Anne Louise: A UX/Product And Fashion Designer

“Never regard study as a duty”, Einstein once said. Rather, regard it “as an enviable opportunity to learn to know the liberating influence of beauty in the realm of the spirit for your own personal joy and to the profit of the community to which your later works belong.”

What better way to introduce you to a .MEr whose whole career and learning path was guided by passion. Meet Anne! 

Anne Louise is an economist, marketing expert, merchandiser, data analyst, fashion designer, UX designer, DIY enthusiast, and a prominent .MEr.

Let us tell you all about her!

Lack Of Decisiveness, Or Clarity Of Vision?

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” This casual question was something we all had to endure as children. In hindsight, insisting on an instantaneous answer to a question that complex, urging a child to make such a commitment is simply bone-chilling!

This quandary certainly was a pivotal one in the life of Anne Louise. Her educational background had little to do with the field she would one day be working in. Having obtained a degree in economics, Anne surely did manage to develop a solid grip on data. But the creative streak in her nature pulled her in the direction of design.

As she pursued her further studies, Louise delved deep into design thinking and methodologies. Ultimately, she blended the two in her current role – that of a UX Designer who loves user research.

The main drive behind her success was her courage to question the mass production of clothes and the underlying problem this could tackle. Her focus was set on understanding users’ behaviour and solving problems. This led Anne to take on the job as a merchandiser. And this experience proved to be highly beneficial for her future career – and her amazing success too.

The First Steps Of The Fashion Designer

Currently, she uses a double diamond framework  to compare UX with fashion and illustrate how her fashion design skills are transferable into the UX world. According to this designer, UX and fashion are almost identical processes as they are all about analyzing findings to identify trends and patterns.

The entire work process revolves around four Ds: Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver. All of these aim to facilitate the interaction of the target user with the product as a means to optimize the experience. For Louise, work doesn’t end with a finished product. Rather, it ends with a product that is a good fit, on trend, is wearable, and that can fully live up to the needs and wishes of the end-user.

So that’s the course of Anne’s professional journey. All of this shows just how analytical and creative personality streaks can be merged to produce a thriving, innovative profession. Additionally, Anne’s resourceful and diverse education and experience show that building a personal brand and strong career doesn’t have to be a narrow and straight upwards climb. Quite the contrary!

Now, we know that Louise’s zigzag career path might come across as an aimless quest of self-exploration to some. But working through different fields of study and work allowed Anne to bind together her two greatest passions. Thus it helped her reach professional heights in a niche field where her genius is best expressed. And that’s where her clients and the society as a whole can get the most benefits.

The seeming lack of decisiveness actually helped her achieve superior clarity of vision with regards to her goals and target niche and audience. Thus was set for her a unique cornerstone that favors a multidimensional over the traditional career pursuits.

Where Comprehensiveness Meets Depth Of Insight

During her work as a merchandiser, Louise was drawn to projects that emphasized both technology and people. This allowed her to interweave the two into a refreshing career twist.

As she pursued her merchandising path, she had the opportunity to work with complex B2B systems in the attempt of optimizing workflow for both developers and IT. On the other hand, her role also required analytical prowess. To wit, she worked on mapping out all relevant processes to highlighting pain points and all opportunities to senior stakeholders to convince them to make the best decision.

The comprehensive knowledge and first-hand experience paired with in-depth research and analytical skills were the aces in the winning hand for Louise. In the April 2020 furlough, she seized the chance to enroll in the General Assembly UX Design Immersive. That’s where she could go all-in on her biggest passion – a calling that married user experience and human-centered design.

The bright-eyed designer with an affinity to user research is aware her marketing, fashion design, and merchandising experience allowed her to zoom in on the niche she can enrich with her creative contributions. And all of this without having to sacrifice her multitalented personality for the sake of professional success.

Additionally, she noted that the lockdown period allowed her to become “a skilled handywoman” and explore deeply the arena of power tools. Apart from her DIY endeavors, she’s fond of craft projects that allow her to create unique designs. And she is also pursuing a graphic design course in an attempt to digitize her craftsman skills and abilities.

Future Endeavors

As for her future career plans, she humorously remarks: “When lockdown ends, you will again find me at Tate Modern with a glass of wine.”

For now, though, she wants to work in UX design and user research. This is an area where Anne hopes to combine design principles with a view to boosting the organization’s value.

Among her greatest sources of inspiration, she lists the dotty designs of Yayoi Kusama. And she also notes that she still makes her own clothes, even though her career focus has shifted to a whole new dimension.

A Designer’s Digital Footprint

Didn’t we mention that Anne’s end destination is a product that is a good fit and able to fully live up to the needs and wishes of the end-user? Well, her personal website is another proof of that!

So let’s take a look at what her website is like. Starting with the homepage. Right at the headline, it tells you what she does straight-way (designing online experiences). Then some text beneath. Not too much, not too little. A few emoji’s to cheer the things up even more.

From that point on, the user is free to explore her professional history, work experience and many cool projects. Each Anne’s project (as well as her website) is pleasant to the eyes and enjoyable to explore.

The Takeaway

In the market nowadays, resourcefulness and innovative approaches are a one-way ticket to success.

And as we can see from Anne Louise’s experience, one’s work can only get better with age and experimentation. This is even more true when this experimentation is coupled with passion.

Continue rocking, Anne!