Murat Mutlu
My name is Murat Mutlu, I’m a designer based in London. I’m the co-founder of Marvel, a free prototyping tool for creative brains. I love coming up with new ideas and experimenting with tech. Some of my favourite things are hacks and pointless apps and sites. Prior to starting Marvel I was a freelancer at various startups and agencies around London.
When your friends or parents ask to you what job do you do, how do you answer?
I use to say I work in the mobile design industry but that just meant my friends kept asking if I could get them discounts on iPhones!
It’s easier to tell people ‘I design websites’, I leave any mention of UX or product design out of conversations.
What is your background, how did you train?
Mostly self-taught, I went to University and did a ‘Multimedia Computing’ course where I basically learned nothing. I started playing with Photoshop in my spare-time and used 100 filters on everything I made because I thought it made thinks look awesome (Lens flare ftw)
After leaving Uni, I somehow managed to blag my first real job as a junior designer in a mobile agency. This was before the iPhone came out so I was creating WAP sites and Java apps that basically had a couple of GIFs on.
I didn’t actually design websites until a few years ago as I had always been moving from one mobile design role to another.
What the web can do to make this world a better place? How did the web improve your life( if it did)?
It’s kinda endless in it’s possibilities, I think it’s making the world better but allowing people to learn and share knowledge. The more people are educated and exposed to information the better things become.
Can you show us three examples of interface that in your opinion improved human life?
Any OS, a telephone dial pad and any browser
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)
A switch! Doesn’t get more simple than on/off.
How is your work day type?
At the moment it’s a bit weird as we’re just starting our startup, so generally wake up, check emails, check Designer News, check Twitter. Skip breakfast, speak to my founders and head to the office.
What is the most stimulating and challenging project you have accomplished?
Definitely Marvel, creating a product from scratch, supporting users, marketing, designing, iterating and then you have all the other stuff around it like building a company. Crazy and weird, but also amazing.
What is, among the existing digital services, the one you wanted to do?
Oooh that’s a long list, I think Secret, Tinder and Frontback are apps that I would have loved to do.
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’m one of those designers! I don’t think there’s anything wrong with jumping into Photoshop, doesn’t make you less of a designer. For me personally, i don’t care what someones process is as long as what they produce is great.
The “design” is an important part of our analogic life. What is the role of the designer in our digital life?
If you think about how much time we spend with computers and phones everyday, the design of these products and services are more important than ever.
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?
Yeah I think knowing about all this stuff allows you to become better at what you do. You don’t have to code, but you should know what possibilities it offers your work. If you’re truly engaged in what you do, you’ll want to learn all these things anyway.
In which way do you make a difference between User Interface and user experience?
I think they are part of the same thing. Everything is part of the experience, whether that’s pricing, visuals, layout.
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 love working with devs, without them, my ideas are just static PSDs. Of course there’s differences, it’s natural for designers to want to keep changing things and pushing boundaries, but there needs to be a balance.
How do you think that your career and job will evolve in the next 5 years?
I think things like Siri and gesture recognition are going to change how we think about interactions and interfaces. We’re going to need to skill up and figure out how to utilise them.
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?
Depends what you do I guess. If you’re designing the UI for a SpaceX shuttle that is going to put people on Mars and save the human race, then yeah maybe!
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?
Dribbble is amazing, the ‘hire me’ button put a roof over my head for 2 years and kept me working, what’s not to like about that?
What book would you advice to a Junior Designer?
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose
Always as far as advices: what tools for the design? What tools for the projects management ?
I like Asana for projects, Whatdafont browser extension to find fonts on sites, CSSHat, iOSHat and Photoshop/Sketch. To get inspiration I use Hacker News, Designer News, Product Hunt, Digg.com
Dribbble : https://dribbble.com/mutlu82
Website : http://www.mobileinc.co.uk/
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.
