This week was the first week of this module so it was mostly an introduction to what we will be doing throughout the term.

Part of this introductory week was explaining what the learning aims are for this module:

• UX designer
• UX Researcher
• UI Designer
• UX Engineer
• Visual Design
• Content Designer
• Front-end Developer
• Graphic Designer

Along with this we were shown some companies that might offer these roles to look out for such as Rapid7, Little Thunder, Puppet and Fathom. Rapid 7 and Fathom I didn’t know too much about and I intend on researching these further.

Workshop Task

In this introductory workshop, we were put into groups and given the task of writing down the attributes we hope to find in our workplace and colleagues.

The answers I wrote were:

• Friendly environment
• Projects that challenge me
• To be able to produce work in my own style
• Small agency- easier to build connections

The most common answers in my group also had friendly environment and small agency, however others had answers I wouldn’t have thought of such as:

• Produce work for international companies
• Ability to travel
• Make a comfortable salary

These answers widened the range of what I could hope for in employment and reflecting on them made me realise that international projects and travelling could be very fulfilling to me.

Job Research Task

This week we were given the task to find 3 local companies and 3 international companies that you would like to work for and a short paragraph on why.

Local Businesses

1. Fathom- is a very strong, skilled and experienced agency. When looking through their case studies on their website I paid attention to how they broke down their process and what they did at each step. For example in their PSNI case study, under the heading ‘Desk Research’ the first couple of steps in their design process is comparative analysis and site analytics. This i found really interesting because as a student looking for placement, I think it is useful for me to pay more attention to these bigger agencies process so I can learn from it and also become familiar with it before starting a placement

2. Made to Engage- There is a bit less information about the beginning stages of research and sketches in the case studies on their website but the actual products they create and the clients they work with is exciting to me. e.g. The work they did to modernise the Parliament  website, it just seemed like such a huge project which was probably very tedious at times due to the amount of redundant content they had to get rid of. However, seeing the finished product and how easy and clear it is to understand. It looks and feels so much cleaner and is consistent across any device, it just made me think that I want to be part of a project like that.

3. Rapid 7-  is a big security company with a branch in belfast. They’ve worked with many clients all over the world to help cyber security even in smaller businesses. They’ve done work with CPA Australia and I just think working in their company is a great chance to learn new things about software systems that I haven’t had the chance to yet and make some great connections. The international project aspect does excite me because it is impressive to be apart of something that big and professional.

International Companies

1. Bamboo Rose is a multi-Enterprise Product and Supply Chain Platform based in Boston, USA. They’ve worked with over 400 brands and the aim to bring together product development and customer experience which is a big component of UI design. They’ve worked with brands I know such as Banana Republic and American Eagle. In their case study for American Eagle they saved 2 million dollars and 3 weeks of time out of their design cycle be streamlining the process between vendor and merchants. Its a company I hadn’t heard much about until I started researching but it has a lot of expertise and experience under its belt that I think would be amazing to be see or be apart of.

2.Unbxd- is a creative agency based in Dorset and London. They offer services from Branding to marketing and media. They are a very accomplished agency and have worked with the NHS, ITV and Nike just to name a few. They’ve done some interesting projects e.g. Ruka Hair’s virtual event. In this virtual event the team had created 4 cgi rooms for users to enter and listen to talks by owners of RUKA hair. Each room had a differently designed aesthetic and feel, the user could look around 360 degrees in a space designed by Unbxd and i thought it looked really cool and it’s something I want to be able to do someday. I would love to be able to learn new things from skilled and experienced people and maybe work there in the future.

3. Mobiteam- is a small design company based in Berlin, Germany whose mission is to create high-quality websites that stand out in the market. Just using the website for this company was great, it just looked great and everything moved so smoothly, a real joy to use. The websites and apps they’ve built such as ‘HandyZirkel’ – an app to buy and sell iphones; just looks great. The company just knows how to make minimal designs look great and give the information necessary. They’re website also has an incredible section called ‘work process’ which goes through how they work through design concepts step by step which is so useful.