This month we talked to James Reeve, Head of Creative at Foolproof.

If you are interested in being mentored by James, or if you just want to learn more about our mentoring programme, please email Monica at mentoring@uxpa-uk.org.

Who is James Reeve?

A designer who does not like to accept how things are. I like to challenge and push thinking to ensure the best possible outcome is created to address the problem identified.

How did you start your career in UX?

I studied a design course at university and developed an interest in HCI/UCD way before UX became a thing, and in fact wrote my dissertation in User Centred design in practice. I was intrigued by real human understanding and validation, to create meaningful outcomes.

What is a typical day for you?

A typical day would involve concept creation, design direction, stakeholder management, looking after the studio team, helping to win new business and ensuing the quality of our outputs are the best they can be.

What do you recommend to someone who wants to start a career in UX?

To just give it a go, there is no reason to not pursue a passion in your own time. Learn by meeting likeminded people, hackathons, UXPAevents etc. and also look at problems to solve in daily life that you would like to improve. Even take an existing product out there and review and document how to improve the experience. The world is there to be designed, so go ahead and make it a better place.

What is the best advice you received in your career?

To consider and interrogate all ideas no matter the origin. It is not only those with UX in their title who have the right to challenge and shape the work we do. Our job as UX designers is to validate all possible hypotheses/ideas/concepts with real people to ensure what we create will be successful in the wild.

What is the future of UX for you?

It becomes a commonly recognised profession that does not require a long winded explanation to those with very little understand. User experience will be a must have consideration in all forms of design both physical and digital, and all products made will need to be validated with real users to ensure they are successful.