Marko Liuksiala, User Experience Architect at Accenture.

 

Where did you study?

In Helsinki School of Economics. My major was marketing with an emphasis on consumer psychology, and my minors were IDBM (International design business management) and Interactive telecommunications program. My thesis was about designing a new service concept, prototyping and researching the usefulness, sensibility and usability of it with interviews.

 

How did you end up being a usability specialist?

I started to work for Accenture as concept designer. There were also usability specialists (psychologists) involved and they sometimes asked for my opinion in design issues. They thought that I had the right understanding even without the formal education. There were also some methods that were familiar to me from marketing studies. I started checking for usability in addition to my usual work and I started to also study the subject. I still don’t feel like an expert, but I have managed well in the field.

 

What has been useful or not useful from your studies?

My major doesn’t really fit my current job, I just ended up doing it. What has been useful is interdisciplinary. During my studies I got used to talking to people from different backgrounds e.g. graphic designers and technical engineers. I could notice the difference when I started to work, I got along well with others. And I learned about technology, which is important. When one makes suggestions for improving usability, one must have a vision about the actual implementation.

 

How did the transformation process from studying to working life go?

I recommend that you graduate before entering working life! The working life discipline was challenging at first. Also I noticed that work is not so much about theories. First when I started, I wanted to go to the research databases to check the latest articles, but there is not usually time or need for that. It is not so much about the details as in academic world.

 

How did you get your first job in the field?

I had been doing some concepts myself and my friend recommended to come to work for them. She was working for Accenture, which at the time was a big shot consulting firm where you had to wear a suit at all times. At first I didn’t like the idea, but after a fun recruiting event, I changed by opinion and decided to apply. And, by the way, we are not wearing suits all the time. Before Accenture I had been working at R-kioski, so I got a big “promotion”. Starting the job was quite a shock as the company cultures were so different. Accenture is a consulting, technology and outsourcing services company of about 1100 employees in Finland alone with various customers from private and public sector.

 

What does a typical working day consist of?

I mostly do independent design or design with a team. I don’t have continuous customer contact, but we check the direction with them once in a while. I discuss the solutions with the technicians and go through background material.

 

What have been the most interesting projects?

There are quite a few interesting ones. In one project I did POC (proof of concept) with new mobile technologies. It was interesting, because there weren’t many rules, but we were creating something completely new. You really had to think what you are doing, because sometimes usability can be quite routine e.g. building navigation. In general, the most interesting projects are the ones where you can do or create something new.

 

How do you see usability as a working field?

It is free, but formal in a sense that you must follow some basic rules. Many problems can be solved by knowing the rules. It is social, because you can’t do this alone. I wouldn’t necessarily describe it as creative.

                      Academically and technically it is quite small field and the customers don’t necessarily put much emphasis on it. Usability is still mixed up with availability and problems are only noticed in the later phase when the users don’t know how to use the product.

 

What are the current trends in usability, what is your vision about the future of usability?

I have noticed there is a little tiredness for accessibility design, as it has a big impact on the overall user experience. There isn’t necessarily one accessible version for everyone but a separate “boring” accessible version. E.g. this one company has a principle that their web pages work only with browsers that over 10 % of the users use, so there is no intention for doing the design for everybody. And there are several pages done only with Flash.)

All rich internet applications e.g. AJAX functionalities are a trend. They can make the applications more usable, but they can cut down the accessibility. What is usable for one user group, isn’t necessary usable for some other group.

 

Any tips on getting a job in the field?

It is important to know enough of the implementation and the practices e.g. in web technologies in addition to the usability theory. Knowing only about usability is like knowing the notes, without knowing how to play the instrument.  You must be prepared to understand the current restrictions in usability research and to be ready to dig up the data about feasibility.

Methods are more important than theory, at least in the business world. With a method you can discover e.g. that a person can not sense a certain color even if you don’t know the clinical theory of the eye and its cells.

 

Interview by Anna Törrönen, autumn 2009.