In this instalment we speak to Cyriele Piancastelli, UX&D's Senior UX Architect.
How do you explain what you do for a living to a child?
I create all sorts of experiences; whether it's on websites, apps, games or anywhere in real places. Currently I work at the ±«Óătv and I make sure that when you use the ±«Óătv website or a ±«Óătv app, you know exactly where to go and what to click on in order to do what you want to do. For example, if you want to comment on a C±«Óătv article, I make sure that there's a button to click for you to see the comment form, and after you click it there's another one to post your comment. Easy-peasy!
Name one favourite thing and one challenging thing about your role?
I love breaking down complexity into simplicity. Mapping complex systems and making that complexity transparent to users. After all, a feature is like a developer function but at a high level scale; it's 'only just' a sequence of binary decisions that have to be triggered at the right time depending on the context. Systems are logical, and logic is my comfort zone.
Unlike systems, stakeholders have opinions, which aren't always based on logic or facts…
What was your journey before coming to the ±«Óătv?
I've had many lives! I studied front-end and back-end web development and user-centered design at Gobelins school in Paris, France. I worked a couple of years as a full stack developer in an agency, mainly on projects involving databases. I've always loved designing databases. However, at the time the working methods were not as collaborative as they are today and developers were often left aside until the very end. I wanted to be involved upfront and participate in the design phase. I was told that I had to be a producer to do this. Sounds odd, right?
Anyhow, I studied one more year to learn project management techniques and started my first job as a technical producer. Back in the day User Experience (UX) designers didn't exist so producers were in charge of defining functional specifications. Mine always came with flows and wireframes, and were designed with the user in mind. Good design is good business!
Five years ago I moved to the UK and found out that here you could be a full time UX designer without having to deal with all the admin and planning stuff a producer has to deal with. I then evolved my profile toward a UX designer specialised in information architecture and data governance, because of my former love for data and semantics.
What's the worst job you have ever done?
I'd say any project I've worked on where no user research was done and/or no data about the audience was shared with the designers. I haven't always worked 'client side'. In some of my working experiences in agencies, I ended up being very far from the end user given the amount of intermediaries involved. I've had to convince my producer to let me talk to each intermediary to finally have a chance to learn about the end user.
If you could explore any other profession, what would it be and why?
A criminal profiler. I love observing people's behaviour to try and identify patterns. But what I love even more is when my assumptions are wrong and people surprise me! So I guess I'd be a terrible criminal profiler.
If you could travel back in time and give yourself one piece of career advice, what would it be?
Don't get hooked on the job title. You don't have to force yourself to fit a specific job description. If nothing represents your skillset, just make up your own job title. You'll be more valuable to a company if you do what you do best rather than forcing yourself to do things you're not very good at, just to try and match a job title.
What's on your playlist right now?
First Aid Kit's latest album, 'Ruins'. I'm literally obsessed with it. I've learned how to play almost all the songs on guitar and I travelled to Paris to see them live at my favourite venue La Cigale, because their gigs in London were sold out in 30 seconds.
I also have my essential playlists:
#Elliott (Smith) #Thom (Yorke) #Alex (Turner) #Dave (Grohl) #Robert (Smith) #Sam (Beam)
I call them by their first names because we spend so much time together that they're like family to me.
What do you do to switch off from work?
I or practice yoga. I have a keyboard, three guitars, a ukulele and a banjo. And very patient neighbours. I love doing acoustic covers of my favourite songs and find arrangements with the instruments I have available. It doesn't always sound right though!
As for my yoga practice, I'm actually going to do my Yoga Teacher training this year, which I'm really excited about.
In a world where anything is possible, what is the single most exciting thing you would do with technology?
I'd do what I already do but at a bigger scale; I'd solve people's problems to try and make their life easier. Helping people to be informed, educated and entertained is already a really nice challenge to tackle, but I guess helping on even more fundamental aspects such as health or survival of the planet would be so much meaningful and impactful.
Do you know that research is currently being conducted on 3D printed organs? That literally blows my mind! However I can already see Black Mirror making a creepy episode showing how this new technology could be used for evil deeds…
Which takes me to the point Mansha made in her own Q&A: the fact that it's also the designer's responsibility to make sure the technology - or what we design using this technology - is ethical. To make sure it respects users rights and privacy, and to make sure it's accessible and inclusive.
Mike Monteiro - a very passionate and engaged designer - did a talk a few years ago entitled '. I invite you all to watch it. This talk shows what some people consider as details or nice-to-haves can have a terrible impact on users lives. And it's the designers responsibility to speak up for those users.
What drives or inspires you?
I'm always admirative towards people who achieve things that seem impossible to me. Our delivery manager Kaidi who speaks seven languages, Martin Fourcade, a French Biathlete who topped all the records in biathlon history. My two kittens who literally destroy my flat but still manage to make me love them more every single day. All that requires passion, dedication, resilience and practice. I believe these are very inspiring characters traits.
