eri on the interweb

Philipp von Kiparski has a Bachelor of Arts in Information Design from the Stuttgart Media University, Germany. His degree was based out of the Faculty of Information and Communication. Philipp has just completed his second internship as an Experience Architect here in Australia, at Different. I thought it would be appropriate to kick off this interview series with a recent graduate of a course focussed on user centred design. This interview was recorded on 28 January 2010.

Erietta: Tell me about your current role and your areas of expertise?

Philipp: Theoretically I’m an Experience Architect and a junior version of that I guess and I think what my areas of expertise … mostly comprise of are user research … the gathering of the data and how to structure this gathering cause there’s actually quite a lot of theory involved in how to gather info for which kind of results you look for. For example a very experimental approach compared to reviewing a product that already exists; you have to adjust your techniques each time and of course you also have to adjust the guys you are actually interviewing.

The aim of the interview series UX Studies, is to look at and discuss the education paths people have taken to skill up for their career in the user experience field.

The idea for the series came about after friends, looking to change career focus, asked me about what they should study. Unfortunately for them, I am not the best person to ask, because, like some in the industry, I have no directly related formal qualifications.

I think it’s important that the disciplines, skills and theory behind user experience be clearly articulated for those looking to enter the field and for those, like me, already in the field looking to expand their knowledge base.

I hope too, that the professionals that cross paths with UX practioners such as developers and business analysts come across this series and find it of some use.

Interviews will be based on the following questions: