Meet Merix: Maria - User Experience Designer

I'm not one to shy away from giving compliments, but when it comes to being genuinely nice, there's no better person to fit this description than Maria. She's even nice when playing cardboard games, which usually take the worst out of people. She was winning and not at all gloating - talk about being humble!

As you will read in this interview, she (spoiler alert!) met all of us during the party we've had when we were saying goodbye to our old office. Let me tell you one thing - it was one of the most iconic parties of Merixstudio, so she knew what craziness she was getting into. ;)

Since not only she stayed but also likes to go out with us after hours for a session of aforementioned games, it only reasonable to conclude that she also must be brave. ;) Meet Marysia - a calm yoga instructor with a sharp mind and a constant smile on her face:

Maria, we have so many desks, what are doing on the floor? Good thing they are regularly vacuumed;) 😇 #workinghard #work #ux #userexperience #softwarehouse #webproject #webdev #webdesign #friday #friyay #merixstudio #poznan #instapoznan

Post udostępniony przez MERIXSTUDIO (@merixstudio) Lip 28, 2017 o 5:22 PDT

• Tell us something about yourself.
  I am a User Experience Designer and a yoga teacher, but I also studied (and graduated!) from the Landscape Architect, which then I switched to Interface Design.
• What are your main responsibilities at Merixstudio?
  My tasks at Merixstudio include collecting and analyzing requirements for projects as well as converting them into mockups that shows the final solution. In the project I represent both users' and business' viewpoint, i.e. what I design must meet the expectations related to the business goal while being user-friendly to people who will be the recipients of a given page or tool. Those requirements are also influenced by specific technological possibilities and limitations.
  So my role is to be a middleman between people and technology. I explain technology to humans and humans to technology. :) Thanks to this, the human-interface interaction is not frustrating for anyone.
  My work is mainly about solving problems and organizing elements and, as a result, the interface or service I design is intuitive and optimized regarding goals it needs to achieve.
• What is important to you while working?
  UX Designer is, to a large extent, an analyst, so the first thing I have to do is understand the subject that someone comes to me with. How I acquire this knowledge, however, depends on the project.
  The best form is to conduct workshops with the client and, if possible, to do an audit of their current page. Then, based on the gathered knowledge, together we can begin to outline the solution. The result of that is a model or clickable prototype that can be tested.
  There are more stages of my work, but the way I operate depends on the specificity of the product. The opportunity to work with the customer during workshops gives the best results because it allows both parties to understand the product, users, business needs, and technological limitations.
• Tell us something about your beginnings in the company.
  I have been working at Merixstudio since April 2017, when the company was moving to our current office. It started with a farewell party at Różana Street, and I think that I've probably settled in quite quickly. I'm used to moving and changing teams that I work with.
  The first tasks I was getting were not particularly large; therefore the implementation process was quite easy and calm. Over time, I started to work on more demanding projects.
• What have you learned while working in Merixstudio?
  I've learned a lot. Mainly about the difference between working with external and internal clients.
• What do you like the most about Merixstudio?
  Definitely the atmosphere :) Lack of complex structure, the efficiency of the organization, and openness.
• What was the biggest challenge you faced while working at Merixstudio?
  It's quite challenging to extract information from customers. At my previous job, I had a large amount of data and the possibility of obtaining it. Currently, I have to work on what the client will make available to me. It is always a different resource of knowledge, sometimes with access to end users, sometimes not. This knowledge, however, is very important since it's the basis for my further work.
• What cool things have you worked on at Merixstudio?
  I really like projects that are completely not sexy for the majority of designers. For me, the coolest are the ones about complicated tools which help to manage some processes that enabling work for a group of people, for instance employees in some company. In such cases I have a lot of work when it comes to arranging the entire architecture and simplifying the processes.
  In Merixstudio, I had two such projects. One concerned the development of tools that support the process in the company, the other one creating a database with tools for managing the information it contained.

The weekend is over, but it looks like it's not a problem for Maria and Maciej :) #monday #working #workinghard #meeting #office #officelife #workshop #happyoffice #coworkers #webdev #webdeveloper #softwarehouse #poznan #Merixstudio

Post udostępniony przez MERIXSTUDIO (@merixstudio) Maj 15, 2017 o 3:41 PDT

• When did you make a decision that you want to work in IT?
  I've had my first contact with the IT industry a few years ago, when I started working in customer service at Allegro. There I've had the opportunity to participate as a consultant and tester of solutions for our users. And so I discovered that working on the development of services and technical solutions is what I feel good at. I took part in internal recruitment and that's how my new chapter of professional life started :)
• What do you think is most difficult (and most interesting) in your work as a UX Designer?
  The most difficult thing is to understand users' perspective when designing solutions for a group of people with whom you have little in common. It could either be a specific industry or a completely different cultural area. At the same time, the most interesting in UX Designer's work is that you learn something all the time. You gain knowledge in many fields: technology, psychology, sociology, design, and individual industries in which you will work.
• The first thing you do when you arrive at the office.
  Green tea :)
• iOS or Android?
  Android.
• What do you do in your free time?
  I mainly spend time with my friends, practice yoga, or leave the city. And sometimes I do all of those things at the same time. :)
• The best hero from your childhood is…
  Snufkin from Moomins. A free spirit and traveller that's curious about the world.
• Where is your favourite place in Poznań?
  Oh, I like a lot of places :) Judging by my Facebook check-in statistics it appears that Namasteyoga - a yoga studio. I could also mention the Muza cinema.
• Beer or vodka?
  Recently definitely Indian Pale Ale.
• Sports?
  I don't have good associations with the professional sport. The rivalry when it comes to being the best leads to crossing the boundaries that should not be crossed. I do not like competition, that's why I practice yoga :)
  In yoga, it's about maintaining physical fitness and maintaining health, focusing on yourself, your abilities, and your limitations. People that practice it, amateurs or professionals, often get interested in yoga when they want to recover from injuries, stretch, or strengthen some area of their body. But if I cheer on someone playing sport, it's always my friends :)
• Dog or cat?
  Dog. The cat's biggest disadvantage is the presence of claws ...
• Which website do you visit the most?
  There is a blog written by a graphic designer that I visit quite frequently. It is a good source of ideas, graphics and links to interesting websites.
• Favorite app.
  Spotify. I like the context of how it's used: it can be used as a music player or a remote control to control a web app if you listen to music at home.
• The light or dark side?
  Light :)

• If you could only visit one website for the rest of your life, what site would that be?
  If it has to be the last thing I can watch on the net, it would be films created by Mike Olbinski. Mike is a photographer with a passion for observing meteorological phenomena. His storm time-laps are the best in the world. :)
• If you could have your dream job, what it would be?
  UX Designer and yoga teacher.... Maybe I would only change the climate for a wormer one. :)