UX CALENDAR – DECEMBER 1 – Meeting with Benjamin, UI-UX Designer at UX Republic.

Let's meet Benjamin! A young man who knew how to provoke his chance to do a job that he likes and that has value.

Always looking for meaning in his missions, he is now a confirmed UI-UX designer, able to adapt to client needs: user experience, motion design, print or photography hold no secrets for him.

I let you discover our exchange and his several lives that have forged his resourceful and persevering character.

Hi Benjamin, can you present your background in a few words?

To introduce myself quickly, I have 7 years of experience in the web and a little more in graphic design. I joined UX Republic almost 2 years ago where I have a UI-UX designer profile.

We're going to do a little background before going into detail about your mission. What was your educational background to become a UI-UX Designer?

I learned a lot on my own. When I was little what I liked were comic books and video games so I first wanted to become a comic book artist when I was in college, then a video game designer.

There was no course for that so I turned to advertising graphics. I joined the visual communication high school Corvisart (Paris XIII), recognized in the world of graphic design. I found myself in something that really pleased me.

Life meant that I had to stop after my CAP and I started to work but I always hung on, I wanted to do graphic design.

The jobs I did during this somewhat darker period (I was a salesman, waiter, bartender, restaurant manager) now give me an additional vision of the world of work.

How did you go from graphic design to more web-oriented jobs?

After a few years in graphic design, I started to question myself. I had trouble finding meaning in what I was doing. I had the impression of selling the wind, of doing pretty things but not knowing what it was for behind it apart from selling brands.

So I started to discover the web. At the time we were talking about web design, so both the graphic design part and web development. Thanks to the zero site (which has now become OpenClassrooms), I began to train myself on this new subject.

I joined the Multimedia School (Paris IIIe) on a work-study program for 1 year, where I followed the “Multimedia Artistic Director” training. I learned all the methodology related to user experience (persona, userFlow, wireframes, ….).

Can you tell us more about this first experience during your work-study program?

The company I worked for was developing a dating app so I learned to make the app with all the constraints around it.

There were three of us (the boss, a developer and me). The boss was always full of ideas! We made motion design videos, a showcase website and lots of other things.

I also quickly understood the importance of communication between a developer and a designer. I worked closely with the developer of the project, she taught me a lot of things.

What do you like the most in your day-to-day job?

Have meaning in what I do. I will seek to understand needs, frustrations and act to create a better experience. For me, there, I improve the daily lives of people on my small scale. It's in total contradiction with what I used to do in advertising.

We can say that you have a very complete profile thanks to your different experiences.

I actually have a lot of strings to my bow: knowing how to make video in motion design, doing branding which helps a lot in UI, creating logos, managing grids,...

It's good to have this multi-faceted profile and it allows you to understand other professions.

What path did you take after your studies?

I started with a permanent contract for a fairly well-known trend office that works internationally. I had contacts with developers in Thailand and I communicated with customers all over the world.

I was the only digital profile so I had a very wide scope (making posts for social networks, computer troubleshooting, …) so I couldn't do as much UX-UI as I would have liked.

And on the design part, what were you working on?

There were two projects, the showcase site and the customer area. In fact, we were selling trend books. There were agents all over the world who sold these notebooks and then there were customers who needed to consult them. At the time, it was 12 large binders, so very heavy and restrictive.

The objective was to digitize them in .PDF format and make them available online to present them to customers. And we have added resources to download for stylists (silhouettes, patterns, etc.).

Then, I worked for three years as a freelancer where I traveled for almost a year where I worked from Latin America and Asia among others. It opened my mind to a lot of cultures and it allows me to perfect languages.

You arrived at UX Republic in February 2021, what influenced your choice to join us?

I knew the name and I had read that the agency was part of the top 5 UX design agencies in France. As I wanted to devote myself to UX, I responded to an offer on Linkedin.

So, how did you experience your arrival at UX Republic and your mission in this context of health crisis?

I saw the enthusiasm created around digital. All customers wanted to be present on the Internet, to have their site and/or their application. Already that the market was in our direction, the Covid accelerated everything.

Have your method and your work tools evolved following this period?

As I was coming out of three years of freelance and I travelled, I was already used to distance learning with remote tools.

Since your arrival at UX Republic, what have been your missions?

I joined a French group of companies, world leader in the luxury industry, from the beginning and I am still there today. I work on the creation of different intranets for group entities as UX-UI lead.

I therefore work on several small projects and at the same time I accompany the team on the methodology.

I also set up a Design System for the projects. I created a base and for a few months, a designer from UX Republic joined the mission to take care of it full time.

If we go a bit into the future, with a view to a new mission, for which sector of activity would you like to design interfaces?

I would have liked to work for charitable and solidarity projects. Projects that have an impact on everyday life interest me.

And even if it does not touch digital or not completely, such as the journey of a traveler in a station. We know that today many things should be changed because habits have changed.

Let's talk a bit about the trainings you were able to follow at UX Republic. Which ones have you participated in? And above all, were you able to apply what you learned on a mission?

I did the Lean UX training where I realized that I was already applying the methodology but I was missing the right vocabulary.

And then I passed the Product Owner certification where I could understand how project managers work within my projects.

Benjamin, we have almost finished our little exchange, before leaving us I would like to ask you a few quick questions that I ask everyone:

If I asked you to choose between Sketch, Figma, Photoshop or Adobe XD, which would you choose?

Figma without hesitation! For many things, especially for its ergonomics, the many options such as auto-layout, plugins and its efficiency in prototyping”.

Guidelines iOS or Android?

iOS for the experience side. It's more fluid and minimalist, I prefer.

Music or no music when you work?

I like not having sound if I'm on user research, however as soon as I go to the UI phase, I like having music.

I listen to a lot of movie soundtracks, especially Hans Zimmer playlists. I find that very inspiring.

A book, film or documentary on digital that you would recommend?

I travel a lot by bike so I listen to a lot of podcasts. For example, “Design Journeys” which I really like. These are one or two hour episodes in interview format with feedback as we do together today.

Jouney Design Podcast

It's not exactly design but I really like the “Geek-Art, an anthology” collection. It's fascinating to see what people can do with pop-geek culture with their diverse inspirations and the mixtures that it can create.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have a designer or a designer collective that you follow on social networks?

I really like Utagawa Kuniyoshi's style, his prints are incredible. I'm also thinking of the photographers Sebastião Salgado and Réhahn Croquevielle, their shots are just crazy!

Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Ghost

Sebastiao Salgado

Desert Hell, Kuwait

Rehahn Croqueville

Photo of Bui Thi Xong, 78

On the digital side and UI inspiration, I really appreciate minimalist design so I'm going to draw inspiration from several works and designers.

Benjamin, we're done! Thank you again for our discussion! Do you want to add something that we haven't covered?

We did a good lap and we talked about a lot of things so I think we're good!

 

Alexa Cuellar, UX Designer @UX-Republic

Image sources: https://undraw.co/illustrations

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