Damjan is a UX researcher currently working as Principal Researcher at Cognite. He has previously worked as a Principal Researcher at Pexip, before that as Director of Research at Cognizant Nordics, as a Research Team Leader at Cisco (Webex devices), and as Global Head of UX at GVC/Entain. During his time as a user experience researcher, he has travelled the world, working with people from Finland to Sudan and from Bangalore to Portland. On a mission to change the world for the better, he has helped design for both small start-ups and large companies such as Bwin, Bosch, CNN, Deutsche Bahn and the Mayo Clinic. He says he's been lucky to build, develop and lead teams of designers and researchers, while working with some of the smartest people on the planet. He studied Media Communications in Slovenia and defended his PhD in Computer Science in Slovenia and Finland. As an active member of the IxD, UX and research communities, he regularly shares his insights at various events. He spends as much free time as he has left with students: at universities (Maribor, Lapland, TU Wien) or so-called bootcamps (Brainster).
Hi Damjan. Let's start at the beginning. How did your design career start and how did you end up in UX?
As a student, I was firmly convinced of the success of my career as a journalist or writer, and as a student I started as a writer and later as a magazine editor. Twice a month I spent nights with the designers (page layout people), with whom we worked together to squeeze out the final touches before sending the final documents to the printers. That's how I fell in love with design.
I traded print for advertising, and eventually discovered the wonderful world of designing for and with users through research at university. Today it all seems so far away, 15 years ago we weren't talking about UX, we were talking about Usability Engineering, Information Architecture... UX was in its infancy, and in the domain of academics.
What is your favourite part of the process/your work?
Simple - working with people. Especially working directly with users of products and services you've helped design or plan. That first time you put something new in front of a user and simply listen, observe and learn in silence. As the legendary slogan of Cockta (and that of my beloved First High School of Maribor) says: You never forget the first time š
On the other hand, I get up in front of colleagues, programmers, product managers and present user feedback with the same level of enthusiasm. There is something wonderful about being a bridge between users and product.
Can you show us 1 or 2 favourite projects you've worked on and tell us why you enjoyed them?
Your favourite projects are usually the ones you take on yourself. Edgar(www.edgartells.me & https://www.damjanobal.com/edgar) is one of them. This brainchild that Marusha, friends and I launched into the startup scene will always remain in my memory as a formative moment in my journey. Unfortunately, it's hard to say that Edgar is the project I enjoyed the most because I had to trade my UX hat for my business, marketing and... all the other hats.
Unlike Edgar, I have exclusively enjoyed another personal project that we started a long time ago, with my friends Igor and Matej, who are doing their PhDs. The project was called JIM (https://www.damjanobal.com/jim-trainer), a personal trainer for us "nerds" and geeks, an app that ran on mobile devices and web browsers. The aim of the product was to give more people access to a personal trainer, directly and indirectly.
I enjoyed JIM because of the team and the dynamics. Despite the fact that neither Matej nor Igor are front-end or mobile developers, they were able to realise even the wildest ideas. We played with the capabilities of mobile phones, pushing the boundaries between software and hardware, which is, for me at least, that wonderful domain. When as a designer you can work not only on interfaces, but at the intersection with physical devices.
This brings me to the last example of a project I enjoyed immensely - Cisco Webex Devices. When I got the offer from Cisco, I accepted without hesitation. I was invited to join the core team of developers, researchers, industrial designers in Oslo, Norway. My first project was to prepare and conduct research and produce findings that would inform the design of a new virtual meeting and remote team collaboration appliance. Cisco Webex Devices is a portfolio of devices; from large screens to all-in-one videoconferencing devices and personal video devices.
My project (codename: Polaris) took almost a year of research, and allowed me to put into practice all the research methods I hold dear. From observing users in a "native" environment, to testing prototypes in the lab.
The most magical moment of working with physical devices and multi-modal interfaces is when you put the prototype in front of users for the first time (physically). I remember when we shipped the giant (27") screen to the US and mysteriously unveiled it in front of the assembled customers. These are the moments we UX-ers live for.
What advice would you give to those who are just starting out in user experience design?
Hm... The most useful place to start is to learn to listen, observe and understand. For example, to try to understand how and why your favourite product is the way it is. What is the problem, what are the user needs that the product addresses and tries to solve. The enemy of us all is arrogance and hubris, without trying to understand the context behind the decisions. As designers and architects of user experiences, we need to be the ones who listen and understand, not the ones pointing fingers and shouting out new solutions. Since user experience is the sum of all the feelings and experiences that a user has with a product, a service, it is important that we get good at understanding and telling these holistic user stories as soon as possible.
And one last question. What do you think is the biggest contribution we designers make to business?
Simple - empathy for the user. And perhaps more importantly, empathy for the problem we are solving. As designers, we are advocates and representatives of users within the teams and companies where we work. This doesn't mean we are a constant bone of contention, but rather that we help other stakeholders understand how a focus on users will contribute to the success of the business.
Lately, I have noticed that we designers are bringing one more thing. The ability, already mentioned, to go up a level, two or three levels, and see the big picture. To see all the touch points, and the potential chasms and depths on the user experience map. As good listeners and observers, we designers are often also in charge of the synthesis, the summary, which usually serves as a springboard for the next steps in the development process.
In short, we designers are the glue in the team that is often invisible, but very much needed. And it's all the more obvious when that glue runs out.
