From a colorful office at Codemill in Umeå, UX designer Alice Risholt works on exciting projects together with large media companies such as Amazon Studios and Paramount.
- This means that you have a very secure base, but still have the opportunity to go outside your comfort zone in the meeting with the customer, she says.
Immediately after her civil engineering degree, Alice Risholt got a job at Codemill in Umeå.
- I started as a developer and UXer but noticed after a while that UX was where I wanted to focus my time, she says.
Now she has worked at the company for almost three years and the friendly community is one of the things that keeps her going.
– Everyone knows everyone. We help each other between roles and take care of each other.
– Because we are a small company, you get to be involved in more than just your own main area of responsibility. We all help each other to sell and produce great products for our users. You get to broaden your skills, learn from others and get more freedom in your role than if you work at a larger company where the areas of responsibility are often more niche, she says.
As a UX designer, Alice is responsible for designing digital tools that are easy to use.
– It is an extremely fun challenge because our customers often have very complex tasks. To find the best solutions, you need to do a lot of research and learn the industry.
How to edit film? How does a football match actually end up on a live TV screen and how can the replay of a goal be shown so quickly? Who decides when there is a commercial break and how is the sound synchronized with the picture?
– All this is done in digital tools, it is my job to make sure that the tools are easy to use so that the experience for the viewer is as good as possible.
What might a typical working day look like?
– I get to the office shortly after eight. The mornings are spent in peace and quiet together with my design colleague where we brainstorm ideas and file prototypes based on research done the day before.
Their customer sits in New York and doesn't wake up until after lunch, Swedish time.
– Therefore, the afternoons are usually reserved for meetings. Then we have reconciliations with the customer, hold interviews or workshops with users and stakeholders or plan the work ahead.
At Codemill there are all opportunities to develop within the company.
– It is mostly about will and level of ambition. The culture is open, between the design and development teams many have switched roles.
If you want more responsibility, there are good opportunities to climb by taking on roles such as product owner, project manager or team leader.
– If you want to become a great developer, designer or salesperson instead, we have a budget for skills development that can be used to go to conferences or attend new exciting courses.
A good first step for those who want to make a career at Codemill is to do their ex-job at the company.
– Many of my colleagues started their career here with their ex-job and then stayed, she advises.
