This post is the first in a series featuring designers, editors, and writers telling us about their work and professional interests. Many thanks to all the professionals who have already agreed to be featured on beyondwords!
Name: Vishal Iyer
Title: Sr User Interface Designer (I prefer Interaction Designer though)
Website/Blog: http://www.vishaliyer.com/
Location: New York/Washington D.C.
Tell us about your educational/professional background.
I did my undergrad in Computer Science, then switched over to Design in grad school. Go Spartans!
Tell us about your current job.
I work for AOL in the eCommerce division. The design team works as an internal agency and I work on their Shopping, Autos and Travel websites among others.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Meeting with other stakeholders (business, product and dev teams) to discuss the project, brainstorming with designers about different ideas, designing wireframes/ prototypes. Repeat.
What kinds of documents do you produce?
Concept mocks, Wireframes (of various fidelities), prototypes and design requirement documentations.
What communication skills are needed for your job?
Communication is key, especially in large projects because a cohesive vision needs to be distributed among the entire team. We all work on different aspects of the same project and there will be a mess when things are lost in translation. Constant communication (f2f meetings, emails, IM etc) is essential.
How did you prepare for your job?
Building a portfolio of projects similar to the ones I wanted to do helped in getting a better understanding of what goes into it.
List three of your favorite professional resources/references/tools and tell us why they’re your favorite.
IxDA (www.ixda.org): Great, active community geared towards Interaction Designers
Design of Everyday Things: This is why I became an Interaction Designer [editor's note: check it out on Amazon]
Blogs/Websites of companies/People I admire: Adaptive Path, 37 Signals, IDEO, etc.
How do you stay up-to-date in your field?
Professional Organizations, conferences, books and talking with peers siting next to me.
Do you have any tips to share with other professional designers/writers/editors?
Your professional community is an invaluable source of information and inspiration especially when your starting out. Find the one that fits you, not necessarily the largest one. Same thing while looking for jobs. Look beyond Monster, Career Builder, etc. And of course have fun in what you’re doing!
