Interview with Mateusz, UX designer

Łukasz: Tell us about yourself. How did your adventure with design begin?

Mateusz: About 10 years ago, Google introduced its design system - Material Design. The release of comprehensive documentation with design principles, best practices, and files for self-editing was unprecedented. At that time, I was working as a software tester, but Material Design fascinated me immensely. I got hooked by modifying the provided files and creating my own projects from them.

I proposed to my then-employer to redesign the application I was testing. The project was liked so much that I soon became a full-time designer. That's how my adventure with UX/UI design began.

Ł: What made you join the Cloud Nine team?

M: I always pay attention to employer branding - the company's image. From the very beginning, Cloud Nine struck me as a place with a fantastic atmosphere and interesting people. I wasn’t wrong—that’s exactly how it is.

Previously, I worked in a corporation on a single, repetitive project. Here, I have contact with many diverse clients and creative challenges. The work is never monotonous, and I often engage in several projects simultaneously, which suits me very well.

Ł: What are your main responsibilities in the UX position?

M: Daily, I work on developing our clients’ existing products, focusing on improving usability, as well as creating entirely new products from scratch. At Cloud Nine, we aim to follow a full UX process, but we adapt it to the specifics of each project and client. We base project assumptions on client data and, in collaboration with David (our strategist), we conduct user interviews, create reports, and explore new solutions.

Ł: Which of the projects you have worked on was the most interesting for you?

M: One of the most interesting projects involved an organization representing the European aerospace, space, security, and defense industries. The biggest challenge was understanding how the organization operates and how best to present its activities on a website. We wanted to show the benefits that the organization’s work brings both to everyday European citizens and to the member companies.

The organization includes major European companies, such as Airbus. As a result, we created two parallel websites tailored to different target audiences.

The project met the client’s expectations, and our strong collaboration led to the project being expanded with additional modules.

Ł: What tools and methods do you use in your UX work?

M: The primary tool I use is Figma - it is taking over more and more functions of other programs.

In terms of methodology, we try to apply a full UX process. We start with workshops and research, develop a strategy, design user journeys, wireframes, and the final UI based on a component library. We create interactive prototypes and test them with real users.

Artificial intelligence is, of course, appearing more and more often in a designer’s work. Last year, for example, we created an interactive game for one of our clients as part of their holiday campaign. I generated all the pixel-art-style graphics for the game entirely using AI-based tools.

Ł: What does your collaboration with developers look like? How do you ensure usability and accessibility in the solutions you create?

M: At Cloud Nine, we have excellent developers, and our collaboration is great. We’re in daily contact—during stand-ups or ad hoc discussions. If an issue comes up, I know I can count on their support. I hand off designs ready for development, along with the component library, to the developers in Figma.

We also make sure to meet accessibility and usability requirements. Our team includes many developers with strong expertise in this area—they often propose solutions themselves, such as enabling full keyboard navigation without using a mouse. We actively share knowledge with one another.

Ł: What advice would you give to junior UX designers starting work in tech companies?

M: Be kind to your developers ;) This collaboration is key to creating beautiful and useful products.