Insights into the role of a UX Lead

Meet Luke, the User Experience Lead from 55 Minutes! He leads a small but skilled team, helping clients design their product to create an enjoyable and intuitive experience for their customers. Read more to find out how he supports his team for projects and interesting ways of working in 55 Minutes!

1. Tell us a little about yourself!

Hi, I’m Luke! I was born in the US, grew up in Hong Kong, went back to the US for university, met the love of my life, moved to Singapore with her, married her (for the blue card), have been living here ever since, and recently got a dog! I enjoy video games, basketball, and cheeseburgers.

2. What are your responsibilities as a UX lead at 55 Minutes?

As a human-centered design studio, our core capability is designing digital experiences (typically websites, mobile/web apps) based on an understanding of people’s needs from the product. I am in charge of the day-to-day management and delivery of projects, which includes (but is not limited to!) meeting with clients to understand their business and customers’ needs, supporting our researchers to learn as much as we can about the problem we are trying to solve, and working closely with our designers to create solutions that are useful, usable, and delightful!

3. Share with us the most challenging project you have worked on and your role in it!

With the rise of voice experiences (everything from virtual assistants to social apps like Clubhouse), our co-founder, Hans, has been encouraging us to get our feet wet and learn about this field. As we’ve been working remotely over the past couple years, we noticed that interactions between coworkers can easily become less frequent and less personal, which can be especially difficult for new hires. Our team has been exploring how voice might be able to help remote coworkers build relationships in a more natural way (Zoom fatigue, anyone?). As I’ve been driving this project, it’s been challenging figuring out how to design a voice experience for the first time, but it’s also been super rewarding and we’ve been learning a lot!

4. What is a productive meeting like in 55 Minutes?

A productive meeting at 55 Minutes uses the IDOARTT tool!

IDOARTT stands for Intention, Desired Outcome, Agenda, Rules, Roles and Responsibilities, and Time; it helps us align expectations for the meeting and be efficient with our time. But honestly, I feel it’s kind of a long and weird acronym (sure, I do “do art”, but I’m not necessarily doing art in all my meetings), and I usually prioritise Objectives, Agenda, Time, which spells out a friendlier “OAT”.

5. What kind of projects excite you the most?

I enjoy projects where we get to solve problems for people who really need it! As a recent example, we helped a fashion designer at Werable research how to design clothes that would be easier for caregivers to dress care receivers. Getting to see how design can make such a big difference in someone’s life brings me a lot of joy.

6. What’s the difference between working for 55 Minutes and the previous companies you’ve been in?

I used to work at a large consulting firm, so there are plenty of differences! But the one that sticks out to me the most is that our director, Wendy, really cares about everyone’s well-being and puts the time into mentoring the team.

7. What is the strangest work event you’ve attended in Potato?

We had a team bonding event where we signed up for a virtual tour of Rome. When I joined the event, the tour guide seemed like she was in an office building, so I thought to myself, “Hm, maybe she’ll go outside when everyone’s here?”. But the tour soon started, and she started playing a video of the streets of Rome. It was educational, but certainly not what I was expecting.

8. What are 3 things you would like to accomplish in 2022?

1. Read more! I’ve recently rediscovered Libby, a reading app that has access to books from the National Library, and I’ve been making a habit to read a little bit every day, so I’d like to keep that up.

2. Travel! I haven’t left Singapore for 2 years now, so I hope I can see my family this year. I hear Hokkaido is nice!

3. Launch some products! 55 Minutes has been working hard on several projects, and I’m hoping they’ll get launched in 2022!

9. (Just for fun) What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

Become a professional travel vlogger minus the vlogging.

If you want to have a chat with Luke to find out more about his experiences, click here!