Meet Kosmosnautes #19: Alexis, the journey of a UX/UI designer

Published on January 17, 2024 by Laure - Updated on 14 mai 2024 à 11H15

Alexis tells us about taking up his new position following his apprenticeship contract in 2023.

Hi Alexis, what's your background (studies + experience)?

To sum up, I started my career in communications and quickly realized that the commercial field didn't appeal to me. I discovered the Adobe suite of creative software, and it was love at first sight!

I went on to study graphic design, initially specializing in print, before moving on to digital via training as a webdesigner.

After three years as a graphic designer, mainly in print, with a major French developer, I decided to pursue my studies in the digital field, realized the many opportunities available, and took the plunge. I continued my apprenticeship with a Bachelor's degree in digital project management, specializing in UX design. The aim was to gain a global vision of a project while enhancing my UX skills. I quickly realized that I didn't want to dissociate UX and UI, because for me, these two fields are inseparable and I wanted to evolve professionally in this direction.

So I joined a Master's program in UX/UI design at ECV in Nantes. My first year was spent working for software publisher Myscript, known for its excellent Nebo product. During my second year (last year), I enthusiastically joined Kosmos. Today, I'm employed as a UX/UI designer at Kosmos.

Qu't'est-ce qui t'made you want to'to join Kosmos?

As a student and young designer, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to devote myself to product design or work in an agency, and Kosmos proved to be the perfect solution, combining the two. Kosmos enabled me to develop both my UX skills with its Skolengo product and my UI skills with its K-SUP product.

I can work on a product while taking part in customer projects, contributing to the creation and redesign of sites.
I was also told about the good atmosphere within the company and the know-how of its various employees, and I thought it was the perfect company to get as many skills as possible before entering the job market.

If you had to explain your job in concrete terms to your grandparents and/or parents, could you tell us what your day-to-day life is like?

So it's quite complicated, both for my parents and my friends. When I say I'm a UX-UI designer, I often get puzzled looks, and I can feel deep in their eyes the incomprehension these four letters provoke. For those with a knowledge of digital I simply say that I'm in the business of improving the User experience by designing and modifying digital interfaces. And for the less expert, I often use a comparison to support my explanation. I explain that I'm like a consultant aiming to improve the bakery where they go to buy their bread. I take care of the aesthetic aspect, delivering a bakery that's homey and visually pleasing. I listen to customers' expectations and try to make the viennoiseries and breads appetizing enough to satisfy their desires. I also help the sales staff to provide a high quality of service. I'm all about delivering the best possible customer/user experience.

What do you love about your job?

I'd say the human dimension, as I'm in contact both with users to respond to their problems, and with our customers to discover their needs and meet them hand in hand. But I'm also in contact with different teams, be they developers, integrators, project managers or the marketing department. This link with different professions means I'm constantly learning new things. I feel useful when I'm responding to a need, and I discover new things in environments that aren't necessarily my own, so I'm enriched.

What qualities do you think you need for this job?
- Empathy: knowing how to listen to and understand users.
- Creativity: being able to bounce back and create in a constantly evolving field. Related to this, I'd say that curiosity is essential, because you need to be vigilant in the face of the web's ceaseless evolution.
- Good communication and team spirit, because you're interacting with customers, but also with a diversity of professions within projects. You need to be able to interact and listen to their requests and recommendations.

How have you progressed since joining Kosmos? What skills have you developed?

Let's just say that I arrived at Kosmos with a great lack of precision. Within our team of designers and with my various collaborators, I've learned to be more meticulous in my renderings, but also to simplify my proposals, to make them less complex to use. I've also made considerable progress on a technical level; on Figma, I've moved into second gear, and I'm still surprising myself today. Lastly, on a social level, I've always been a bit shy, but since my arrival, I feel I've found it easier to seek advice or opinions from the different teams, and to be able to consult them when I feel the need.

An achievement or project that has made you proud? Your best moment at Kosmos?

Nénu, our final year project. Together with two fellow students, we designed a product incorporating UX thinking through design thinking workshops, questionnaires and research. The aim of the product was to facilitate sexual and emotional education (SEE), for practitioners and students alike. It was an exhausting project, but the different people we met, whether Secondary-school students or teachers, were really interesting.

At Kosmos, we recently responded to an attendance register for an engineering school that wanted to implement a real eco-design approach on its website. It was very rewarding work, a great challenge, and it made me want to get more involved in eco-design issues.

If you hadn't done this job, what would you have done?

I think I'd have stayed in a creative profession like tattooing, which is a passion, or something really different. I'd have liked to work in an intelligence service like the DGSE, because I'm passionate about geopolitical issues.

What are your must-have references (website / book / person / RS.... account) in your field?

There are many, but if I had to pick a few, I'd say Karine Lallemand on UX issues. The "Salut les designers" podcast from the Luna Web agency, which always has super-interesting content and often quality guests, like one of their podcasts with Frederic Bordage, a leading eco-design specialist.

In terms of UI, I like to watch Basti UI's live shows from time to time, which sometimes feature quality content, and finally I love to lose myself on Awwwards, which showcases different sites offering rather advanced and sometimes unprecedented experiences on the web.

What you like about Kosmos (atmosphere, premises, Nantes, events, well-being...)

First and foremost, there's a great atmosphere both at work and outside, whether it's for a drink or a badminton match. I also find a certain level of expertise in the different teams, and I feel I'm constantly learning alongside them. As for the products, there's a real desire to innovate within the teams, which is stimulating, especially for a junior designer like me.

Working for the education sector means'what's it like?

I find the education sector very instructive. I'm constantly learning from the various players involved, and I have a front-row seat to the digital developments that have been taking place over the last few years. I feel useful and slightly nostalgic, having left the school benches only a few months ago.

Got a wish/idea on your Bucket list?

I'd love to travel more, but above all I'd love to get tattoos all over the world.

A superpower if you had your choice?

I've never been a fan of superpowers, I think they're cheating, but if I had to choose one, I think it would be to be able to duplicate myself, to be able to do several tasks at the same time without any problem.

2 truths and 1 lie about you?
- When I was young, I had a cat I called Chrüterkraft.
- When I was ten I was in the cast of "Nos jours heureux".
- I have about twenty different plants in my apartment