Dr Nick Hine: Programme Lead, MSc UX Engineering
My vocation is to seek to optimise the fit between technology and people. At a professional level I seek to apply the best academic and technical knowledge so that technology can enhance the lives of people. At an academic level that has led me to explore fundamental aspects such as how people with disabilities, older people and children can use technology, and what technology can do for them. I have undertaken these explorations in context of education, telecare and rehabilitation technology. In my early days this domain was referred to as Human Factors. Nowadays it falls within User Experience Engineering,.
Outside work, my passion is travelling in order to discover the world through the lens of a camera, in particular the country of Colombia, the homeland of my wife. I enjoy cooking, particularly exploring the way it represents an artefact of the culture of local people. I also collect LEGO, and one day want to find a way to use it as a vehicle for storytelling for young pre-literate children.
Dr Tony Russell-Rose: Senior Lecturer, Department of Computing, Goldsmiths College & Founder & Director of UXLabs
Industrial Advisory Board, MSc UX Engineering
The industrial advisory board worked with us to define the curriculum for this programme, and continue to influence the programme to ensure that it meets the needs of users and providers of systems and services.
Aled Evans: UX Research Lead, Hargreaves Lansdown
My name is Aled Evans. I started my UX career in 2013 when I graduated from the University of Dundee with an MSc in User Experience Engineering. Since then I’ve worked across the private, public, and third sectors as a UX Consultant and UX Researcher. I currently head up the UX Research team at Hargreaves Lansdown, a FTSE 100 financial services company in Bristol.
Users increasingly expect considered design that takes account of people’s needs, goals, and contexts of use. Organisations who fail to provide usable, frustration-free experiences risk being left behind by their competitors. With the ever-increasing pace of technological advancement, and with so many organisations going through digital transformation programmes, there’s never been a better time to work in UX.
As someone who took the academic route into UX, I’ve experienced first-hand how a good programme of study can kickstart a career in our industry. My degree prepared me well for the work I’d be doing, and made it possible for me to land my first role. These days I regularly interview UX designers and researchers to join my team. More often than not, those who have a good UX-related degree stand out from the crowd.
There’s never been a greater need for digital professionals who place users at the heart of their process, so it’s exciting to see a programme focused on developing many of the skills that are key to becoming an effective, successful UX professional.
Melinda Klayman: UX Researcher, Google
Melinda is a UX Researcher at Google. She focuses on new internet users, which includes all sorts of people for various reasons, including: people in countries where technology and infrastructure improvements have recently made it possible to get online, teenagers who are just now old enough to get a smartphone, older generations who tend to be late adopters, and women in conservative cultures whose society has become more accepting. Melinda loves meeting people with different perspectives to her own, and explaining their points of view to the teams who build technology for them. The guiding principle to Melinda’s work is to help people, not exploit them. Nurturing the next generation of UX professionals with the reminder that their users are diverse will improve technology for a sustainable future. Prior to Google, Melinda worked in mobile technology at HTC, Sony, and Palm. She holds an MA from University of Texas at Austin and BA from University of California at Santa Cruz. In her spare time, Melinda practices ukulele and has a bit of an obsession with hair.
Amritpal Bhachu: Lead UX Consultant at AmazeRealise
Amrit has worked in the field of UX for over 14 years. With a Masters degree in Human Computer Interaction, he is well versed in user research and testing approaches.
He has previous experience of working with project partners and clients such as BT, Phillips, Heathrow Airport, The Post Office, Timberland, Lloyds Bank, The English Football League and Specsavers amongst others. He also previously worked as part of the digital B2C team at Standard Life and Tesco Bank.
Amrit is the head of UX for AmazeRealise. He is a champion for Insights Driven CX methods, ensuring that there is a focus on human insights throughout a project, combining these with analytical data. He has changed the way in which we conduct testing with users, working closer with client teams to understand, prioritise and find solutions to issues quicker and with greater efficiency. As part of this development in our user testing processes, we now have a state-of-the-art eye-tracking system, dedicated lab spaces and observation rooms at AmazeRealise.
David Sloan: User Experience Research Lead at The Paciello Group
David is UX research lead with The Paciello Group (TPG), a specialist international digital accessibility consultancy. He works with clients in a range of sectors, including finance, healthcare, technology, consumer electronics, education and government, helping them improve digital experiences for people with disabilities. His main focus includes designing and running user research activities, providing organisational accessibility strategy advice, and conducting accessibility audits of digital products.
Before joining TPG, David spent over 13 years at the University of Dundee, as a researcher, lecturer and consultant in digital accessibility, and during that time completed a PhD in web accessibility evaluation methods. He’s also keen to encourage a new generation of technology makers and shapers to focus on human diversity in user experience design. To that end, he is a trustee of the Accessibility Scotland conference, held annually in Edinburgh, and maintains his ties with higher education as a regular PhD thesis examiner.
Away from work, David loves to travel and keep active, and has discovered that Parkrun is a great excuse to do both at the same time.