10 in 5. Lovisa Stockman, UX Designer

UX is not some afterthought to be applied on an already designed product, but rather something to be included from the start. Hear more about Lovisa's thoughts on UX and what to consider in this fine field.

1. Hey Lovisa. How the heck are you doing this fine day?
   I’m good, a little tired, but otherwise fine!
2. So what do you do at Humblebee?
   I'm a UX Designer, but currently also doing some product design.
3. Can you tell us exactly what a UX Designer at Humblebee does?
   Good question, a little bit of everything? Haha, no but, well it depends on the project. I guess I can speak from my own current project where there is also a lot of product design involved, but also partly testing where I manage the planning of tests, have client contact and such as well. Basically, make sure that things are aligned with what the other teams are doing and try to find consistency. It’s a bit challenging!
4. How come you ended up working with UX Design?
   I have studied various types of design, everything from furniture design to more general, I did a bachelor within industrial design where the design process was focussed on physical products. After earning my degree, I was trying to figure out what I should do next realising that in the “real world” things are perhaps not as explorative as the process I learned was, seeing as you have to take certain things into account such as stakeholders, tech, demands etc. So, I thought, what do I do now? Then I had some years of working and studying parallel, I wanted an education that would lead to work, something more concrete, and during my other courses service design and these notions came up so I then applied to UX design because I wanted to work creatively with the design process, but without having to focus on physical products. I think it’s exciting to work with services and digital products. So that is how I ended up here!
5. Tell us about one project you’re particularly proud of…
   I haven’t been a part of many projects yet, but I think the one we did with Meela was really fun and I’m glad that I got to be a part of it! Was nice working with a company created and led by women and I think we had a great team constellation as well. It felt like we really took advantage of each other's competences and it felt like a nice project and case to get for Humblebee; not just working with big organizations but also with start-ups and being able to be a part of their journeys.
   Also, it was my first design sprint which was great, I got to learn a lot just by participating! It was fun to do the whole design process in a compact way, creating a prototype, iterating and testing, it’s not always possible to do in that speed. Plus we had a good Product Manager for that project too! (Thank you Lovisa!)
6. Do you have one good tip for a tool you love, or perhaps a book or resource you highly recommend?
   Maybe a boring answer but I like Miro a lot, think there are many possibilities there, creating sketches, flows, planning and analysing etc. There are many usages! But otherwise, a good tool can also be to leave the screen and instead go back to just pen and paper to be able to do more rough sketching. Trying to understand stuff and not getting stuck in the current design. I think especially when sketching different ideas of how things may work and look, it's easy to end up in the details and pixels, which may not be the purpose right at that point, but rather to understand and find the logic of the flow. I myself have a hard time sometimes letting go of the screen and getting away from the details so it’s good to go back to pen and paper then.
7. What do you do to make sure you continue to grow as an expert within UX Design?
   I think, when I have worked a few years, hopefully I will feel like I’m more of an expert in a specific area. Now I have worked for almost a year, and I have touched upon many different areas, and perhaps the first year should be more exploratory before finding your niche. I think testing different things, so that you eventually can develop in a certain area and become an expert in it is a good way forward. Testing and evaluating oneself!
8. How do you think UX Design will evolve in the future?
   I think it will be more niche roles, that one has like an expert area, maybe UX research for instance. There is a huge demand for UX designers, and I think the field will only grow more, which probably means more markets and companies will hire that role and thus it will evolve because of that as well. It will be exciting to see what will happen!
9. Do you have any advice for people starting out their career and considering UX Design?
   If you are a woman, apply because we need more women in this field! No but, this industry is still very male dominated, and I think it´s important to work towards more diverse teams.
   Then of course if you like the design process, mixing exploration with research combined with more detail work, then this may be a good role for you!
10. If you could give a company one piece of advice (from a UX design perspective)… perhaps a recurring error you have seen from your career… what would that be?
    Generally, it is difficult to get to work closely with the user, exploring their needs and being able to do tests. Sometimes this gets included too late in the process, and a lot comes from above, but instead you should work more user focused from the get-go! Instead of thinking “this would be good to have” and building a product, then realizing that no one really wants it, that is just wasting time because you are starting off wrong. This needs to be included early in the process. Be brave enough to talk to the users and let go of things that do not create value, cause in the end that will lead to a better product.

If you’re interested in working at Humblebee then get in touch and we’ll meet up for coffee and a chat.