Alexander Zaytsev
Talking with User Interface & User Experience Designers
Hi, my name is Alexander Zaytsev and I’m mobile apps designer from not that sunny Saint Petersburg, Russia. I began my career not long ago, just in 2013. I am thrilled with what I am doing. How do I spend my free time. I design mobile apps. When I’m tired and want to take a break from my free time and clean my mind, I suddenly design mobile apps, again. During just two years of my short career, I’ve managed to work with, no doubt, the coolest Russian IT companies and great bunch of fascinating startups from abroad. Currently I do freelance and this helps me to communicate with great people from different countries.
When your friends or parents ask to you what job do you do, how do you answer?
Indeed it’s a good question. My parents come from pre-internet generation and I just tell them that I’m designer without digging into details. But friends of my age, of course, know that I’m working on apps design. So, basically, I’m doing what they’re looking at the greatest part of their lives.
What is your background, how did you train?
I’ve graduated from my University with «multimedia producer» written on certificate. It’s a combination of traditional directing and modern technologies mixed together to create visual effects.
I became designer almost accidentally — I’ve always been a big fan of the Apple and Jobs and when I met first iPhone and saw first apps, I was literally crazy about them. Then, however having no experience, I was hired to one company as mobile apps designer.
With the help of that company I got Dribbble invite and this is what radically changed my life. When I had free time, I started creating design concepts and at one point I understood that work inquiries that come from Dribbble bring me bigger income than my primary work at office. Since then I’ve been doing freelance and just enjoy it.
Dribbble is, no doubt, the best place for designer to get inspired.
What the web can do to make this world a better place? How did the web improve your life( if it did)?
Thanks to the web I found my future wife ☺ Surely for me the main function of the web is communication with people, it helps to know more and more new interesting personalities within my work interests. Web helps to study and improve theory — this thing makes it irreplaceable for people who want to grow their professional skills.
Can you show us three examples of interface that in your opinion improved human life?
iOS, Google and Skype.
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)
What about steering wheel?
How is your work day type?
Although I’m freelancer, I’m trying to keep day order. Almost never I wake up early, usually at 10:30. I adore my job and sometimes can lose the feeling of the time and work until night.
Of course, I spend several hours on Dribbble, Twitter, Vkontakte (Russian Facebook) and Skype.
Also, I’m fan of video games and when I meet this sweet opportunity, I can spend a few hours (well, 5-6 hours) playing FIFA ☺
Mobile apps design is a pretty young thing that’s why you should always know what’s going on within new technologies. So every day I spend some time on reading articles, manuals etc.
What is the most stimulating and challenging project you have accomplished?
Unfortunately, I can’t send pictures because of NDA. My the most challenging project is a mobile app for social network Vkontakte (Russian analogue of Facebook). About 5 million people are using this app every day, this is a record for Russia. It happened to be my second app that was released in App Store. It was a really fascinating task — we’ve been working on it about 12 hrs per day during a month.
What is, among the existing digital services, the one you wanted to do?
Facebook. The way it looks now make it really hard to use it.
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?
I don’t know the perfect method and, I think, nobody knows ☺ When thinking some ideas in my mind I’m trying to transfer them directly to Photoshop or on paper. Less often to Photoshop.
The “design” is an important part of our analogic life. What is the role of the designer in our digital life?
I think modern generation could be called «staring-at-smartphones» generation. For this reason I don’t see the difference between analogic and digital designers, both have the same tasks to accomplished. You don’t want to see ugly and awkward interfaces as well as ugly banners in the street, right?
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?
An intelligent person is the one who knows things from different spheres. I don’t mind when designer, for instance, can do programming. Sometimes it can even save time, especially when designer creates concepts that can’t be realized in practice.
In which way do you make a difference between User Interface and user experience?
At the best, user should see no difference between UI and UX. My role as a designer is to create a product that both looks good and comfortable to use. There are thousand examples of really beautiful sites or apps that are hard to use, and 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 worked a lot with developers side by side and must admit that I have always admired these people. Of course, it’s very important when you can discuss with them different aspects of your work.
How do you think that your career and job will evolve in the next 5 years?
I think, it will be much harder to interview me than now ☺
Talking seriously, I really don’t know what happens in the future. For now I do enjoy my current occupation as a freelance designer.
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?
All things that are beautiful have this saving-the-world purpose in their core. Graphic design is, happily, not dead, User interface design is very young and they both should make this world a better place.
What book would you advice to a Junior Designer?
One famous Russian designer Artemy Lebedev said that young designer should read less and do more. And when questions come, only then designer should dig answers in books. And I agree with his words.
Always as far as advices: what tools for the design? What tools for the projects management ?
For time management and to do lists — only your head ☺
For drawing I use MacBook Pro retina 15 — for me it’s a perfect computer to create (draw) mobile apps. I don’t use graphic tablet, touchpad and mouse are enough.
Soft — Photoshop, Sketch, Scala Preview.
Dribbble : https://dribbble.com/anwaltzzz
