Interview with Garik Margaryan, Senior UX Designer at Alibaba Group

"Love what you do."

Garik Margaryan is living the charmed life -- after all, he claims he's loved almost every project he's worked on (lucky duck). 

Wondering how you can cultivate a career rooted in success and happiness? Garik sat down with us to share everything from his design process to his best words of advice. 

DesignRush: What inspired you to go into UX design?

Garik Margaryan: The most interesting aspect of UX design for me is its process and scope. For instance, you always want to start out from an end-user perspective. Doing this requires an understanding of what makes them tick, how their daily lives are and what types of problems they have. From there we can test any number of solutions. I love UX design for its practical nature. We help real people solve real problems. Finally, no two projects are quite the same, so UX designers constantly need to develop supplementary skills to offer support in other areas of a given project. 

DR: What are a few of your favorite design tools?

GM: Sketch: I like this tool as it’s pretty comfortable to use and is ideal for putting designs together quickly. 

InVision: I use this tool often because it allows users to quickly prototype while collaborating with different stakeholders and remote teams. 

Pen and paper: Because I can’t imagine a world entirely without classic prototyping tools! 

I’m also keeping my eye on Adobe’s XD.

DR: What are some projects of your own that you are particularly proud of and why?

GM: I feel that I must’ve been really lucky with projects so far, and I’ve found reasons to love them all – but if I had to pick one it’d probably be my work updating the terminals for Europe’s largest commercial gambling terminal provider and operator. It was the first time that I worked on a project that simultaneously required both software and hardware optimization. The challenge was aligning hardware and software components to enhance user experience. The project was overall a big success and the new terminals were met with excitement by the market. 

DR: You have the day off. What can we find you doing? 

GM: Whenever I am feeling happy and energized I like to get outside and do something physical. You might catch me enjoying a bit of skating, cycling or squash depending on the weather. If I’m feeling a little drained I like to recharge at a café reading, or spending some quality time with my PlayStation 4! It’s amazing how much inspiration there is to take from video games! 

DR: Which blogs, websites, or apps to you check every day? 

GM: I’ve found a lot of interesting references on Pinterest and Dribbble — especially for UI. I also enjoy Muzil browser plugin, as it helps me keep organized and I can find lots of cool things there. 

DR: What motto motivates you in your work?

GM: Love what you do. Life is too short to spend your time on something you don’t really like.

DR: Any final thoughts, comments, or words of wisdom you’d like to share with someone in the industry?

GM: Stay true to yourself. When the times are not the best, keep fighting. When no one motivates you, motivate yourself. And remember that even the worst experience is still an experience you can learn from!

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