As a product designer, Ian Taylor thrives at the intersections of two worlds. Like where a mobile app’s tech seamlessly meets a human’s experience. Or where an architect’s eye for structure is enhanced by an artist’s hand. And especially where analytical thinking and creative spirit come together to inspire innovative solutions.
Sure, engineers build our apps, websites and software. But product designers build the experiences for the people using them. To help ensure every interaction between product and person is intuitive and innovative, Ian starts with what the end-user is trying to accomplish, then works backward to the data points. This method puts the user first, and ensures every smaller goal, user action and design solution ladders up to the main objective: creating a good user experience.
He’s thoughtful like that.
So how does one become a product designer who’s worked on marketing campaigns for Pepsi and Mountain Dew? By starting as an architect, of course. Ian grew up designing houses in a 3D modeling program at the ripe old age of twelve.
Eventually, Ian’s passion for cohesive systems led him to become an architect after college, but he found the pace was too slow and old-fashioned. He also became more immersed in the world of fine arts, which allowed for creative expression and helped guide him toward product design.
For Ian the product designer, the architect and the artist in him now find balance and inspiration. Ian can still see the big picture for Cloud City clients while not losing sight of the little details for their users. He maintains large coherent systems with his UX focus while fostering his creativity with visual design.
When Ian isn’t solving problems at work, he’s finding balance in other ways, too. Like drawing almost every day and exploring abstract mediums of art that force him to lose control, compared to the very tidy and pixel-perfect world he lives in at work.