This series of blog posts is about getting to know the Firefly team a bit better. This time we're introducing Viviana. Hopefully you will get the chance to meet Viviana as she embarks on various research projects with Firefly users.
Name: Viviana Doctorovich
Teams: Senior UX Designer
What is a UX Designer?
UX Designers are responsible for making digital interfaces (websites, applications, games, you name it!) easier, more intuitive and, hopefully, more delightful for the user. They achieve this by getting to know their users and by observing the use of products. Once they know their users in depth, UX Designers apply what they have learned to their designs. UX designs focus on the hierarchy and organisation of information and the flow of the interactions and are done in black and white. The fun bit of playing with colour, texture, images and typography is the job of the Visual Designers, who will use the UX design as a foundation for their work.
Where did you go to school?
I went to the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires in Argentina. It's a state school administered by the Buenos Aires University and the oldest high school in Buenos Aires. It has many famous alumni including four presidents of Argentina. The historic square where the school is located was named ‘The square of the lights’ due to the school's reputation for enlightening its students minds. I was lucky to have some incredibly inspiring teachers that taught me to how to become an independent learner. My favourite place in the school was the beautiful old library with its high walls covered with books.
What is your first memory of using technology in a school environment?
My first memory of technology at school was learning to program in MS-DOS in the computer lab back in the 80's. To my surprise, the logic of the language displayed in green letters on a black screen made immediate sense to me.
How do you use technology in your day-to-day life?
These days technology is so imbedded into my life that it’ll be easier to list out the few things I don’t use technology for! I’m a very practical person so if there is an app that can help me do something quicker and more efficiently, I’m there. I find tools that help me to remember what I need to do incredibly helpful as I have a terrible memory. Living in a different continent than the rest of my family means that I completely depend on technology to stay in touch with them.The best thing about technology is that by helping me do the boring things faster, it frees up my time to do more of the things I enjoy most.
Where do you see technology in five years?
I think in the next few years the divide between the digital and the analogue will blur. Interfaces will become so intuitive that they’ll become almost invisible. Most things that surround us will be connected to the network and digital technology will be so enmeshed in our lives that will become as natural to have around as our clothes. Thanks to ubiquitous computing, we now have an overwhelming amount of information available at our finger tips everywhere we go. The big challenge for the future is going to be to help people filter the information so that they can focus only on what is most relevant and useful. The traditional role of schools as providers of information will shift towards a focus on teaching students how to assess and use the endless stream of information available to them.
