hello.
i'm
mick
gow.
UX
- human
- designer
- doer
- thinker
- story teller
- on a journey.
I'm passionate and take my role as a designer seriously. However, just like you, I'm human. It's important to know this because working with designers is a human interaction. When you work with me your experience will be fun. We'll get work done, but we'll laugh and enjoy the process.
I'm also humble. Despite having my big mug-shot at the top of this website, I don't have an ego. If you have an ego, that's OK, I'll bring you back down to earth.
I've lived and worked across the globe. Each experience has taught me new perspectives that motivate and inspire.
My journey began in Australia where the foundation of my design experience began. My career has taken me to London for 9 months as a freelance designer, and to the US where I now live and breath design.
I ♥ solving complex design challenges with simple solutions. I approach design systematically with a user-centric process, but I still form a strong design point of view. I craft visual design languages. I code highly interactive prototypes. I have many super powers and use them often.
What does it mean to be a UX doer? It means I get stuff done. I do the groundwork to understand the business. I do the planning to understand my charter (I also crafted it with my leaders). I do the research to learn the technology.
I understand my team because I've taken time to identify their super-powers. Above all it means I know when it's time to stop planning, and start doing. I'm a doer and I help others do.
Being a thinker and a doer is a delicate balance. I'm the one that pauses you to stop and think, and the result we'll gain is confidence. My job as a thinker is to share my thinking, and keep our goals front and center.
When working on a project we design for the end user, so let's make them part of our journey. Defining persona's is s a reminder that we're creating a story for our users and we have a clear vision of who they are. Storytelling becomes a way to ensure the user is always by our side.
Once our actors are set, it becomes much easier to talk about any design scenario. We ask ourselves what we want our actors to do, and how would they interact with our stage.
Every success, every failure, and every journey creates a story. We learn from our wins and mistakes and it's important to remember these stories and talk about them often. Our next story will be even better.
These stories are shared with my leaders, my peers, and my team. It's the same story, but often told with a different narrative to cater to different perspectives across the team. I'm ready to tell and hear great stories (and not so great ones).
Every step of my journey has added tools to my utility belt and wealth to my wisdom. What makes me stand out, is not just what I've designed. It's every interaction with others that has helped me gain empathy - whether that's with end users, or the teams I work.
See my journey