Dmitriy Chuta
Talking with User Interface & User Experience Designers
Hi. My name is Dmitriy and I create design for mobile apps. I started as a web-designer and despite my age I have already managed to work as a lead designer for a few large companies and projects. This summer I have opened my own studio called Chapps and we mainly specialize in start-ups. Why have I chosen this direction? Since I was a child I wanted to create products which would be used by millions of people and a start-up is an ideal tool for it. I like to dive into the project, take part in their creation and watch how they develop, it is my satisfaction and thrill.
When your friends or parents ask to you what job do you do, how do you answer?
Well, mostly my friends understand what I do. My friends, who are not really familiar with the sphere of design, think that I can create business cards or retouch the photo for them. And my parents have no idea what I do and why somebody pays for what I do. They are more worried if I dress warmly in winter and I guess that is the most important thing.
What is your background, how did you train?
When I saw a computer for the first time I have fallen in love with it and understood what I want to do in future. While I was studying in High School I started to attend all the computer courses I was able to find. I studied programming, web-design, computer graphics and even system administration. Then I finally chose programming and web- development as my university major. I studied programming languages quickly and easily and in a same way I lost interest in them. So I decided to try my abilities in design. And I liked it so much that I am still doing and enjoying it.
I have always wanted to be the best and was longing for it, but even then I understood that I need to look for a narrow niche and focus on it. When I saw an iPhone for the first time I decided that I want to create mobile design. I wasn’t even confused by the fact that there was no literature or articles about mobile design, I just started to create designs for one app after another and got my hand it. By the time first mobile development companies opened in my city and this direction became popular, I have already been among those who had an experience in it. It allowed me to receive the work promotion and I was invited to work in interesting and large startups where I was able to improve my skills. By the way, I think that the most important thing is that I am still doing it today.
What the web can do to make this world a better place? How did the web improve your life( if it did)?
I have no idea what would I be if there was no Internet. The huge part of my life is connected with it. I work, read, buy gadgets and clothes, plan trips, listen to music and watch movies there. The future is for online and I try to be in trend.
Can you show us three examples of interface that in your opinion improved human life?
Well, it is a complicated question. I think that today every interface improves life or at least it should be its main task. This list can be long and verify from person to person. Personally for me, everything was changed by the iPhone interface, because after I saw it I understood what exactly I want to do in my life.
On quora.com, time ago there was a long discussion in answer to the question “what is the most intuitive interface ever created?”; according to Felipe Rocha it is the nipple, in your opinion instead? (http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-most-intuitive- interfaces-ever-created)
It’s an interesting issue which can become a long argument. I think that intuitive equals familiar. If a baby reaches out to women breast after birth, the next intuitive interface for it will be baby’s dummy which looks like nipple. Then everything depends on the experience. The more person learns, the more intuitive interfaces he can logically understand on the intuitive level.
How is your work day type?
It is a usual working day. But sometimes I allow myself to come to work by 2 p.m., of course, when I have planned my team’s work the day before. My working place is pretty usual as for a designer. Computer, tablet, cup of coffee, note pad, phone. Simple and usual.
What is the most stimulating and challenging project you have accomplished?
Last few months I work a lot with the dynamics in mobile apps and sites. I study animation and gestures and try to use so-called «Clever use of animations» in each project or at least to create wow-effect in the projects where you can entertain the user without hurting the interface.
The very same time I like to create concepts and new patterns based on gestures and animation.
What is, among the existing digital services, the one you wanted to do?
I guess my goal as any other designers is to create something useful for millions people. What can be cooler than Google, Dropbox, Skype? Everybody uses them.
Many designers commit the mistake of starting a project directly from Photoshop, is there a perfect design method? What is your approach to the creative process?
Yes, it is true. Starting work from Photoshop is not right. Of course, everything depends on the type of project and the designer. For instance, with my current experience I can design a project per saltum. For a complicated one I have to do a research, then to form the users and their needs, after that to do the UX and only then I can come to the beautiful stuff. Well, there are a lot of approaches and I won’t be able to describe them quickly. The most important thing is that you need it not the client. The client needs the sales and if your approach provides them, than it is a right one.
The “design” is an important part of our analogic life. What is the role of the designer in our digital life?
The role is simple: the product you create should be used. Of course, not only the design influences it, but it provides the flow of leads and attention and than the other factors start working.
Do you believe it is important for a designer to have a deep knowledge of matters as User Experience, Interaction Design, Product Design, and Front-end development?
Well, it an issue for a holy war again. In my opinion, each designer needs to at least understand the basics of each direction. My major is programming and I can say that this knowledge helped me a lot to achieve good results in design. When I create design I imagine how it is going to work and which issues will the developer face. Often when the designer creates the design and the client approves it but the developer faces the problems. It is clear with the user experience, but the long-sightedness is not enough. You need to take the place of your user and put forward the most accurate hypotheses about his actions, which still needs to be checked and changed depending on the reaction of the end-user.
In which way do you make a difference between User Interface and user experience?
The difference is huge. UI interface is just graphics while UX is the way product is being used. So the one needs to start from how the interface is going to be used and it dictates the rules of its look. Unfortunately, a lot of designers on their start do vice versa.
What is your relationship with the developers?
There are people that have a relationship of continuous confrontation and other of deep friendship, where do you collocate with respect to this question?
I work with few developers and each of them specializes better in some particular stuff, but we do understand each other well, because I have the necessary knowledge to understand them perfectly well.
How do you think that your career and job will evolve in the next 5 years?
I have no idea what will happen tomorrow. The one thing I know for sure is no matter which gadgets and tasks there will be, the designers will be needed because of the experience in the formation of the proper filing interface they have. Each year the design itself will decrease as the volume of the information people receive will increase. Well, we’ll see.
A famous quotation of David Carson (noted American graphic designer) says: “Graphic design will save the world right after rock and roll does”.Will the User Interface Design save the world, before, at the same time, or after the graphic design?
Design will save the world. Is there anything to discuss?)
What do you think about Dribbble? Is it a good way to get a job? What’s the best way to find a job as designer?
I think that Dribbble is awesome. My professional career started from it and it is a great place to look for work, because your creation can be seen not locally but worldwide. It is not hard to look for job for a designer. One just needs to choose what he likes and start working in this direction and to offer the concept of his own. If it is really valuable, everything will work out fine.
What book would you advice to a Junior Designer?
I often hear this question, but I am not sure what to advice. I haven’t read a lot of books about design. And if to think about the ones I’ve read I can honestly tell that I haven’t applied their advises into my own work. I have based my experience on the practice. And may be it is also connected with the fact that I started working in mobile design when there were no books on this subject.
Always as far as advices: what tools for the design? What tools for the projects management ?
Nowadays there are a lot of tools. We create apps design in different online instruments, than do the interactive mock-ip, e.g. in Invision, after that draw in Photoshop/ Illustrator, though we are moving to Sketch now. We gather the fast pages in WebFlow and use Basecamp for the project management.
Dribbble : https://dribbble.com/dmitriychuta
Website : http://dmitriychuta.com/
FRONTIERSX November 12–13th, 2015, Milan, Italy
As the meeting point of design, technology and everything interactive, this year we’ll dive deep through innovation and disruption in Banking, Health and Retail industries.
