This month we continue to pull the curtains open on our team here at EchoUser and let all of you get to know a little more about us. You’ve learned about our charming co-founders Mick and Aaron, and now we’d like to share the unique talents of Design Director Rally Pagulayan. With more than 20 years in the industry he has some incredible stories to tell.
1. What brought you into the world of user experience design?
For the most part, I was pointed in this direction from the beginning. I started as an engineering major and after the first year and half realized I couldn’t stand any of the courses. But what was I to do? I felt stuck, but the idea of switching majors — or even more drastic, switching schools — didn't seem like an option to me.
I had to figure out how to make engineering work. During my 2nd year, I was poring over the Engineering Course Catalog (yet again), and saw that there was a Human Factors Engineering class offered. The course description for that class gave me hope that I might find what I was looking for as an Industrial Engineering major. However, it wasn't until my third year that I was allowed to take that course. And, thankfully, when I did finally take it, that's where it all clicked. I love the human side of engineering, the need to understand the person rather than making the thing; I knew I could do that for the long haul.
2. Tell us about your first jobs out of school and how they shaped your career.
My first job was fascinating. I was a Human Factors Engineer helping to create a new communications system for the Canadian Army. I moved up North to take on this opportunity. It was a complete overhaul of the system, so a lot went into it. I was responsible for making sure that any part of the system that the human operator interacted with was designed with their needs in mind. I spent a lot of time working with radio equipment, vehicles, backpacks, etc.
Most of my job was dealing with the hardware that was already developed; I didn’t get to change or design anything. When you’re dealing with military grade hardware, there isn’t a lot you can do. But things got really interesting to me once I got involved with developing the software side of the new system. When I got involved with that and the usability there, there were no constraints. I could make suggestions and we were actually able to input them. That made me see how much good I could actually do.
As I started to recognize that maybe design was something I was more interested in, I took a few graphic design classes at the Alberta College of Art and Design. Here I learned that visual design wasn’t just how something looks, but ultimately, about solving a problem. It’s a common misconception that most people have. Around this time, I also realized that I couldn’t learn any more from where I was and started looking around for a new job.
I moved back down to the States and was lucky enough to join Oracle. They were known for having one of the biggest UX and usability groups, and that was a huge draw. While I was working as usability engineer, I couldn’t help but have my interest veer elsewhere. I always wanted to spend more time thinking about how we could fix something rather than the research side of the business. I was scared about what that really meant because I was an engineer and had this illusion that designing meant creating things out of thin air. But the more I learned, the more I realized design is all about fixing a problem and that became my love.
3. You mentioned there are a lot of misconceptions around graphic design. How does it differ from UX and usability design?
It’s really all about scope. Graphic design is more about visuals. Like UX design, it’s all about solving problems and there is a very deliberate and reasoned approach to it. However, it’s more about communicating a message in a visual way. I think a lot of people mistake graphic design and design in general as “making things pretty.” UX design is more encompassing. Not only does it care about what something looks like, but just as importantly, it cares about the way something works — how you find information, how you manipulate things, how things respond to your input, etc.
4. How has design changed over time?
Traditionally the user was never the top priority, there was usually something else you were optimizing for. Now we know the user is the most important part.
Human factors and putting the person at the forefront, what we practice at EchoUser, is a relatively new thing. It’s easy for people to know what UX is now, but for a lot of the people my age and up who have being doing this for 15, 20, 30 years, it was a much different environment. It was like pulling teeth trying to get an engineer to think about the person behind the product.
Thinking back to my first job again, we considered the user a second class citizen. One story in particular brings this home. We were having issues with one of the communication vehicles. We had a radio configuration that was essentially sending off signals at incredibly unsafe power levels. Greater than any of the regulations we were working toward. But a lot of work had already been done, so people didn’t want to bring it up. Supervisors just kept asking if we were sure. Of course we were sure. Quite a few people actually laughed at us when we brought up the problem and said “I guess these guys won’t be able to have kids then.” It took me threatening to go to the Department of National Defense in Canada (our client) before anyone took me seriously.
I don't think you would find that much anymore, which is a huge testament to people like Mick, Aaron, our Experience Director Vel Prakhantree, and myself who knew we had something worth fighting for.
5. You used to teach usability engineering at Tufts. What's the first thing you teach someone about usability design?
One of the first things I did was show them that examples of good and bad design are all around them. I wanted them to understand how things weren’t just arbitrarily put together (well, mostly) but that deliberate decisions were made to make things better. One of my greatest teaching tools was anecdotally pulling out different areas of frustration that were all around them and asking what they would do to change it. That made it easier for people to really think and say, “Yeah, why is that like this or that?” The hardest thing to teach was that good design is invisible. All the bad stuff was easy to see, and it didn’t need to be there if someone had proactively designed it with the user in mind.
6. What's the most common misconception about what you do when you go into a new business meeting?
People think we just go into a dark room and create something. They don’t realize how much of a process this is. We start with research and immerse ourselves in the users’ world, develop sketches and models, and iterate ideas over and over. No one can just create something out of thin air — well, almost no one. We try to teach our clients that the very first steps take more time than you think and are often the most important part. We usually have to educate clients on this and all the work that gets us to the end goal.
7. If you were able to redesign any experience, what would it be?
Muni — well, specifically, Muni buses. The bus system drives me insane. It’s the component of Muni that touches most people. It goes more places, it’s more affordable, and theoretically it’s more flexible. I’ve actually been experimenting with my commute and traveling many different ways to have different experiences. I just keep coming to the conclusion that I hate riding the bus.
I know it’s not an easy problem to fix. It’s not just the quality of the bus. I’ve been lucky enough to ride some of the new ones and they’re really nice, but it can still be a nightmare. There are so many elements that go into the ride — how people behave, the safety of the bus stops, the unpredictability of the schedule, etc. It would be really nice to redesign.
