Alumni Profile: Naomi Gorlov

Naomi successfully completed our ten week Product Design (UX/UI) course during the summer of 2018, and is now working for the BBC as an UX designer.

Why did you choose to study with Experience Haus?

I was looking to change careers and wanted to bring together my experience working closely with customers and my interest in design. Experience Haus was recommended to me as a place where I could learn whilst doing and actively apply the skills I was learning to the real world.

Did you know what you wanted to achieve before you embarked on the course?

User experience design was a whole new world to me as I came from a completely non-design, non-technical background. My aim was to get grounding in both the design and research elements of UX design so I could build on this and work on my own projects.

What did you enjoy most about the course?

I really enjoyed collaborating and working with the other people on the course, but most of all I enjoyed getting the opportunity to experience all aspects of a project through working with a real company. I was able to make a real contribution by solving real problems which gave me invaluable experience.

What is the single most important thing you learnt?

Critique is a good thing. All feedback on a design project helps towards creating the best possible product and solution for users. Any criticism and feedback you receive are positively helping you get to that end goal and make your project be the best it can be.

What are you up to now?

I’m currently working as UX Designer at the BBC looking at how we can develop and improve the signed in experience for users. The signed in experience includes everything from voting to commenting, registration to personalisation and much more. It also means we work with all other areas across the BBC, including TV, Children’s and iPlayer, which is a great opportunity to meet and learn from others.

How do you stay up to date?

UX meetups are a great source of knowledge and a great way to meet people. I also read a lot and subscribe to UX articles on Medium. As you learn and work on more projects it’s always useful to ask your colleagues and stakeholders for feedback so you can constantly look to improve and strengthen your skillset.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about going into your industry?

You can never read enough. Whether it’s a book about user-centred design, an article on Medium or news about the latest technology, everything you read is relevant and useful to helping you grow, develop and reflect. The same goes for talks, design exhibitions, meetups, hackathons, and webinars.

Take time to speak to people around you – whether that’s other designers, developers, users or a stranger at an event. Other people’s perspectives are surprising, interesting and always useful. You don’t have to agree with everyone – and you won’t – but it’s always worth remembering that yours isn’t the only point of view.

What would be your dream job?

Most important to me is working with colleagues who are encouraging and challenge you to be the best you can be. Working in a user-led team where you are constantly learning and are able to create stellar products, conceive innovative ideas, and produce excellent design whilst having room to make mistakes and experiment is my dream role.

Get in touch with Naomi

www.naomigorlov.com
linkedin.com/in/naomigorlov

Posted on : Sunday October 6, 2019