Stephen Dempsey

Where are you based as a UX/UI designer?

I'm based in West London near the beautiful Kew Gardens and the River Thames. My wife and I moved to here over 4 years ago. London is great because, no matter how much time you spend here, there is always somewhere new to explore.

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What led you into UX/UI design?

That creative itch was not being scratched. Before transitioning into the vast tech world, I worked in healthcare for over 5 years. During that time I cared for people with Dementia, Alzheimer's and end of life. I felt that I gave everything I could in that sector and decided it was time to nurture my creative side. Without any idea of where this might take me, my friend recommended UX Design. Before diving in, I decided to teach myself software development in order to gain a foundational understanding of how to build software. Element3, my current company, hired me as a Junior Software Developer, and as I grew within the company, they saw that my strengths lied within user experience. I am now currently the sole UX/UI designer for our company.

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Why are you a UX/UI designer?

Being at the forefront of each step of the design process is important to me, from brainstorming the idea with a client, to celebrating the success of the end result. Bringing an idea to life and creating a satisfying experience for our clients is such a rewarding experience. Helping people is what fuels my desire to create.

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What does a typical day look like for you?

I'm usually up and out the door going for a jog along the Thames near Kew Bridge.

Afterwards, I make my smoothie and check my calendar to see what's in store for the day. Since first line support is one of my daily tasks, I log on and see if there are any new support tickets. Around 9:30 I jump on the daily scrum with our lead developer, project manager and head of innovation, where we discuss what we've been working on and what to take on today.

Each day is different so I could be either on a support call helping a customer, creating documentation for our knowledge base, designing a mockup/prototype for a project or configuring a new FileHound instance which is our flagship product for a new customer.

My wife and I are proud dog walkers of the most well mannered cavapoo in the world, Peggy! I sometimes walk/run with her on my break. After work, I rustle up some dinner for my wife and I before jumping in to my UX/UI prep-tasks for my upcoming Bootcamp with Memorisely, or take a call with a fellow Memorisely designer from around the world.

What is your current desk setup?

My current desk setup consists of my Lenovo work laptop which is hooked up to my single curved monitor which sits on a stand that also has a nice oul phone holder. I have a Bose speaker for those Teams calls, wireless keyboard and mouse hooked up to my laptop. I have postit notes to my left, tripod to my right along with Alexa. I keep my personal laptop underneath my work, which is easy to switch to when work is over. I have 2 whiteboards that I use to braindump ideas, write to do lists, etc.

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And your Workstation setup across devices?

I try to keep the likes of Instagram and Twitter off of my home screen to stay focused during my workday.

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What work are you most proud of?

Right now, my team and I are working in partnership with the Haemophilia and Thrombosis Centre at the Royal Free Hospital, London, to design and develop a new Haemophilia Outcome Management System (HOMS).

Designed to replace legacy manual data entry processes by both patients and NHS staff, and therefore successfully streamlining and improving the efficiency of the department’s treatment management process.

This digital transformation project is intended to simplify the submission of patient forms data, improve access to important patient related data for staff at the point of care, and ensure compliance through a secure, audited digital system.

Coming from a background in healthcare, this is a project I am currently most proud of. Working with the NHS and taking steps to improve their systems, leaves less room for error and provides more efficient healthcare for their patients. I have always had a passion for helping people and this project allows me to both help people and do what I love.

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Which Product recently blew your socks off?

The last time I was in Cornwall I tried my first pale ale called, Invisible Ceiling by Verdant, and it's become my new favourite. Highly recommend! 👌

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What challenges do you face as a UX/UI Designer?

I would have to say imposter syndrome is my biggest challenge. Being self taught, that lack-of-formal-education feeling can be overpowering at times. Some days I feel that I can't express my thoughts properly or feel as though my thoughts are not even good enough to share with the team, and that's all down to not having taken a course in design. So, come July, I will be taking the Memorisely UX/UI Bootcamp with Zander, after which I hope to have a bit more confidence in myself, and a few more handy tools to help squash the imposter in me.

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What tunes do you listen to whilst designing?

My musical taste is like a Marry Poppins bag of genres and podcasts. This ranges from Foo Fighters and TwentyOnePilots to Rose Betts to Hippie Sabotage. My current podcasts would be Dollars to Donuts, Awkward Silences, UX Podcast, UI Breakfast; and, I was recommended by a friend to listen to The Rich Roll podcast. Have a scroll below! 🤘

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Three suggestions for budding designers?

1. Try Relaxed Attention - I recently read about this in Creative Confidence. Tom and David Kelley explain that the best time to come up with new ideas is when your mind is in between the states of being completely relaxed to being laser focused in on a specific task. It's the sweet spot. It allows your brain to form connections with information that it wouldn't normally form.
2. Exercise - This is one of the most important aspects of my day. When I work out, I am 10x more effective at my work and more social-able too. When I don't move, self-doubt and imposter syndrome become much harder to cope with. So, I highly recommend nailing down an exercise routine to keep your mind clear, and keep your focus on track.
3. Join Memorisely! It's the best design community out there. I have met so many wonderful people by being apart of it. Your soft skills and design skills will enhance greatly! It's a family.