In this week’s Meet the Team, we speak to Lizzie Oloruntola, a UX Consultant here at Remarkable. Lizzie tells us about her career so far, her love of anime, and how working as a teacher gave her some surprisingly useful skills for working in UX.
Every day is different but typically, I start my day by checking my Slack or emails and prioritise my tasks for the day. I’m pretty old-school, and I prefer to write my tasks on paper – for some reason, typing it on the notes app just doesn’t feel as concrete!
After my daily stand ups, I get on with my design tasks, usually with a cup of herbal tea and my diffuser in the background. When I’m in focus mode, I also like listening to instrumental soundtracks or gospel music.
Throughout my day I will typically use Figma if I’m designing or Miro if I’m doing research. I also like using the Forest app, which is a visual timer when I’m doing deep work or brainstorming as it helps me to organise my time in a more creative way. I also like to document what I’m learning or any ideas I have to help me with iterating.
During lunch, I like to go for a walk and move my body. Somehow, I’ve convinced myself to do this in rain or sunshine? I think it helps with coming up with ideas and relieving any blockers I may be experiencing.
I like to wrap up my day by ticking off what I’ve done and delegating any outstanding tasks to a more appropriate time in my week.
For me, it’s getting feedback on my work. I’ve learnt not to take it so personally because suggestions or criticism are better early than late. It also shows that your colleagues are invested in the work, and say what they say for the success of the project. Receiving criticism also isn’t a bad thing; it’s an opportunity to enhance my thought process and deliver a better user experience.
As a designer, I have the honour of coming up with creative solutions, some of which need more iteration based on business requirements or other factors that need consideration. Sometimes as designers I think that we can get attached to our work, but we may need to take a different approach. I’ve learnt to recognise that this could be an opportunity to pivot and learn something new along the way.
So overall, I’ve learnt to think about the bigger picture and understand that getting constructive criticism or feedback is for the greater good of the team and the project’s success.
I have some stand ups with colleagues from other teams, so this gives me a chance to ask questions or receive knowledge transfers about aspects that I may need further insights on. Liaising with other team members also helps to track our progress and identify any risks or offer recommendations.
I collaborate with other members of my team to discuss our work, receive feedback and support each other. I also just jump on Slack and message other team members if I believe they have information I need.
I think it’s beneficial for UX Designers to be patient, problem solvers and positive. Design often requires iterating and improving, and this takes time and patience. It’s also about being creative and expanding our thought process to tackle complex problems. I think if an aspiring UX designer has these qualities and is interested in learning about how things work or why they work, this could be a great foundation for their career.
I think designing for inclusivity and accessibility is key for an enjoyable user experience. Some ways that this can be achieved are by involving users to understand their experience of the design solutions provided, and acknowledging where there could be areas of improvement. Testing designs with a range of users provides valuable data that can drive our designs forward and back up our solutions. It’s also great to align with WCAG guidelines for accessibility and using contrast checkers to make the designs feasible and usable.
I did a degree in Psychology, and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next. I like understanding how things work, and I’ve always been quite creative. I initially started teaching in schools, but I felt that I wanted to move in another direction. Funnily enough, I did designs here and there for friends and family, but it never occurred to me that I could have a career in it. So I decided to do a UX/UI design course and pivoted into the tech and design industry. I found that I naturally enjoyed UX design with a background in psychology, and I’m glad I experienced working at a school before pivoting into design, as I was able to transfer a lot of my skills from one to the other. Working with children and young people in particular taught me to be more patient with myself and others. It’s interesting how our previous experiences and backgrounds can offer different perspectives and insights to our future careers. Now I’m here at Remarkable and happy I made that pivot when I did.
Something that I wish I knew when I was younger was that you don’t need to attach yourself to your school subjects or your degree. You probably have transferrable skills from your favourite subjects or even life experiences that can be used in other careers. So, if you’d like to pivot, you totally can. I’d advise that if someone wanted to start in UX, they could take a course to learn best practice and get familiar with tools like Figma, Miro and the adobe suite. Staying up to date with the latest technology by reading medium or tech news articles is also useful, as tech is always advancing. I would advise practicing and getting your work critiqued. Receiving feedback is a big part of design, so it’s good to get used to this. Lastly, believe in your skills and your ability to expand them. It just takes one opportunity to break into your aspiring career!
Outside of work I still mentor and teach young people at my local church. Although I left my teaching career, it is still important to me to support the next generation. It’s rewarding to see them progress and even have interests in topics like technology that they educate me about too! I also enjoy reading psychological thrillers, singing and watching anime. I used to read manga when I was a teenager but these days I tend to watch it. A lot of people think anime and cartoons are for kids but if you ever watch it, you will know that you can learn a lot of life lessons from them. I highly recommend!
I have a couple, but I think one of my favourite things about working for Remarkable is how friendly everyone is. When I first joined, the team made the effort to get me involved, show me around and answer my list of questions. I feel very blessed to work with so many seasoned professionals and I’ve learnt so much. It’s great how everyone is willing to transfer their knowledge and provide useful contributions to projects to produce great outcomes. As a member of the Experience team, I feel incredibly supported, and everyone is so collaborative and positive! It’s nice to know and feel that your team are rooting for you and willing to help. I’m blessed to learn a lot and be given the opportunity to be a part of a great team. I look forward to our future work and collaborations!
