Péter Herold used to work as a freelance graphic designer and musician, and after our course he joined Saatchi & Saatchi as a Product Designer. Learn more about his story and find out about his experiences with our UI Designer training!
Can you tell us briefly about your life before the UI course? What was your situation like before you enrolled?
Before the training, I worked as a freelance graphic designer for ten years. I had a couple of bigger, steady clients (publishing house, national and international radio station, music agency) and also worked as a musician. These complemented each other very well.
What inspired you to switch and become a UI Designer?
I wanted to develop my graphic design skills, but I felt that I had come full circle in ten years. When I first heard about the UI Designer course, I was immediately hooked and knew this was going to be my path.
Tell us a bit about your current job! Where do you work, what are your responsibilities?
After completing my training in 2021, I received a great job offer at Saatchi & Saatchi. I’m still working here, now in my third year as a Product Designer in the Pampers Team. Pampers has a loyalty app that we are developing together with the design team, and one of the sections is completely designed by me, both on the UI and UX front.
What do you like best about your job?
The fact that it’s varied, often challenging, and that I can always learn something new while working and from my colleagues. The whole team is great, it’s very inspiring to work with them. And it’s really exciting that something you design, plan and then put it all together is developed and turned into an app that hundreds of thousands of people use and interact with every day.
What do you think are the biggest challenges for UI Designers today?
It is to find and produce the best solutions in all areas for a given problem or task. Also, to keep up with trends, constantly evolve and move forward.
What skills do you think are needed to succeed in this profession?
As with all kinds of jobs, I think there are two sides to the coin: the professional side and the people aspect. Professionally, you have to try to keep evolving after you’ve got the basics and keep an eye on trends. You have to gather new ideas, think and experiment to make your designs better and better, using best practices in the field.
But that’s only 50%. The other fifty is the human aspect: it’s important to communicate well with your colleagues and clients, to be open, precise and thorough in your work, to be reliable and to fulfil your role well within your team.
What are some of your memories of the UI course? How did you find it?
I really loved the whole thing, the instructor team is top-notch, really the cream of the crop of the local industry teaches here. There’s a lot to learn and to grow during the training, which is practically a perfect stepping stone to your first UI Designer position in whatever company you end up going to.
What have you worked on since then? What project are you most proud of?
We’re constantly improving things in the Pampers app, so I can’t really highlight any specific details, but overall it’s performing very well and we’re getting good feedback from users, which we’re thrilled about.
What further opportunities for advancement and opportunities for learning do you see for yourself?
UI Design or Product Design is a complex and nuanced profession with many layers, so there is always room for improvement. You get a broader view of things and new ways and ideas open up all the time. I think the hot topic of the day is the involvement of AI in workflows, I see huge potential in that, and it’s worth to keep up with it.
What advice would you give to someone who is hesitant to apply to the course and try their hand at this profession?
You just have to go for it, that’s the hardest part. It’s like training: once you’re in the gym, you’re golden, it’s a piece of cake. All the minutes and energy you put in will pay off if you’re really interested in this field and want to get into it. Investing in yourself and in learning is always worth it. For me, it has absolutely lived up to my expectations and has given me a new job that I love.
You can do it! 🙂
Interested in UI design? Can you picture yourself in a creative digital career?
With UI Academy x Codecool’s online, English-language training, in three months you’ll gain the knowledge and UI portfolio to open the doors to IT.
Check the course’s page, see all the technologies and skills that we teach, and let us know if you have any questions. We’re glad to help and excited to get to know you!