love, though). It was getting impossible to ignore how important the digital presence was to each project and I was lacking in my technical knowledge. I parlayed my projects from Commune into a tight portfolio and landed a year-long gig as a Visual Designer at the more corporate, high-profile digital agency Huge where I put my personal interests and taste aside to essentially enroll myself in a crash-course for digital design. It was a rigorous and at times harsh environment (I can recall multiple all-nighters), but I learned a ton from some insanely intelligent people who have all gone on to do incredible things at some of the biggest names out there.
I burned out and left Huge and I was working at small agency when I got hit up about a gig at Facebook. Facebook didn’t really interest me (I’m a self-described digital minimalist and abstain from regular social media use), but the recruiter asked if I was interested in this start-up called Headspace. They had just moved into a new office with roughly 80 or so employees and were on the rise. I was familiar with it because my twin brother had turned me onto Headspace the prior year and I had tried a few meditation classes with a friend back in Baltimore. I went in for a full day-long interview and fell in love with the company and team. They took a chance on me and my experience (notice the reoccurring theme, here?) and the rest is history.
Who is Andy Puddicombe and how did Headspace come to be?
It’s impossible to talk about Headspace without mentioning Andy. Andy is a former Buddhist monk who spent 10+ years living in Tibetan learning the oral traditions of meditation before moving back to his native England to open a small clinic in London. While in London, he met Rich Pierson, a former ad-exec suffering from anxiety and burnout. The two started holding meditation events together, which started to gain a real following until they had the idea of starting an app to spread the word. Now, 9 years later, Headspace has been downloaded all over the world with millions of users in more than 190 countries, and is slowly becoming a household name associated with health and happiness. In fact, Headspace has one mission: to improve the health and happiness of the world. Pretty simple, but very big. How does one translate that into action? This is what we obsess over and it’s the glue that bonds us all together.
I would imagine that Design/Product Design plays a major role in making all of this possible. How so?
Product Design, in my opinion, is sort of the synthesis of many inputs: user feedback, business goals, engineering capability, content strategy, design thinking, scientific research, and more. It’s essentially our job as Product Designers to take all of these various conversations & goals and translate that into a succinct, easy experience anyone person can hold and use without needing any of that backstory. In a scenario where one can create ‘anything,’ it’s really hard! Some self-imposed limitations help. But it’s not a lone effort; not only do we have each other as designers to bounce ideas around, but projects at Headspace are extremely collaborative. Because we are all aligned around our mission, the conversation usually starts, and often ends, there.
When designing for such a large and diverse group of people — what do you find to be the most rewarding and what is most challenging?
I sometimes joke that designing for a meditation product isn’t as clear cut as delivering pizzas; the benefits are not always immediate and as cut-and-dry as “I want to order a pizza” and “The pizza got here fast!” therefore “I will use this service again”; we are dealing with the human mind. Even someone who has been meditating for years has stressful days and it’s extremely hard to measure outcomes of mental wellbeing (“I think I feel better?”) without a certain level of self-awareness.
Hands down, the most rewarding part is hearing from real users who tell us we’ve changed, even saved, their life. It’s almost hard to believe the impact we’ve had. It’s easy to charge back to your desk after watching a video testimonial about how Headspace helped someone through their battle with cancer or with the loss of a loved one. The desire to create something good and meaningful in the world is what keeps many of us going.
When working across such a wide variety of touchpoints, how do you decide which visual solutions will be most versatile/work most effectively?
It’s constant negotiation between myself and myself, haha. But really, it’s between me and the greater team.
A key component is testing with our users. There is no greater voice, in my opinion, than the voice of the customer. Afterall, it’s all for them, isn’t it?
I really feel like the best visual solutions are the ones that are most clear. If it’s not clear what you’re supposed to do with it, it’s not a great design, in my humble opinion.
Can you talk about the role of Illustration in bringing the spirit of Headspace to life?
Illustration serves two purposes for the Headspace; it’s not only highly recognizable stylistically, and therefore a key differentiator for our brand (people often tell us, “Oh! Headspace! I love the characters.”) but it also allows us to tell stories about the mind that would be otherwise impossible to recreate in real life. The fact that we can bend reality in a cartoon sense and show a representation of your brain approaching a rainbow in your mind to describe a thought is just impossible to do otherwise; so it really allows us the flexibility we need to talk about these very immaterial, universal concepts. We hope everyone can see a little bit of themselves in our characters and illustrations.
What are some trends you are seeing in Product Design?
Hmmm. Tough one. I feel like I see a lot of design created for other designers. Don’t get me wrong; I respect it, but you know the style when you see it; esoteric, a little intentionally confusing. Maybe a little ‘over the top.’ I’ve seen the motifs shift over the years, but the feeling is the same. Hip for the sake of being hip disguised as being ‘better.’
But, I often find myself spotting really simple, ‘uncool’ emerging design trends at big box stores or the mall, where some of these ideas have bubbled up to a larger stage; maybe it’s not the ‘coolest’ looking design, but the scale & impact is undeniable.
Truthfully, I’m getting to the point where I’m becoming a little wary of anything that looks complicated for the sake of being complicated. The fact is; design aims to be seamlessly integrated with the real world. It’s one way design is distinguished it from art. Frankly, in the moment, I don’t think you’re supposed to ‘think’ about design much. It’s just supposed to work…really well. Some of the best design is totally invisible (such as city planning!). I tend to be inspired by very analog things for this reason; just really utilitarian design done right. One of my favorite design objects is Kenji Ekuan’s Kikkoman soy sauce bottle. Nothing fancy about it, but I think it’s just sublimely gorgeous.
The main role design for tech plays in my life now (aside from my medium for making a living) is as a set of specific tools that in one way (or a few ways, maybe) enhance my life. I don’t have a lot on my iPhone. I use Google maps, Spotify, Yelp, Google Cal. I don’t even have email on there and I use an away message half the day. For me, less is better.
In your time working at Headspace, what have been some of your favorite moments?
We’ve had some incredible speakers at Headspace. Bill and Melinda Gates came last year which was especially inspiring. We also have regular company-wide meditation retreats which are led by Andy where we spend most of the day in silence. One year, we had Andy’s teacher from Tibet come and I was able to ask him a few questions; his answers will stay with me for the rest of my life. I feel very lucky to have had these experiences and I’m grateful to Headspace for the exposure.
When reviewing portfolios, what are some of the things you are hoping to see and what are some things that might disqualify/prove the candidate is not fit for the job?
What I look for most from a design portfolio is a perspective. As the tools become more and more accessible and best practices are shared, it becomes sort of commonplace to see designers who can technically execute well, but don’t have any work with a clear, unique purpose. I want to know why you chose this solution, what makes it truly unique; conversely if it’s not unique, I like to see an awareness as to why you went the direction you did with it.
Also, in 2019 I’d really love to see more designers challenging the assumption that the solution to every problem is a new app. Maybe there’s a way to solve real-world problems in a different way than just another tappable flow? In a way, I’m kind of over apps. I just want to spend less time doing things I don’t want to be doing and more time doing the things I do want to be doing. I want somebody to help me with that.
What advice would you give to someone who just graduated college and is new to the creative field, but does not know where to begin?
Be honest with your specific ambitions. Know what you’re passionate about and make it extremely clear to the people who are interviewing you that “there is no other place you would want to work at more.” There is no single substitute for hard work. Period. A strong work ethic is a true differentiator. It’s the basics; come in early, be on time, over-prepare, identify problems and suggest solutions, be highly proactive, do more than what you’re told, don’t wait for someone to tell you what to do. It’s not a game; we’re all in this together. Aim to be that person on the team that everyone goes to because they know you’re going to help them be successful at their job.
What’s the most useful piece of feedback you’ve ever received?
Tough one.
This isn’t so much feedback, but recently my team had to tell me to take time off in order to move forward with a project; totally counterintuitive to me. I was really struggling to grasp a specific challenge and a small window opened up where I could afford to step away for a few days. It was exactly what I needed and I came back from my staycation with a renewed focus and energy which really helped move the project forward for me. Creative work is so difficult to nail down; sometimes you have to let go a bit for the answers to reveal themselves.
Who has influenced your work the most along the way?
I’ve been so lucky to work with so many amazing people over the years. Carlos Morera from Cactus Store, Maura Collins from Heat Waves, Creative Director Ashley Jones. All of my colleagues at Headspace; Iain, Frank, Vicki, Christine, Stephanie, Jo, Rita, Peter, Michelle, Kyle, Tyler, Chris, Karen, Ryan. I never work in isolation and get so much energy from my peers. Thank you all for supporting me along the way.
Finally, what are you currently focusing on?
Currently, I’m focusing on our new puppy, Suzy. We rescued her from Korea. I’m also slowly reading “Why Buddhism is True” and preparing for a trip to Italy with my wife, Christine.
As for work, I tell people that I work for the app that tells you to put your phone down and do nothing. So that’s what I try to do. I try to put my devices down and get back to my life.
