Meet the User Experience Designer: Christopher
I wouldn’t necessarily describe my route into user experience design within the tech industry as ‘conventional’. In fact, I have a very multidisciplinary design background, which has meant I’ve worked with a variety of organisations in different ways throughout my career.
Having studied graphic communication at university, I graduated with a degree that set me off on a more traditional graphic design trajectory. My first full-time role was with a local print company, where I prepared artwork and created designs for customers. After that, I went self-employed, providing graphic design services to local organisations while at the same time learning how to build websites.
Due to a need to relocate, I stopped working for myself and got a job as a digital designer for a well-known fashion brand in the UK. Here, I put my website knowledge to the test, creating assets for the company’s e-commerce page as well as designing and building its weekly sales emails.
Transitioning to user experience
Following my time in the fashion industry, I decided to explore the world of tech. I initially joined the BAE Systems Digital Intelligence team as a visual designer, where I focused on creating graphic assets.
Now, in my current role as Principle User Experience Designer, I spend most of my time on the user experience side – an area I find particularly fulfilling as it revolves around building solutions that help protect people against real-world threats.
In practice, creating great, frictionless experiences involves working closely with the people interacting with our products to understand their needs, and then incorporating those insights into applications and graphic assets. To do this, I run activities such as usability testing, workshops and design sprints. When we have a deeper understanding of users’ needs, we turn them into assets such as prototypes, wireframes and high fidelity designs.
These assets might be then shown to users to get further feedback, or handed off to our engineering teams to be transformed into a tangible thing. Crucially, we constantly iterate and evaluate our designs, prototypes and engineering builds. A particular system can go through months, if not years, of repeated design evaluation and testing before being considered finished.
A day in the life of a designer
A typical day in my current role is difficult to describe, as each one is so different to the other. As a result of hybrid and flexible working, I could be doing my job from a variety of locations – from home, the BAE Systems office in Gloucester, or local customer locations.
Currently, I’m working on a project that is run in agile sprints, involving a number of regular meetings which tend to structure my days. These include daily stand-ups, roadmap planning, sprint reviews and retrospectives.
To fit into a predominantly engineering culture as a designer, it’s important to make time for core design activities. This is why we regularly evaluate our in-sprint design activities and critique each other’s work.
What remains constant is that every day I get to work with a diverse range of immensely intelligent and creative people. There is such a healthy culture of collaboration, knowledge sharing and learning across the organisation.
But it’s not all work. Right now I’m kept on my toes by my one year old son! While this means a lot of my other hobbies are on hold, I do still enjoy watching football and motorsport. I also take a keen interest in photography, and keep a close eye on the evolution of emerging technologies like AI, particularly within the design industry.
Don’t think twice – apply!
As a designer, when I first applied to BAE Systems Digital Intelligence I didn’t know exactly how I was going to fit into the tech industry.
Due to the nature of our customers, things can be a little unconventional at times. However, the flip side is that the work is extremely rewarding. If you’re looking for a role that’s core essence is making great things with tangible real-world benefits for users, I would highly recommend applying to a role here.
If, like me in the beginning, you think your skills might not be as relevant, don’t think twice – the chances are they will be!
If you feel inspired by Christopher’s story, we’re currently recruiting diverse teams of driven individuals who share our passion for technology and mission to protect the connected world. Find available roles.