Earlier this week, Michael Rhodes joined us as our first dedicated UX/UI designer. We asked him to tell you a little bit about himself:
What excites you about working for Legado?
Working with Legado will be my first startup experience following 5 years in-house and at an agency. It will also be the first time I’ve worked within Codebase, where a number of big companies started off. It’s an exciting time to be joining Legado with recent growth in our team (myself being one of them). With plenty of projects upcoming and currently underway it’s clear that there are many opportunities here for me to jump into.
What will be the biggest challenges?
A few of the biggest challenges will mostly be down to getting familiar with the market and process, both of which become simpler with time. Legado as an offering touches on a number of contexts that provide the chance to learn from a range of industries that are in growing demand for our services. Processes at a startup is a great opportunity to experiment. It can be a little full on at first, but finding a rhythm shouldn’t take too long. I’ve seen my upcoming workload and I bet I won’t be light on work for a while.
What will you be working on?
I’m currently catching up with past research, reviewing recent designs in the pipeline and providing design support on incoming tickets. As the sole product designer, I will be involved in a mix of work to support improvements to Legado’s website, web application and client focused integration work.
What do you do to relax?
While I can’t say the last year hasn’t made me more of a couch potato since moving outside the city. However, it’s hard to beat spending a rainy evening with your feet up and a pint of beer or a wee dram of whiskey. I do take every opportunity to catch some sun (a must if you live in Scotland) whether it’s going for a secluded woodland walk or cycling down the old railway track. Let’s just say I have an appreciation for the peacefulness of nature as an essential component for a good reset every so often.
What is something that you are particularly good at (that people may not know)?
I’m no professional skier, but I consider skiing like riding a bike. I’ve been skiing since I was in primary school and if you learn how to ski on the sticky artificial slopes of hillend during the summer you can ski anywhere. I have only been to the Italian Alps three times, but I will surely find myself going further afield to try out this perfect powder I’ve been told about in Japan and North America.
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself…
Well surprisingly I’ve not broken any bones despite a need for speed… of course as an adult safety is important (always wear a helmet!). However, I can’t deny myself cycling up to 20mph down a straight clear path on a nearby old railway path. It’s been a wee while since I was last pelting down a hill on a pair of skis, but I’m sure I’ll get that opportunity again.
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Welcome to the team, Michael!