Tom is a design scholar at Dovetailed who splits his time between providing invaluable support with our design portfolio and studying his Masters in Information Experience Design at the Royal College Of Art. We sat down for a quick chat to get his perspective on design and life at Dovetailed...
People worry too much about using things properly. One of the most interesting things I find when working in experience is play; not worrying about doing something wrong. The more this can be included into experience the better as far as I’m concerned.
Design is the skill that we can share to implement change. From helping mature tech companies break new ground in their discipline to helping start-ups shake things up in a completely different way, we work with a whole range of people and projects, it’s really exciting!
A truly great product once it is unboxed is built on a crafted experience. You can make a great product for the shop with only a little UX, but designing things for peoples’ lives is about empathy, understanding and challenging and pushing forward expectations.
I spend a lot of time carrying my sketchbooks and laptop with me. I move around a lot, so my working environment is constantly changing from neat and ordered to messy. However when I get to sit down I like to leave little traces of my work, little models and tests as well as sketches for the next big project.
I’m most proud of a project I worked on in collaboration with Sonos, called soundobject. I was part of a group that built a tangible music player for parties. It got exhibited in London and Barcelona.
People who make things happen influence and inspire me. There are so many great ideas that exist in books and words but being able to take those ideas, get other people excited about them, AND make something tangible and experiential as a result is a real skill.
I get a buzz from seeing people smile, laugh and play with stuff I have designed.
‘Ooh go on, have another one!’ is something my granny used to say, I think this is where my fascination with food started!
Cooking is an unwinding time for me. In the kitchen, I’m best described as an amateur experimenter. Sometimes been busy can necessitate a slightly off-kilter approach to cooking. I’ve crumbed some cod in smashed up crackers more than once…
Cambridge is a really evolving place, I was so surprised when I first worked here. There is a real base of technological innovation and for designers like us at Dovetailed it represents a great place to meet a real range of different people.
I like my coffee like I like my holidays. Something interesting and new but also as a little break to look back on things. A chance to think.
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