Uncategorized Archives - Page 11 of 11 - Experience Haus

Product Design Alumni Profile: Chris Magoba

product design ux ui experience haus

Tell us a little about your current work? 

Before starting the Product Design UX/UI course, I had recently graduated from university and was working as a freelancer; and prior to this I had been an intern, working in consumer products for a multinational media & entertainment company. Shortly after finishing the course, I secured a permanent role as an Associate Product Designer for a fin-tech start-up. One thing I love about the role is that there’s lots of potential to work in different areas and learn from the wider design team.

What made you choose Experience Haus?

After a few days comparing different courses, I chose Experience Haus because I felt I’d get the most meaningful teaching and also the best value for money. The biggest draw, for me, was the fact that while studying on the course we’d actually be working individual on real briefs for real start-ups.

What did you want to achieve from your Experience Haus course? Do you think that objective was fulfilled?

The main things I wanted to get out of this course were general experience working on a project, end-to-end, in the context of digital products & service; and to get a better understanding of UX/UI design best practices. I also wanted something more relevant to add to my portfolio and hopefully make connections that could lead to job opportunities.

Instructor Profile: Aditya Tripathi

aditya product management experience haus

Tell us a little about yourself and your current work outside of Experience Haus? 

I currently work as a Sr. Product Marketing Manager at VMware. My business area within VMware creates automation and tooling for software developers. There are usually referred to as “platform” or “DevOps” products. Previously I was a product manager here at VMware, and at Amazon before that. I was part of Amazon’s largest vendor business – think Prime but for large companies. In all my product roles, I’ve loved creating business impact with new technology, while delighting end users. In a previous career, I’ve worked in software engineering roles at a couple of investment banks. 

Did you have a specific goal you wanted to achieve before you started teaching at Experience Haus? Do you think your time here so far has kept you on the right track?

I learnt a lot of things about product management by accident and experiment. In teaching this course, my hope was to pass on my experience to others so they don’t make the same mistakes I did! So far my students consistently tell me what I’ve taught them has been relevant to them at work – so I feel like I am on the right track!

What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe effective teaching requires a lot of empathy. You really need to understand your student’s context and learning styles to deliver your content effectively. I endeavour to understand as much as I can about my students through in-class dialog, so I can tweak my content and delivery over time.

What do you enjoy most about teaching at Experience Haus?

At Experience Haus, I meet a range of people – some are only curious about digital skills whereas others are actively looking at transitioning into a digital role. I love conversations with my students about the new skills they could acquire and what impact those skills might have on their careers. Enabling someone to make the right decision for their careers is something I really care about, and get to do a lot at the Haus! I also love how much I have to think about my daily work as a product marketer / product manager, in order to teach my classes effectively.

Startup Profile: The Float

the float experience haus

Tell us a little about your company and your current team 

The Float is a finance company founded in 2018. The business was started as a way to ease cashflow issues among freelancers by paying them upfront on their invoices while their clients would pay us in 60 days time.

The current team consists of Mike Garrod, a media professional with over 20 years of experience, and myself, Neeraj Dhanothia, a finance and operations executive.

What was the brief you gave your student at Experience Haus? What were they able to produce for you?

The brief given to the Product Design student was on testing the design of some new features we want to add to the platform in the future.

The student spent some time researching the market to identify the actual issues that we are looking to solve with the new features, researching the alternatives available and making design recommendations on what the new features should look like to be useful. The end result was a slick presentation that forms the basic idea that we will further develop to create the new features on.

How have you been able to use this?

We continue to stay in touch with the student, though the output is not yet in production. We plan on implementing her new feature and design ideas in the near future and will absolutely reach out to her when that happens.

The Westminster Big Idea Competition

Experience Haus Appointed Primary Delivery Partner for The Westminster Big Idea Competition

Experience Haus is proud to be appointed  the primary Delivery Partner of The Westminster Big Idea Competition, organised by the Creative Enterprise Centre of the University of Westminster. 

As the primary Delivery Partner, Experience Haus will be leading and facilitating over 30 workshops during the full scope of the 6-month programme to the students of the university. These will be across four streams – inspiration, innovation, ideation, and acceleration – which aim to celebrate students’ entrepreneurial ideas and potential. Experience Haus will also be providing dedicated mentors and guest speakers, and will assist students during and after the programme to develop the students’ big ideas

The competition will end with a programme finale ‘pitch night’ held on 17th March 2020, where the startup teams and individuals will showcase their innovative solutions, ideas, and pitch decks. 

Sheila Birungi, Student Entrepreneurship Programme Manager at the University of Westminster, commented “We are delighted to welcome Experience Haus as our primary Delivery Partner for this year’s Westminster Big Idea Competition. Their ideas and digital expertise will be very valuable in creating collaborations between students, startups, and mentors. We want to build on last year’s success and ensure the competition delivers even greater impact for our students and graduates over the next six months. 

Commenting on the appointment, Amit Patel, Creative Director of Experience Haus, said “We’re excited to be working with the university for this as it fulfills our ambition and initiative to inspire and provide quality design education to the curious.”

Product Design Instructor Profile: Jon White

Jon White

Tell us a little about yourself and your current work outside of Experience Haus? 

I work for Cleo – an app designed to fight for the world’s financial health – as a User Researcher and I love my role. I get to talk to people about their problems and then help build solutions. Outside of work I do the classic middle-aged thing of trying to balance a family and home whilst also squeezing in time to play video games.

Did you have a specific goal you wanted to achieve before you started teaching at Experience Haus? Do you think your time here so far has kept you on the right track?

I’ve always been interested in sharing knowledge, either as a student or a teacher. To that end I wanted to be able to share what I know and help inspire new designers to create products that put the user at the heart of the work. I’d also like to think that I’m empowering people to think in different ways and be more confident in their skills.

What is your teaching philosophy?

I encourage everyone to learn by doing, not to be afraid of ‘failing’, and to always keep asking questions. I lead the discussions and teach the material, but I want every class to feel like an open space where everybody can learn something – even me!

What do you enjoy most about teaching at Experience Haus?

What I enjoy most about teaching at Experience Haus has got to be the students! It’s so interesting to me to meet people with so many varied backgrounds and help them channel their energies and encourage their curiosities.

Product Design Alumni Profile: Kathryn Samson

Product Design Experience Haus

Tell us a little about your current work? 

I’m a freelance graphic designer, working in the industry for over 20 years, so I have a broad experience as a designer but have been very print based. I’ve recently finished the Product Design course, but I’m continuing the relationship with the company I was paired with during the course, contributing in a UX/UI capacity. It’s exciting as they’re mainly developers so it’s a baptism of fire, but the good thing is I definitely have enough mentors on hand.

What made you choose Experience Haus?

I actually found out about the Product Design course by Experience Haus through another organisation, Hexagon, who pair UX mentors with people who want to move into that field. Hexagon is a community of women and non-binary individuals trying to help others who want to transition into that space. My mentor there suggested this course and funnily enough she has recently been to the Experience Haus studio to present about online accessibility.

What did you want to achieve from your Experience Haus course? Do you think that objective was fulfilled?

I wanted to add to my design skill set with UX/UI design capabilities. I absolutely feel like i’ve now got all the tools I need to build my UX/UI design career. Because i’m continuing my work with the startup that I was paired with during the Product Design course, i’ll definitely continue to gain more experience and will also have a real case study for my portfolio. 

Alumni Profile: Naomi Gorlov

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.

Introducing QAccelerator

Welcome to QAccelerator

QAccelerator is an intensive summer school that combines business training, expert support and coaching to help you accelerate your venture’s success. The programme will take place from 15th – 26th July 2019. We are seeking 15 motivated entrepreneurs to participate: 12 Queen Mary University of London students or graduates and 3 local Tower Hamlets residents.

What is an accelerator?

When you’re running a business, time is money and few business owners can afford to stand still. If you run a business which is moderately successful, you will be seeking to scale and build out an effective post-revenue growth strategy. Over 10 days, we will support you in taking the steps needed to take your business to the next level.

About the programme

Over the last five years, QEnterprise has supported over 2,000 students and graduates in starting, growing and scaling new ventures. We have designed this growth programme based on insights gained from delivery of QIncubator – our 12-week programme designed to support early stage ventures. 120 founders have graduated from QIncubator since 2018.

QAccelerator is sponsored by Santander Universities. The Santander Universities Division continues to support and manage Santander’s commitment to higher education. This is a long-term, strategic alliance with universities that benefits students and university staff in the communities where Santander is present.

QAccelerator is sponsored by Santander Universities. The Santander Universities Division continues to support and manage Santander’s commitment to higher education. This is a long-term, strategic alliance with universities that benefits students and university staff in the communities where Santander is present.

What the programme includes

10 professional full-day business sessions (including Investment Readiness, Marketing, Sales and Leadership)

  • 1-2-1 Business Expert sessions
  • 1-2-1 Financial Coaching
  • Access to networks & community of ambitious founders
  • Ongoing support & guidance
  • Referrals to industry/sector experts
  • Opportunity to be featured through QMUL and partner communication channels

You can apply if…

  • You are a current QMUL student, alumni (<10 years) or business based in East London
  • You already have a few customers and you’re ready to get more
  • You are full-time, or almost full-time on your business
  • You have been running your business for less than 2 years
  • You want to connect with other ambitious entrepreneurs

Student Profile: Alvin Chan

Why did you choose to study with Experience Haus?

I chose Experience Haus because I needed the relevant skills to become a UX/UI designer. I decided to switch shortly after graduating from Industrial Design in summer 2018 because I thought the scope for innovation and improvement was diminishing in designing physical goods. Digital, or UX/UI design, seemed a lot more exciting and profound – nearly everyone has a smartphone or computer so that’s a good start. My friend Dimitri also studied with Experience Haus and recommended it to me so I jumped on.

After finishing the Product Design course, I knew there was a new Product Management course so I signed up to that too, because it is beneficial to know the methodologies and personnel businesses utilise to design their products or services.

Did you know what you wanted to achieve before you embarked on the course? What did you enjoy most about the course?

Yeah, I wanted to become a UX/UI Designer. I know this sounds very salesman-like, but if it wasn’t for the course, I wouldn’t have been able to share my UX research and design process during my job interviews, talk about what I did like user interviews, usability testing, and interface design. I wouldn’t stand a chance with only presenting the work I did in uni, and certainly wouldn’t have landed my UX design job.

What did you enjoy most about the course?

Learning the relevant processes like experience mapping, user flows, and applying it to a live brief from a startup was really enjoyable. More often or not, a lot of these vocational courses ask you to apply what you learnt to a theoretical project that came from your own thinking, which frankly, isn’t enough.

Also learning with fellow course mates who come from different backgrounds, be in a senior designer, marketing manager, or someone else straight out of uni like me made it more interesting too.

The Importance of a Value Proposition

It has been argued that the value proposition is the determinant between business success and failure. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your value proposition bears the promise you give to your customer assuring them that your product or service will deliver value to them. In its simplest form, the value proposition describes the benefits your customers will get by using your products or service. It also explains what kind of a customer you are targeting, and finally why a customer should choose you from a pool of others. 

It is so sad many businesses don’t get it right from the beginning or they just decide to bury their value proposition in buzzwords or meaningless slogans. In fact, many businesses don’t even bother giving it even more attention on their sites and in their marketing campaigns. A good number don’t even know what it is all about. 

It always doesn’t matter your area of specialization, whether you are a techie startup seeking licenses for innovation or just a mere entrepreneur, developing an effective technology overview and its value proposition is more than a necessity. Simply put, your value proposition is supposed to describe your target buyer, more importantly, the problem the product or service will solve, and why your prospect should choose your products or services rather than the alternatives. 

Your value proposition must have the following components:

1. Target market. These are your customers

2. How your product or service will solve their problem.

3. Why you are best suited for the job

In its ideal form, your value proposition is all about the customer. How the customer will benefit from your product or service. In essence, you are trying to explain yourself to your customer in a manner that brings out the best to them. That’s why it has been coined to answer the question; “what do you do?”

Here are some of the importance of creating a clear, compelling value proposition for your brand.

Your prospects will easily understand what you offer. It is a fact that customers already know what they are looking for whenever they are searching for something online. Therefore, your value proposition should immediately let them know that you can meet their needs. If it can’t achieve this, then you risk losing your customer to your competitor.

Sets you apart from your competitors. It’s almost a guarantee that whatever field you are in you must have competitors. A good value proposition sets you apart from them from the start. It tells your customers why they should choose you rather than them.  

The best strategy for wooing the right prospects. Having a good value proposition increases your chances of getting the best prospects for your business who are likely to convert into customers. Because of a good value proposition which is developed ideally for your ideal customers and explains why your customers should choose you. 

Offers your customers a better understanding of your products or services. The best value proposition should tell your customer the value of your product or service and what benefit they will get from purchasing it. It should also explain why your product or service is their best option. 

Clarity in messaging. Needless to say, your value proposition is a clear and concise statement that should make it clear immediately to your customers what you offer. The most effective way to communicate your message clearly is placing your value proposition in all your main entry pages like home page, product page, and category pages. 

In conclusion, the value proposition statement should be concise, easy-to-understand that customers will easily remember. If you do this right, you will not only win customers but also gain their loyalty which will definitely boost your sales.