“A good working day means you still have the energy to enjoy your free time.”
Who? – UX/UI Designer. A Bachelor of Business Information Technology who has studied 3D modelling and game production in Lithuania and South Korea.
“A good working day means you still have the energy to enjoy your free time”
At my previous job, I'd reached a point where I was craving new challenges. I saw an open UX Designer position on LinkedIn and thought Bitwise might be able to offer them. What really caught my eye was that the job ad featured an interview with one of the company's UX Designers describing their working day. It instantly made the place feel more human, and I felt I just had to get in.
What matters most to me at work is overall wellbeing: a good working atmosphere, suitably challenging and meaningful tasks, and the chance to have freedom. People are in different situations in life, and it's important that everyone can work remotely or be at the office as much as they want. It makes a big difference to how well you cope. Personally, I like coming into the office and having lunch with my colleagues, but sometimes it's also nice to work remotely all day in peace, in my tracksuit bottoms.
What I expect from an employer is flexibility and reliability. Openness never hurts, and the more open you are, the more trustworthy you usually come across. An inflexible company is rigid and old-fashioned. Luckily, that's not the case here. Whenever I've needed some flexibility, I've got it.
It also matters that everyone at work is treated the same. Everyone gets to be exactly who they are. That creates a safe and warm atmosphere.
In my colleagues, I value positivity and reliability. It's important that I can rely on schedules and what's been agreed. You don't always have to be cheerful and positive, but too much negativity rubs off on the people around you. After all, we spend quite a few hours a week with our colleagues, so everyone has to try to get along. I hope I give people the feeling that they can easily come and ask me for help or an opinion on a task – or just come and tell me what happened at the weekend. I also make a point of asking others how they're doing.
The most useful thing I've realised at Bitwise is probably that you don't have to live just for weekends and holidays, because everyday life can be pleasant too. When it's nice to go to the office to work and catch up with colleagues, everyday life instantly feels much more relaxed. I also count my closest colleagues as friends – people you share both the good times and the bad with. Sometimes it doesn't even feel like work when you can laugh at bad jokes with your mates. A good working day also usually means you still have the energy to enjoy your free time.
“An ugly design takes just as long to create as a beautiful one, so if you're going to do something, do it properly”
My working days are spent designing all kinds of things for different customer projects, from consumer mobile apps to internal management systems for industrial companies. Management systems are used in demanding environments, so it's especially important to think about where and for whom they're being designed. I like getting to step outside my comfort zone and design products I wasn't even aware of before. They challenge my thinking and develop my skills.
In software development, UX/UI design is the foundation of everything. Without a good foundation, it's rare for anything else particularly good to come of it. Thorough research, ideation and design make sure the software really suits the people and the purpose it's intended for.
A surprising number of people think, “It's only me and Pertsa using this software, so who cares what it looks like.” But it's worth remembering that, in practice, an ugly design takes just as long to create as a beautiful one, so if you're going to do something, do it properly.
When software is smooth, intuitive and pleasant to use, customers are more likely to be happy with the product and want to use it again. A well-designed, modern user interface reduces user errors and frustration. Investing in quality design right from the start can save a company both money and time, because things don't need to be done over and over again.
I always like to design a little beyond what's been asked for – to think about what else the customer might need. It's easy to scope things down from there, and it never hurts to suggest something the customer might not even have thought to expect. Usually, lots of new and unexpected ideas get a positive reaction and make people want to go ahead with them. “We didn't even know to ask for something like this!” is a comment that's sure to warm any designer's heart.
I believe UX/UI design will only become more important. I try to stay on top of new trends and technologies all the time. In UX design, you shouldn't settle for old models and ways of working; you should develop new solutions that support users even better.
Isn't it about time we replaced the floppy disk in the save icon with something else?