Hi, I'm Oli Batstone and this is Design Tales, a weekly profile of bright creatives. If you’re not a subscriber(!), you can subscribe for free with the button below.
Today’s Profile
Tim Moad is UX Lead and Founder of The Proto Process in Sydney.
Thanks for joining me Tim. What’s a product you use that deserves more attention and why?
Descript - Eerily accurate transcription, with the ability to edit videos and voice clips with a text editor. Incredible product for an a mind blowing amount of applications and uses. Beautifully presented and market.
What do you wish you knew at the start of your career?
That I didn't need to be a master of all aspects of the field and that UX means very different things to different people.
What is the most memorable moment of your career so far?
The most memorable moment of my career was when I was working as a product manager of an internal startup enterprise. It was day after day of getting caught up to speed with where the project was, which in the agency's opinion was "nearly done" and finding out that there had been no research, no testing, no concept validation, nothing. Not only that, but I was faced with a complete reluctance for any to take place, since it was out of budget and they were taking a "lean" approach and it was an "MVP". I lasted two months in the role before quitting. From friends that still worked at the company, I found out that over the next three months, all external investors pulled out of the project and my replacement was made redundant. Apologies if this wasn't the light hearted story you were hoping for, but it was truly a defining moment for me, that led me to start a site helping people to avoid that exact situation and make the transition to the UX industry as smooth as possible.
What do you think are some of the challenges creatives will face over the coming years?
I think terms and roles of what we do are going to continue to become more and more varied, with specialties we don't even anticipate. I think working with new mediums and adapting our processes to be appropriate is going to be a fun but very challenging task.
What advice do you follow?
The principle of just-in-time learning. Gaining knowledge to complete a goal or task, at the very moment when you need it.
I think it's invaluable for professional development and shows why mentors are such an important aspect of working in the UX field, so you can be pointed in the direction and to the knowledge you need, right when you need it.
Do you have anything to promote?
Yeah! We just launched our mentoring program over at theprotoprocess.com, we're currently on boarding industry pros for our mentors and actively accepting mentees!
Fin
I’d like to thank Tim for sharing - in particular:
I think terms and roles of what we do are going to continue to become more and more varied, with specialties we don't even anticipate. I think working with new mediums and adapting our processes to be appropriate is going to be a fun but very challenging task.
It’s fun to speculate how roles will evolve and adapt. As Paavan mentioned in a previous Design Tales, finance will take a greater decisioning role in an ever faster moving society. As we learn more about the human mind works, the commoditisation of the UX process—as something hugely valuable—seems inevitable. When algorithms come in, we’ll end up with something ‘super lean’ with few UX roles—something that can be packaged and applicable to almost any project. Those jobs will be highly specialised, uniquely human positions that algorithms can’t yet hack—maybe something like ‘Emotion Designer’, ‘Delight Architect’ or ‘Stress Analyst’.
How do you see the future of creative roles? Let me know.
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Next Week
Asko Nõmm, Product Designer of Nomm Studio joins us. Asko talks about changing standards in the market, and the new need to focus on building lasting relationships.
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Have a wonderful week — Oli