Hey there! My name is Roan O’Brien

The Shire

After growing up in Eindhoven I left my parents to go and study Architecture in Delft. Although I liked architecture and I especially enjoyed learning about architectural history, I quickly found out that the study was too vague for my liking. After 1,5 years I decided to switch to Computer Science, as I had always been interested in digital products. However, it quickly became clear to me that I was not meant to be an engineer or programmer either. In stead I was looking for something in the middle, something that would allow for creativity, while still being very much grounded in research and logic. Eventually, this led me to User Experience Design, which had its own study in The Hague.

Rivendell

As a designer, I love solving problems and coming up with creative and fun ways to mitigate people’s problems. What I love about the field of user experience design is that it offers a wide variety in the types of work. From conducting interviews and researching technologies to hosting creative sessions with other people and coming up with interesting concepts. This variety often means that every project is completely different, which keeps things interesting and fun.

Mines of Moria

After graduation I worked at a digital agency called YipYip, as a Product Designer (UX/UI). During my time there I worked on several projects, with clients such as Watertaxi Rotterdam, Openr and EchtFit. The focus in most of these projects was on the visual design aspect of Product Design, focussing more on the UI part of my job than on the UX.

Rauros

Currently I am working at Superp as a Mendix UX developer. In this role I place extra focus on the User Experienc and the front-end development side of things, while still being able to use my design skills and knowledge. I really see myself as the bridge between the development team and the end users.

I am really enjoying this role as it allows me to be creative and technical at the same time, while also working closely with clients and users to create the best possible solutions for their problems. An added benefit of working as a consultant is that I get to work on a wide variety of projects.

So far, I have worked on various projects for clients such as Wens Travel, Refresco Benelux and ONVZ Zorgverzekeraar, and I am currently working on a project for the Dutch Department of Defence.

Minas Tirith

With the current rise of AI and what that means for design and development I want to steer my carreer more towards the human side of software development. I believe that even though AI can be an incredibly useful tool for designers and developers, a human will always be needed to make sure that the software we create is actually useful and usable for the people that will use it.

What the future holds, I do not know. But to stay with this Lord of the Rings theme for a bit more: "Not all those who wander are lost".