Design Dialogues 🗣️: Unraveling the Mind 🧠 of a UI/UX Visionary

A Conversation with a UI/UX 👩‍💻Alchemist...

Oct 21, 2023

Hello 👋 Dear Innovator

We are excited to be talking to you again this week as you relax and unwind this weekend as always, and even more so because of what we have for you today.

It’s not a “Meet the Team” series, however, today you’ll get to meet a teammate of the Consonance Club team as his work, expertise, and experience would be a source of great inspiration to designers and innovators at large.

As is our culture, here at Consonance Club, what is a great newsletter without a good laugh to start…

As we were saying before due protocol interrupted…

…He’s a wiz, a genius, and a die-hard creative. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Chibueze Umechukwu

(Imaginary applause 👏👏👏)

Can we get to know you? Who is Chibueze Umechukwu?

As you already mentioned, my name is Chibueze Umechukwu, a younger brother to Kelvin Umechukwu. I am a UI/UX designer and a student at OAU studying zoology. Sometimes I tell people I am a zoologist by day and a designer by night.

How did you get into design as a whole and why UI/UX design?

I decided to go into UI/UX design after I did the transcriptions of several interviews with UI/UX designers. It was an eye-opener. After the last interview I did, I gathered all the resources I needed to begin my journey in UI/UX design and I haven’t looked back since.

What interests you about this position with Consonance Club?

The very first thing you see when you go on our website is “Made for Innovators, by Innovators”. Working with the Consonance Club has allowed me to learn and build with other innovators. For my position as a UI/UX designer specifically, I cannot go into much detail about what we are building but it is really exciting to be building this innovation at Consonance Club and I can hardly wait to see it live.

How do you collaborate with developers and other team members during the design and implementation process?

That is where communication comes in (in professor’s voice). To be honest, it is not possible to achieve success in any field when communication is lacking. It is one of our values at Consonance Club.

What design tools and software are you proficient in, and how do you decide which tools to use for specific tasks?

There are a couple of different software I could use for different phases of my design process. I do not decide on which tool to use because I am already comfortable with the ones I use. So I just go right into using those tools. Unless it is a new task where I have little or no experience, then I have to decide which would work best.

I am proficient in using Figma and Adobe XD for my ideation and prototype phases of design.

How do you stay updated with the latest UI/UX design trends and technologies? Can you give an example of a recent trend you incorporated into your work?

For this, social media plays an important role for me. Then there is also a key role played by communities. I learn a lot by being in the communities I am in.

How do you approach understanding user needs and incorporating them into your designs?

The first thing you will be made to understand as a UI/UX designer is that your users should be at the front and center of your design. That is, you should not be designing in a way because you think it works for you or is beautiful to you, you should design in a way that works for your users. So to understand user needs, I carry out different research based on the user needs; carry out interview sessions with different types of users, carry out surveys among other types of research.

Can you describe a challenging design problem you faced and how you overcame it?

I feel like the empathizing and defining phases of UI/UX design are the most challenging. I can recall having to reach out to one of my design mentors, Kayode Osinusi for his experience and view on the challenges I had experienced. So overcoming them means carrying out more research, reading more, finding out more, and asking more questions.

Describe your design process from initial user research to the final product. How do you ensure your designs meet user needs and business goals?

The design process is the same. I begin with understanding the users and then based on my understanding, I go into the defining phase which helps me with how I should see the product to its final phase. After these, it is the ideation, prototyping, and testing phases.

While these processes are going on and at every phase of the design process, there will be constant communication with business or product owners to be sure there is a balance between the business goals and user needs.

What do you think is the next big thing in UI/UX design, and how do you stay ahead of emerging trends and technologies in the field?

With the way UI/UX design continues to evolve, predicting the next big thing can be challenging. We have AI, virtual reality, augmented reality, and web3 gaining momentum. I would say maybe creating better versions of these things is one big thing.

One way of staying up to date with emerging trends and technologies in the field is by attending events for the field. Also, I already mentioned the role that communities play in this. A lot is being shared in these places.

Kindly provide a link to your portfolio.

At the moment, I am rebuilding my portfolio. I can only share my Behance portfolio. Although it does not carry all my projects and work experience, it still works. I have a couple of my latest projects I am yet to upload there. This is my Behance link: https://www.behance.net/chibuezumechuk

Innovator Of The Week

Chigozi Njoku popularly known as Goz is the founder of the digital marketing platform “Afiari”.

What is Afiari?

Afiari is a digital marketplace that enables supermarkets in Africa to sell online and access tools to automatically synchronize their offline and online operations. Afiari was originally a platform where people could purchase foodstuff from the open market and stores. Over time, the Afiari team discovered that they were more interested in building a platform and not necessarily operating a food business. This was how they came to discover this opportunity and have doubled down on it.

Just as with any innovation-oriented venture, the young founder has recorded his wins with his startup. He says “Having people join me on this journey and seeing the startup grow from just an idea into a product with users is incredibly, motivating, and humbling at the same time.”

Here’s what you should know about Afiari’s beginning days. The team started building Afiari with Zero dollars in the bank, which is quite different from the conventional method of building from the ground up. Startup growth experts would argue that you should at least have some figures in the bank, little wonder Chigozie considers it Afiari’s greatest achievement to be in his words “getting businesses to use our product even when they don't know anything about us”

Chigozie is also quite the motivational speaker, here’s what he has to say to budding entrepreneurs and innovators; “Always start with the lowest-hanging fruit. Don't try to think about the whole journey, you will get overwhelmed. Take one step and that will lead you to the next. Eventually, it will all make sense.”

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