Mandy Ani Messer is a UX designer at General Assembly in San Francisco who told us about her design background and philosophy. We enjoyed getting to know Mandy, and love having GA as an awesome sponsor!

What led you to become a designer?

I have a never-ending curiosity about people. I’m fascinated by people’s experiences. 

This applies to UX design in two ways. First, it fuels my passion to empathetically design interfaces for a user base.  And second, it fuels my interest in working as a team to design a project. I love optimizing on strengths of the team members.  And most of all, I think it’s magnificent when you experience how a healthy and collaborative team can produce a design that is stronger than a single individual could.  When your mind is open to the possibility of true collaboration and all members of the team are humble and generous with their ideas, then you can create work that is enjoyable and meaningful. 

That covers the emotional drive behind what I do, but it’s also a path that made sense because it aligns with my strengths.Everyone struggles after high school to figure out what direction to go in their career, and it was the same for me. During this time, I was intentional about trying to understand my strengths and weaknesses. The two talents that I saw were my ability to think analytically (I seemed to be pretty good in math classes) and my interest in creativity (I was drawn to crafts and music and art).  So, I thought “I’ll become an architect!”  Then I quickly realized that architecture had a rigid and defined career path.  So I pivoted and sought out something that was flexible enough for me to explore all sorts of interesting things: the design of digital interfaces.  

The tech design industry is so new that there is no set path. People take inspiration from all kinds of different places. There is no old school. We are all creating a new industry as we go. 

What do you value the most about design?

Collaboration and endless learning. As a designer, you must seek to ask questions and immerse yourself in the industry that you’re designing for.Thus, you’re always learning.  Additionally, as a designer, you must communicate your design decisions clearly and thus, your clients are always learning.  

I’ve spoken about how my passion for collaboration is fueled by my curiosity about people.  I also value hard work and creative problem-solving.  These are things that can be done individually or as a team, but the team element amplifies both.

I also find beauty in discovering the creative spirit that is inside of people. We have this drive to be creative as human beings, and a need to work together. I think it’s remarkable what a team can do together.

Healthy team dynamics don’t always happen—we’ve all been in teams that suck, frankly. But, when teams click, the rewards make up for any painful past experiences. You can only appreciate the good if you’ve experienced the not so good.

What is the most difficult part of being a designer?

The most difficult part of being a designer is when you also have to be an account manager! So, for example, a fabulous person in your life comes to you and wants to realize his or her dream of launching a project—be it a start-up, a business website, a nonprofit organization or any of the above.  You want with all your heart to help this person achieve their dream. And so you embark on a journey together.  Along the way, you realize that what they really need is business consulting, or design strategy, or a dev team double the size they have today.And maybe they discovery they need a full-on internal design team and perhaps an infrastructure that allows them to maintain the project. And what are we going to do about the leaking faucet in the new kitchen sink I just installed? So you find yourself acting as an account manager instead of a designer.  I’ve only recently realized that I need to ask for help when I find myself in these situations.  And I keep relearning the same lesson: Projects are never as simple as they sound.  When I engage in design work, it becomes clear that this will influence other parts of their business. Thus, as designers, we must embrace mess.   

What advice do you have for new designers?

For UX design in particular, I find myself saying a few things repeatedly to new UX designers:

1.  In this industry, you are interviewing the company more than they are interviewing you.  To do good work, it is critical to be in a company that values user-centered design and gives you the support and infrastructure to do quality work.

2.  Listen to everyone’s feedback, but don’t act on everyone’s feedback.  It’s your responsibility as a designer to determine what is actionable immediately, what is actionable in the future, and what needs to stay the same.  Many times you’ll need to defend your work.  

3.  If you’re going to do it, do it well.  That means you have toprioritize.  It’s your responsibility as a designer to prioritize the features you work on in the order that you think is best.  This prioritization can and should be informed by your team and the business funding it.  And also by your discretion for what the users need.

What accomplishment are you most proud of?

I would say there are three:

1.  Moving across the world to live and volunteer in Armenia.  This allowed me to do two things in tandem: seek understanding of my family heritage personally and build bridges in the nascent tech industry professionally.  

2.  Moving across the country from my native Michigan to San Francisco.  This allowed me to grow professionally and personally, and I wouldn’t trade this for the world.

3.  Teaching.  It’s been my dream to teach since I was a child teaching to all my stuffed animals in my bedroom.  I’m so honored to have the opportunity to do this in such a stimulating and rewarding environment at General Assembly.  

About Mandy

Mandy is a user experience designer who is inspired by a curiosity in people and learning new things.  She has designed for a range of mediums including responsive web design, mobile product design and video game system user interface.  Mandy has worked with a variety of brands and start-ups including PayPal, AAA, Sony, Hilton and Walmart.  

Mandy is passionate about empathetic design and incorporating user feedback into the design process.  As an individual, she strives to combine creative strategy, technical knowledge, analytical thought processes and personable communication.  But more than that, she strives to nurture the power of collaborative teams.

When he was a child, Luca Longu dreamed of becoming a cartoonist. "I haven't stopped thinking about it", he admits. Now he's 33 and works as a freelance designer in Rome. "I believe in the social role of design. The objects that surround us help us to define ourselves. I find inspiration in everything".

Luca Longu’s project Iggy, a console table with sliding compartments, won “Essential” competition in May 2013. Iggy is now a Formabilio product available in our shop. 

Would you like to know something more about Luca Longu? There you are. 

1. He describes himself as "calm, ironic, patient, intuitive, charismatic, adventurous and creative", even though still looking for "the key to self esteem". 

2. Close to the sea is where he loves to be :)

3. If not himself, Luca would be... "A bird. They build amazing structures using sustainable materials without having attended any engineering courses. Moreover, they need no fuel to fly!" 

4. He would like to live in Mexico City ...and to adopt a cat. 

5. If he were an object, then he would be a power strip. "Energy coming in and going out: that's me". 

Luca Longu's favourites

colour: "For me. colour has been a great achievement, so I think there is no need to have a favourite one. I'm particularly fascinated by contrasts and combinations of colours"

movies: "Ghost in the shell", "Blade Runner", Blue Velvet", "Laputa", "Goodfellas", "Death Becomes Her"

books: sci-fi books like "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (D. Adams) and "Schismatrix" (B. Sterling)

song: "Everlong" (Foo Fighters). Luca is a bass player, by the way. "Music has always been my propulsion force and my inspiration source", he says.  

food and drink: meatballs, fruits and vegetables, xxl sandwiches, falafel, samosas and tlayudas. 

Formabilio product: "Iggy, of course! But also Racchetta storage frames designed by Ivana Mannavola and Facile sofa by Marco Gregori. I like them because they are interactive and stimulate people's creativity and curiosity".