5 Design Answers

Tell us who you are in one sentence.

My name is Sean, and I am a husband, father, and front-end engineer and designer.

If you weren’t a designer, what would you do?

I would probably be in the education field, teaching college or adult classes, or possibly in a training department somewhere. I enjoy teaching, because it is a great way to learn.

What is something you wished you designed, either because you love it, or because you feel you could have done it better?

I wish I had been part of the team that built MailChimp, because they have such a laser focus on usability. Even today - at 36 with a dozen years under my belt - I am confident that working with those folks would be an incredible learning experience.

What was your biggest design mistake?

Spending too much time on how it would look, instead of how it was organized. This seems obvious now, but I was young and inexperienced, and felt that focusing on the look and feel was all that was needed to make something a success.

What advice would you give someone entering the design field?

Be humble around your peers, but confident with everyone else.