I’ve been a front end developer and designer at Jump24 since 2021. My responsibilities cover UX (user experience) design and UI (user interface) design as well as front end development in HTML,CSS and Javascript.
My journey into digital design and development started some time ago. I originally trained as a technical illustrator and have had a variety of careers (illustrator, reprographics, retoucher, print designer) but all involved with graphic design to some degree. Whilst working at a traditional graphic design agency I started to experiment with designing and building websites. It was new and exciting and I became the agency’s ‘web guy’ purely by accident. I eventually set up by myself as a freelancer, designing and building websites for a wide variety of businesses and organisations, before joining Jump24 in my current role.
My role often involves connecting the clients needs with what our very smart back end developers are working on. Some days I start on a project from scratch talking to clients and stakeholders, working on wireframing and prototyping, other days I could be helping to solve a specific design challenge on a tricky bit of interface. Every day is different but it’s all about making sure the solution will work for everyone.
Why I love what I do
I’m a visual learner and have always enjoyed problem solving. UX/UI design is a great field for someone with these traits. Finding the right solution for a particular problem is really satisfying. Despite there being constraints to the work, there’s always room for creativity. The back end developers and Javascript specialists at Jump24 have great technical ability so I’m always confident that they can build whatever we design. That’s really empowering and gives you great confidence.
Our team at Jump24 is massively supportive and friendly, there’s always someone willing to help you out if you’re stuck or if you need someone to bounce an idea off of. We might all work remotely but it definitely still feels like a close-knit team and it’s always fun seeing everyone in person when we have team days at the office or when we meet for social events.
Tech events are a great place to network and learn. I’ve worked with quite a few people that I’ve met at events and meet-ups over the years. I think it’s great that we’re so involved in the tech community. I actually first met Dan (our co-founder) at a tech meet-up in Birmingham over 10 years ago. They’re also a great opportunity for Jump24 to give something back to the community it’s part of.
What’s next?A few months back I took a UX design course which was a nice opportunity to learn more about UX design processes and how we can improve our own UX work. I’m looking forward to putting what I’ve learned into practice, refining my existing skills and continuing to produce great looking work for our clients.