Meet Abby, a Product Designer at Kin + Carta Create

What Community of Practice (CoP) are you part of and what do you do?

I am part of the Design CoP. Design is at the heart of every project and it’s our responsibility to ensure we strike the right balance between business needs and user needs. We work closely with the whole project team and client in a cross-functional and agile environment. Ensuring the final product has the right look and feel and most importantly that it works well for our users is our primary focus.

What does a typical day look like for you?

A typical day will always begin with a ceremony called stand-up - a chance for the whole team to track progress and review daily priorities. We own sections of work and spend the rest of the day working closely and quickly on different aspects of the project. Where possible we work onsite with our clients half of the week and at Kin + Carta Create HQ for the rest of the week. Wherever we’re based, we sit within our project teams. This is extremely beneficial, to ensure that there is a consistent and seamless iterative process between research, design, build and test. On Fridays, we have a weekly CoP session where all the designers get together and share work, learn new skills, discuss relevant news and do an activity or workshop to spark more creativity.

Why do you love working here?

As a younger member of the team, it’s great that you get to pair up with talented peers and work closely with such experienced people. Aside from on-the-job learning, everyone is encouraged to use their dedicated learning budget to enhance their craft skills and personal development. The learning budget can be used on courses, books, formal training and more. We use our weekly CoP sessions to share our new learnings so that everyone can benefit. Additionally, due to the nature of being a full-service tech company, you get to work with lots of different teams, clients and industries. As you work with the client so closely, they become part of the team and you get an insight into the internal processes of a whole host of different companies including their ways of working too.

What is your favourite thing about life at Kin + Carta Create?

I love Wrap-Up which happens every Friday at 5pm. It is a company wide meeting and a good time to reflect altogether on the projects and work we are completing, recognise the amazing work our colleagues are doing through promotions and shout-outs and just generally catch up with people who may have been offsite that week.

What is something you are really proud of at your time at Kin + Carta Create?

It’s hard to pinpoint a singular thing, however most recently I’ve been working on a financial product at Kin + Carta Create with extremely tight deadlines and I know I’ve played an integral part in the way it works and looks which I am proud of.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced at Kin + Carta Create and how did you overcome it?

Sometimes distributed working and being offsite all week can be isolating from the rest of the company. Designs always need to be critiqued so when you are on a project with one or no other designers it can be challenging. However, our Design CoP is so collaborative and always asking and offering advice on Slack throughout the week that this locational difference makes very little difference.

What excites you most about working in tech?

That my role is so current. There is so much to learn in tech whether you are an associate or much more experienced. It seems to me that there is no one set way of working, which can make each project new and exciting and a great way to skill up on other methodologies and best practices.

Describe Kin + Carta Create in 5 words?

Social. Supportive. Unique. Tecky. Purple.

Any advice for people looking to join Design at Kin + Carta Create?

My advice for anyone looking to join Kin + Carta Create is to exemplify your passion to never stop learning. There is always room to gain more knowledge and experience and Kin + Carta Create is a great place for this.