In this instalment we speak to Paul Jackson, Senior UX Designer. Paul is currently working with the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Voice team.

How do you explain what you do for a living to a child?

Now that I've joined the Voice team, I tell my nieces that I teach Alexa what to say. I explain that we do this by testing to see if people can understand her and if she can understand them.

Name one favourite thing and one challenging thing about your role?

I love getting to work with emerging technologies like the Amazon Echo and Google Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ. Figuring out how to design for these devices and being encouraged to make loads of mistakes along the way is incredibly liberating for a designer.

Having said that, nobody really knows what a good voice experience sounds like right now, and ensuring we don't shoehorn a web experience into a smart speaker (just as early films resembled theatre plays) is a big challenge we face. What does Voice-first sound like?

What was your journey before coming to the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ?

I started designing and building websites when I was 14. I approached a local web design firm for some work experience and they offered me a job instead. My rate was Β£10 a page!

I did that for a few years before focusing on University, where I studied english and film. After a short spell in finance was ended by the credit crunch, I fell back into web design. I took a job working for a company that sold shoes online. Their slogan was 'Good health starts with your feet'.

Thankfully that was short lived and I spent the rest of my twenties at various agencies and in-house roles, usually in Cheshire, trying to be less of a developer and more of a designer.

Then, in 2014 I took a Senior UX Designer role at an ecommerce company in Northwich. I spent 18 months building prototypes for large international clients, and helping in-house brands go from strength to strength.

And then, in March 2016, I joined the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ.

What's the worst job you've ever done?

I worked as a cleaner at the Manchester Bierkeller when I was at University. Back then, it was a grotty old nightclub in a damp, dark cellar beneath Piccadilly, frequented by stag parties and hen dos. Sweeping up after the previous night's debauchery was never fun, but what made it particularly soul destroying was the cobbled floor!

If you could explore any other profession, what would it be and why?

When I was at University, my aspiration was to write for television. I wrote a screenplay for my dissertation and I'd love to write something again one day. It seems unlikely that I'll ever have that job in the 1993 Simpsons Writers Room I wanted, but I'd settle for writing my own Radio 4 sitcom.

If you could travel back in time and give yourself one piece of career advice, what would it be?

I'd tell myself to have some confidence in my own abilities and not to compare myself to others. I spent most of my twenties worrying about how far behind other designers and developers I was. I felt marooned between the two disciplines, not really sure of who I was. I wasn't the best designer nor the best developer. I felt like a total misfit. It was only when I took a job working with Tom Johnson (now UX Creative Director at the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ), in early 2012, that he helped me to realise the value of being multi-discipline.

What's on your playlist right now?

The new CHVRCHES album 'Love is dead' just came out, so that's my go-to album right now. When I'm working (which involves an awful lot of writing in the Voice team), I listen to instrumental music and film scores. Moneyball is my favourite.

What do you do to switch off from work?

I run a lot. When my brain is full of complicated design problems or things feel like they're in a mess (which they can do from time to time), it really helps to put a podcast on, hit the streets and clear my head. I also enjoy playing the guitar and tending to my farm in Stardew Valley on my games console. I enjoy the escapism.

In a world where anything is possible, what is the single most exciting thing you would do with technology?

As someone who loves to make things, I think technology that empowers people to create and lowers the barrier to entry is the most exciting thing.

But, I don't think anything has to be possible for that to happen. In fact, I welcome the constraints. I enjoyed Vine for that very reason. It forced videos to be 6 seconds long and by doing so stimulated some incredible creativity from film makers from all walks of life.

I love the attitude of Glitch and I'd like to see more products share their playful ethos.

What drives or inspires you?

I'm driven by constantly changing passions and obsessions. In the past year I've been fanatical about everything from San Marzano Tomatoes to Catalonian Chocolate Milk. I love to travel and I'm a designer that's especially focused on the details. I think exploring and discovering new things that I love is what inspires me most.