Hi everyone!
My name is Sofia and I’m Accedo’s first ever user experience (UX) trainee. I could say that I’m the last trainee to present myself this year…but that wouldn’t be completely true. I cheated, and actually introduced myself already this summer when I wrote about my thesis work – UX guidelines for VR interfaces. Staying on the topic of VR, I’m now really excited to work alongside the innovation and design team, developing Accedo’s next VR video experience, which Daniel recently wrote about.
So what is the big difference between being a UX trainee, compared to being a “normal” trainee? To me, it is that I get to focus completely on UX. That’s what I’m passionate about, what I’ve studied and what I want to work with. If I can contribute to help Accedo’s customers meet their business goals by designing solutions for the end-users that make their lives easier, more efficient and fun – then I’ve reached my goal. Then there are, of course, different ways of doing that and many different ways to work with UX in a company that I will get to explore.
Even though the trainee program only started two and a half months ago, my first contact with Accedo was over a year ago. I was in Hong Kong for an exchange semester when I was contacted about a UX job opportunity. To be part of a global UX team and work with the world’s leading video service providers really intrigued me. Since I wanted to first complete my Bachelor’s degree, we agreed that I would do my thesis here and, after a very inspiring brainstorming meeting in the Hong Kong office, I was well and truly hooked, and ready to learn everything I could about UX in VR.
Since then I’ve moved on from only VR and have looked at UX from different perspectives within the company. This summer I helped with the UX resource allocation internally while working with UX in customer projects and preparing material to be presented at IBC. Now, since I joined the sales team as part of my first trainee assignment, I’ve had the opportunity to practise my presentation skills, talking about how Accedo works with UX at industry events and customer meetings. I was also encouraged to sign up to do a lightning talk at a UX conference and was happy to be selected to present my UX VR work on a stage in front of over 200 conference attendees. It was a great challenge and so much fun!
As you might have understood by now – being trusted with big challenges that might be considered a bit too hard and sometimes out of my comfort zone is the main reason I wanted to become a trainee here. With a (for me) new industry to grasp, new technologies and big cultural differences when it comes to video consumption in different parts of the world – there’s plenty to learn, and I look forward to sharing my experiences here with you.
Sofia Fröjdman