Welcome to our Let's Meet UX&D series, where we get to know some of the friendly folk in ´óÏó´«Ã½'s UX&D department. In this instalment, we speak to Callum Peters, a User Experience Designer currently working on the digital future of Newsround, Cbeebies and C´óÏó´«Ã½.
How do you explain what you do for a living, to a child?
I work at CBeebies/C´óÏó´«Ã½ and design things that you can use on your tablets and smartphones!
Tell us one of your favouite things about your job.
One of my favourite things is meeting our audience when we're in the middle of designing something new for them. Getting their feedback is vital and really quite eye opening. Sometimes, you're sat behind a two-way mirror observing how they use a new digital product and they can interact with it in the most unexpected way. I also love hearing their ideas. One of our C´óÏó´«Ã½ audience members recently said to me, "Imagine if I could swap my face with Justin Bieber's… or YOURS!" (Because we're in the same social category, obviously.)
And what about the challenges?
One of the biggest challenges is not making assumptions about what the user wants, needs or knows. It's really easy to think a child knows their way around the C´óÏó´«Ã½ website and will notice a new feature we're designing, or that they'll be fine with a complete redesign. In reality, that's not always the case. This is why regular opportunities for gathering feedback on our designs are so important.
What was your journey before coming to the ´óÏó´«Ã½?
After getting into graphics-based art and stop-frame animation in sixth form, I went on to study Graphic Design at university. During my second year, I did a six-week stint at AKQA in London where I picked up an interest in designing digital experiences. This lead me to specialise in digital design in my third year. Straight after graduating I worked at a digital agency in the Cheshire countryside, before joining the ´óÏó´«Ã½ as a Junior UX Designer in November 2013. That's when my journey as a user-centred designer properly began!
What's the worst job you have ever done?
This is going to be boring because I don't think I've ever had a bad job. My worst experiences have probably come from freelancing when I designed logos for some slightly tricky clients who decided they'd do a better job than me (usually with Microsoft Paint, or Publisher!).
If you could explore any other profession, what would it be and why?
Growing up, I always wanted to be a car designer and then a photographer. I was also interested in motoring journalism, so fuse those things together and you probably get someone who does video reviews of cars on YouTube. But, I've probably got too much of a Wirral-Scouse accent for that to really work. I'm also quite interested in the design of roads - there are so many junctions and road layouts that I think could be designed better.
If you could travel back in time and give yourself one piece of career advice, what would it be?
First thing - don't work for free. It's really surprising how easily designers can have their services taken advantage of, especially those starting out. I was once asked to work at a design studio for free in order to gain experience. It would've equalled a 70-mile daily round trip, so I declined.
Second thing - don't worry if things don't go to plan. I was made redundant quite early in my career and it was an odd experience. For me, there was another door waiting to open and I only felt confident enough to apply for it because of the experience I gained in my previous role.
That's two pieces of career advice, not one. Sorry.
What's on your playlist right now?
To be honest, my playlists sound like they've been cobbled together by about nine different people. My music taste is a bit sporadic. At the moment, on the commute, I'm mostly listening to London Grammar, M83, Blossoms, Goldfrapp, Everything Everything, Empire of the Sun, DMA's, Rivers & Robots and… Ludovico Einaudi. Next week it'll be something else and I'll be off down the M62 lip-syncing to the Bee Gees.
What do you do to switch off from work?
My drive home (50 miles) is a great time to switch off and listen to those red-hot '70s disco tunes. The rest of the time, I like exploring my local area (the Wirral) or travelling around the rest of the UK. I volunteer as a youth leader on Friday nights and Sunday mornings, so that requires me to switch off a bit, especially when it involves planning a Crystal Maze-inspired games night! Sometimes I just sit and watch The Apprentice, to be honest.
In a world where anything is possible, what is the single most exciting thing you would do with technology?
I'd help people with Dementia and Alzheimer's. I don't know how technology can make a massive impact there yet, but I'd love to find out. Having family members with Dementia and Alzheimer's is heartbreaking and I hope we can find a way of sorting it in my lifetime.
What drives or inspires you?
Helping people. The people around me inspire me - we're all people with different interests and behaviours, and that's what makes doing what I do so interesting. It would be too easy if we all did the same thing.
