Alex Deruette
A French UX/UI designer based in London
I’m Alex Deruette, a French designer based in London. I’m the co-founder of Kickpush, a design studio specialising in user experience and product strategy — I’ve spent the past five years building my career in interaction design; dating back to my days starting out as a print designer for a music magazine, to my last job as a UI & UX designer for the New York agency Fueled. I’m excited about the decision I’ve made to launch my own company, and love that I get to appreciate everyday and every new project alongside a team of talented designers.
When your friends or parents ask you what job you do, how do you answer?
I usually just say that I design mobile apps. My friends get it, my family don’t. My dad works in construction and so I try explain it in the context of his job; like an app is similar to a house, and I would be the architect defining its shape, size and colour before passing it onto engineers to build it.
What is your background, and how did you train?
I graduated in contemporary art back in 2010. The course itself wasn’t technical, but I learnt how to turn ideas into something tangible. Contemporary art is tricky as it’s not based on how things look, but focuses instead on what they mean. Selling designs is 50% of a designer’s job and being able to convince your audience that what you’ve done makes sense is key to success.
I broke into the industry through following tutorials on youtube, which was common amongst most designers my age. I also had the chance to work with extremely talented people in my first jobs who invested a lot of time and training in me.
What can the web do to make this world a better place? How has the web improved your life (if it has)?
Interconnecting the world brought us a sense of global knowledge and awareness. Thanks to the internet, we became a self taught generation with a freedom of action that our parents didn’t have. For the first time, we have the ability to merge into a career regardless of our previous education and current location.
Can you show us three examples of interfaces that in your opinion have improved human life?
Computers have allowed humanity to take their knowledge to the next level. The tools created to allow interactions between us and our machines are the interfaces that have improved human life the most in the past millennium. Screens, keyboards and mice are the first ones that come to mind but the touch screen is the latest interface that was a real game changer.
On quora.com some 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, what is it?
An interface is the point where two systems or subjects meet and interact. Eyes are the most logical answer in my opinion. They convey emotions and give clear hints on how to interact with their owner.
What is your typical workday like?
I usually wake up early and go out for a coffee alone. Its a time of day that I dedicate to myself and focus on my own thoughts. Generally, I like to mess around with my team for a bit when I arrive at the office, before all getting stuck into work. My agency works with a lot of clients from the US, and so I get back to all their emails sent overnight, before powering through design work until the end of the work day. The Kickpush team is pretty much family, so we usually wind down together in the evenings over dinner or drinks.
What is the most stimulating and challenging project you have accomplished?
The most challenging project I’ve accomplished so far was setting up my own business, Kickpush. Going from a full time job to running a business is tough. It was a learning curve for me to analyze everything from a strategic point of view. And as mentioned earlier, I do my work life alongside a dedicated team of talented people who share my values and work ethic, I really could not have accomplished everything so far in such a short amount of time without their support.
I recommend any designer who feels ready to make the jump to go ahead and do it. I’m more than happy to provide advice so feel free to get in touch.
Among existing digital services, what is the one you wanted to do?
Being a fan of electronic music, I would have loved to have worked on Soundcloud. It’s my most used music service and I would have been proud to be part of the team who made it happen.
Many designers make the mistake of starting a project directly from Photoshop: is there a perfect design method? What is your approach to the creative process?
I personally always start a project in the design software. It might not be common practice and my team keeps bugging me about not starting on paper first. I don’t think there is a perfect method. I feel more comfortable laying out artboards in Sketch and putting together elements from my UX kit. It allows me to iterate quickly without being restricted by the size of a sheet of paper. Though at this stage, I don’t use any colors, icons or images I design only low fidelity wireframes with native design modules from the OS I’m designing for.
I start by roughly designing the main screens of the app. Then I funnel down and design each flow in more detail. I spend my first day putting together a rough version of the app that I test the same day on Invision. This first version is never presented to the client but it’s proved a good way to clear the noise and develop a clear plan for the next day.
“Design”is an important part of our analogic life. What is the role of the designer in our digital life?
A designer’s most important role is to simplify. The main focus of an interaction designer should be to offerusers an intuitive and enjoyable experience. Making an interface visually appealing is also important, but shouldn’t be considered as our core responsibility in product design.
Do you believe it is important for a designer to have a deep knowledge of matters such as User Experience, Interaction Design, Product Design, and Front-end Development?
The strongest designers are the ones who have a good knowledge of each part in the process. As a designer, you don’t need to have a deep knowledge of each discipline but knowing the principles of each definitely helps making the right decisions.
How do you make a difference between User Interface and user experience?
User experience design is about functionalities, not aesthetic. I used to design high fidelity wireframes but I realised it was getting in the way of quick iteration. User interface design is the final polish where designers bring products to life and make them visually appealing.
What is your relationship with developers? There are people that have a relationship of continuous confrontation and others of deep friendship: where do you fall with respect to this question?
If developers and designers think the same way and strive for quality, the collaboration is natural. Kickpush has a long standing relationship with a development company and we consider them as our own team. We are always learning from them, and have even taught them a few things along the line.
How do you think that your career and job will evolve over the next 5 years?
I think there will be a shift in the tech industry in the next 5 years. We will still be crafting interfaces but the app bubble will probably start to go down. I expect we’ll start working on all kinds of interfaces rather than just mobile apps. We’ll be designing interfaces for a wider range of devices, as well as “floating” interfaces that won’t be attached to a specific device. Augmented reality is about to become a big thing and I’m expecting UI/UX design to become a lot more complex and rich. Unlike other industries, the tech world not only encourages, but craves the entrance of young talent. I’m excited to see the shift happen, and can’t wait to grow alongside future young designers.
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 a designer?
Dribbble is great. It’s a perfect stepping stone for new designers to test their designs and get attention from startups.
The easiest way to get a job as a designer is to go through recruiters. Some of them have questionable ethics, so the key is to find one you can trust. I would recommend moving away from recruiters once you’re well connected in the industry though.
Just let your network know you’re available for work and if you’ve proved you have a positive attitude and solid work ethic, people you’ve worked with in the past will remember and recommend you.
What book would you recommend to a Junior Designer?
I’m not really a book person so I’m going to recommend a video that helped me a lot as a designer. It’s a talk from Mike Monteiro who explains how important it is to know how to sell your designs.
I was nervous to face clients early on as a Junior Designer and I used to let account managers or project managers sell my designs for me. It’s a big mistake to avoid in the beginning stages of your career. ( https://vimeo.com/121082134 )
Sticking with the advice: how about tools for design? What about tools for project management?
I completely moved away from Photoshop a year ago. In my opinion, Sketch 3 is the best for UI and UX. It allows quick iteration and is a lot lighter and cheaper than photoshop.
For branding projects; Illustrator is my favourite software. I set up 20 artboards of 1200x800 and mess around with shapes, colours and ideas until I find the right fit for the brand I’m working for.
In regards to project management; the Kickpush team uses Slack for internal banterchat, Harvest for time tracking, Harvest Forecast to manage resourcing, Trello for task management, Dropbox for file storage, Invision for prototypes, Pipeline to manage leads and FreeAgent to handle our admin and accounts.
A famous quotation of David Carson (noted American graphic designer) says: “Graphic design will save the world right after rock and roll does”. Will User Interface Design save the world, before, at the same time, or after graphic design?
Right before Rock and Roll does.
Dribbble : http://dribbble.com/AlexDeruette
Website : http://kickpush.co/
