A Chat with… Darrell Wilkins
Sunday, February 24th, 2008 by Deirdre DeversThis is the first in a series of brief, monthly interviews with UX professionals based in London. The aim is to hear some of their thoughts, experiences and inspirations that are a part of their user experience practice.
Darrell Wilkins is Founder and Head of User Experience Design at Special Moves which offers high-end production for the interactive industry. Special Moves has created everything from games for MTV’s the Osbournes to interative experiences for Volkswagen, the Guardian and British Gas. Here’s what he had to say…
How did you get into this field and what sorts of things had you done previously?
I started at University. I studied MediaLabArts at Plymouth and was introduced to HCI there. It was a marriage of Art and Computing and we didn’t go into lots of technical details, but I soon realised that if you make something easy to use, you get a higher mark.
What are some things (or people) that inspire how you think about and then develop digital experiences for users?
Shigeru Miyamoto is my hero. His amazing attention to detail and ability to guide users effortlessly through complex and challenging interfaces is unsurpassed.
Everyone can learn lessons from game design.
There are various definitions of UX out there depending on who you talk to… What does UX mean to you?
It’s the experience that the user has when interacting with your product or service. There are many facets to this experience and all are valid.
Some of the main ones :
- Visual experience- how beautiful the thing is
- Brand experience - what the user is left thinking about the supplier of the thing
- Personal experience - how good the users feels about themselves using the thing
- Transactional experience- how well did the thing do it’s job.
How does London influence you when it comes to creating and refining interactive experiences?
I’m not sure it’s London that influences me. It the people that are here. There is a lively and very talented community of people in London that are doing interesting things. It’s a kind of proximity effect, everyone is driven upwards by being in the presence of other smart people.
Genius never happens in isolation. It requires a stimulus from others.
Thinking about past or current projects, in what ways, if any, have the expectations changed in terms of the type of UX that is sought (or expected) by users?
Clients are starting to understand what User Experience means. In that respect things are changing. It is being mentioned earlier and earlier in the process and therefore the types of activity we are doing change. More research, more prototyping and more lo-fi testing.
If you were asked to share a book, either fiction or non-fiction, with a colleague in your field, what would it be and why?
That’s easy. ‘Universal Principles of Design’ - William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler. It the most beautifully conceived and executed book. Anyone who works in the creative industries should have a copy.
What advice would you give to students interested in this profession?
Get some real world experience. Get a placement or internship. Even if you don’t get any cash for it, the pay off in the future will be worth it.
What trend(s) do you see advancing that will influence the UX of interactive systems?
Enjoyment as well as ease of use will dramatically increase in importance. The iPhone shows us this. It’s actually harder (takes longer) to do several things with the iPhone, but people love using it. Efficiency in an interface is not everything.
Darrell can be reached at darrell.wilkins@specialmoves.co.uk.
