UX designer — Alex Marcinkowski

After achieving the BA Product Design from Leeds Beckett University, Alex gained experience working as an industrial and graphic designer before landing his role as UX designer for building maintenance technology company SFG20

How did you find and apply for your role?

I saw an advert on Indeed and then applied for the job with SFG20 through a recruitment agency.

In what ways is your degree relevant to this role?

My degree was an industrial product design degree, looking at the design and development of physical products. This is not a direct fit to UI (user interface)/UX (user experience) design, but it was still important in learning the fundamentals of the design process - research, ideation, iteration, and feasibility.

It also helped me to develop the skills needed for UCD (user-centred design), where users are the primary focus in research leading to products that are accessible and solve their needs.

This is a good example how UX design is a good choice for anyone who has studied a design subject, as the process of thinking is the most important skill, and it can be applied to many disciplines.

Why did you decide to pursue a UX career?

I initially started my career closer to my degree, working in traditional product design. However, I was attracted to UX design both because of the quantity of opportunities available within the market, and as learning and developing skills needed for UX is becoming more accessible. As you are designing for digital products, it is easier to develop and iterate ideas than with physical models. This allowed me to develop faster within a role, as well as through my own additional learning.

What are your day-to-day tasks as a UX designer?

I am responsible for the entire design and UX of our main products and all sub contact points.

This includes facilitating and developing ideas through the entire design process - from research and identifying business cases for features, and testing the feasibility and success of design concepts, to generating design material, such as prototypes, wireframes, and specification documents etc.

Finally, it's my job to maintain all the design processes/materials required by the development and product teams.

What do you enjoy most about your job, and what are the challenges?

The process of solving complex user cases to create an elegant and useful tool for our customers gives me the most satisfaction.

Finding a solution that works for a range of stakeholders and customers can be a challenge. This includes both the process of discovery from our users, and finding out their requirements and wishes.

It can then be tough applying it all to a product that's flexible enough to solve individual needs, as well as being valuable to our users.

Overall, it's been great to work as part of the wider team, being able to deliver next generation products for SFG20 and this industry.

How has your role developed and what are your career ambitions?

I have had the opportunity to work as a UX designer for multiple companies, producing B2B (business-to-business) SaaS (software as a service) products for varying industries. This has allowed me to progress to a full stack designer, working on and managing the entire design process - from research though to ideation and design solutions, all the way to feasibility, deployment, and agile iteration.

Not only has my role developed as a UX designer, but I've also gained valuable experience and knowledge working in SaaS. I've learned about the technology side of our products, as well as the agile development process. This has allowed me to produce better solutions when working closely with developers and other stakeholders in the wider business.

Do you have any advice for those interested in a UX design career?

• UX/UI design encompasses a range of disciplines from researchers, ecommerce specialists, web designers and UI designers, to full stack UX designers and more. This means you'll need to explore the range of job listings on offer from employers to get a good feel for the area that interests you the most.
• While any good job will help you to grow into the role, it's always good to get a head-start on your digital designing skills. Figma, Sketch and Adobe XD are some of the main tools used in the industry, all of which have free versions available for you to practice with.
• UX design is a good career choice for anyone that has studied a design, art or technology subject. There are lots of free online courses available for building UX-specific design skills, which can help you decide if UX is for you, while giving you the knowledge employers are searching for.

Find out more

• Discover more about the role of a UX designer.
• Read about other IT graduate jobs.
• Explore the range of careers on offer at SFG20.