Welcome to Talking Tuesday! With this interview series, we introduce our specialists to you every month! They give you an insight into what it is like to work at Humanoids and what they are doing at the moment! This month Maurice: Senior UX designer will be introduced.

What kind of project are you doing now?

I am currently working on a SaaS platform that offers performance assessments for organisations.

What's most interesting about this?

I find this project interesting, because it is still in the early stages of development. There still have to be made several architectural choices. I consider it good for my growth to be able to participate in those discussions. The tickets are mostly full-stack oriented. I am initially trained as a front-end developer, so that is new for me. The possibility to learn new techniques throughout the whole spectrum of web development appeals to me very much. For instance, we are going to use Kafka to build a smart, continuous data stream. Next to that, we are going to leverage AI to automate certain flows.

What do you add to a team?

I hope that in addition to three years of experience in web development, I also bring a sense of camaraderie and a positive atmosphere to a team. Furthermore, I do my best to understand the context of a project well, which allows me to contribute ideas and help make smart decisions for a successful development process.

What tip would you like to give to someone who is just starting out?

When you are just starting to program, I would advise you to choose a path and stay on that path for a while. You can acquire online courses for a relatively small amount of money. I think it is important to not get overwhelmed by what else there is to learn. When you finish such a course, start building small (fictional) projects to bring your new knowledge into practice.

Can you name a business situation or event that was of great benefit to you?

In the first year, we received soft-skill training from an external party. These were very well facilitated. I experienced in a pleasant way that everyone is different and that you cannot judge who people are or why they do what they do just by looking at the surface. People often have fascinating stories. It has made me more open and it made me approach work in a more human-oriented way than I did before.

Can you tell us something about your growth as a specialist in recent years?

I initially found it difficult to keep up with the pace of learning. This was likely because I do not have a technical background (I have a commercial study background). Fortunately, I always received a lot of trust and noticed that over time, I was able to better grasp the techniques.

What do you like so much about this sector?

I enjoy that we work in a creative sector where we can learn a lot from each other and innovation is encouraged. Developments in the domain of web development are progressing rapidly, but they ensure that we can create increasingly better applications.

What are you most proud of since joining Humanoids?

I am proud that I have already been able to contribute to so many different complex projects and see many tangible results. A while ago, I got to work on my own on the first version of a mobile application for Sneakerjagers. I was very proud to be able to install that application on my phone after launch and show it to my friends and family.

What makes Humanoids special?

Humanoids is one of the few companies in The Netherlands that hires recent graduates and trains them into skilled UX designers and developers through an intensive crash course and traineeship. Additionally, you can learn a lot from your colleagues, most of whom have had the same start as trainees. There is a culture of creativity, positivity, and learning from each other.

Dat was het Talking Tuesday interview weer! Volgende maand stellen we een andere specialist aan je voor. Neem ook eens een kijkje op onze LinkedIn voor meer content en tips van onze experts!