Osedea portraits: design, cultural insights and creativity with Robbie Scott

As part of our Osedea Portraits series, meet Robbie Scott, a talented UX/UI designer. With a rich academic background in England and an international professional journey, Robbie brings a unique perspective to each design project. Beyond his sharp technical skills, discover a professional passionate about the positive impact he can have on people's lives. Dive into Robbie's world and discover his inspirations, creative methods, and the many facets of his personality.

How did your academic experience in England influence your design career?

I was lucky enough to study design at a university that was specifically dedicated to the arts, so I received a very practical and very rich education. I still apply knowledge around things like typography and color theory that I learned there to this day! It also helped me adopt a very pragmatic approach - fulfilling the clients goals via the brief is the primary objective of any design project, so we always have to keep our eye on that prize. Making things look beautiful is just icing on the cake; absolutely necessary to deliver something outstanding, but not where the true success lies. 

What cultural differences have you observed in the field of design between England, Sweden, and Canada?

Great question! They were all so different. In England, there is more of a focus on the “hustle” - we were always trying to go way above and beyond. We once stayed at the office until 3am working on a pitch that we had the opportunity to do but we only had 24 hours to create and submit it. In Sweden however, there is a very strong sense of structure and rules, and people really like to follow those rules! There is also a strong “consensus culture” so basically everyone has to agree before things move forward. That results in a lot of meetings! However, you also get a lot of standard benefits as an employee (4 weeks vacation, 12 months maternity, and 9 months paternity leave). In Canada, I feel we are somewhere in the middle. People like to work hard and want to innovate to succeed, but there is also a really solid emphasis on things like work-life balance. I find the atmosphere at Canadian companies gentler and more relaxed in general.

How do you define simplicity in design, and why is it so important to you?

Simplicity in design is to me about focussing on two major cornerstones: Firstly, that we focus on the goals of the brief and don’t get distracted by ideas or ambitions outside of that (as cool as those ideas might be). Secondly, it’s the age-old design rule of “form follows function”. When we put the way things work first, we ensure that that thing we are designing is going to successfully serve its purpose before anything else. Once that is defined, we can allow it to guide our aesthetic choices. This in turn should provide us with a balanced and functional design that still feels attractive, which will inherently feel simple to the user.

What is your method to ensure that your design remains human-centered?

Another great question. In the early research and ideation phases, getting to know the user of a product is really where everything starts. By conducting user interviews and testing, as well as creating user personas and gathering other data-backed knowledge, we have a kind of empathetic vision that we can always refer back to when working through the wireframes and prototypes. Whenever we come up with a concept we can ask ourselves “would this make sense to Persona A?” or “does this fulfill the needs of Persona B?”. By verifying our ideas against the user data we gathered in the beginning of a project, we ensure that everything we do is rooted in the people that will be using the product.

What inspires you in your daily work as a UX/UI designer?

Getting the opportunity to make a positive impact on people’s lives. Whether that's via an app that helps people access fertility care more easily, or its because we created something that makes someone workflow much faster so they can run a small business successfully. It’s really the people behind the technology that motivates and inspires me the most.

Do you have a creative ritual or routine that you follow regularly?

Early in my career it was all about eating up as much design related knowledge and content as possible - books, blogs, galleries, everything - but now my rituals are almost the opposite: Step away from the screen, go hiking or running, make a fancy meal at home or talk about something unrelated to design. By giving yourself that breathing room and allowing your creative mind to cool down, you feel more relaxed and in turn ready to keep tackling each creative challenge. So I guess I would say my creative ritual is stepping away from creativity!

Who are your favorite designers or artists, and how do they influence your work?

I don’t have too many “design idols” these days but one still absolutely stands out, and that’s Dieter Rams. He made his name during the 60s where he became an icon of modernist product design while at Braun. He designed things like record players, electric razors, and coffee machines in a way that was so simple, streamlined and beautiful that it was revolutionary. He has a simple motto to guide design: “less, but better”. That’s something I think about during every project I do. And, when I’m stuck, I ask myself “What would Dieter do?”. His “10 principles for good design” are fantastic guiding lights for any designer.

How do you use user feedback to improve your designs?

User feedback is really essential. At the end of the day, if the user is satisfied with the experience we’ve created, then we are successful. User feedback allows us to take guesswork and assumptions out of our process. It also helps us avoid bias (designers can sometimes get hooked on small details that we think are cool but might not mean much to someone without technical knowledge). This allows us to have a more focussed and intentional outcome. I see the design process really as a collaboration; between us, our client and the end users. So getting into their headspace is the best way for us to get that really crucial insight that guides us to the most appropriate and impactful solution.

What project are you most proud of and why?

I think the one i’m most proud of is always just the last one that I did, however I do take a lot of pride in anything we do related to health tech. Our work with Begin Fertility in particular was really special, because we were able to simplify and demystify something that can be quite intimidating for many people. By facilitating that easy and welcoming user experience, we’re able to make a very positive impact directly on people’s lives, and hopefully help them have the life they want for themselves that they might not otherwise be able to achieve. Through design, we are able to influence the world around us and hopefully make things feel a bit more like they should.

How do you see the evolution of UX/UI design in the coming years?

AI is definitely going to have a significant impact. It will allow us to speed up our workflows and there are already impressive tools available that mean we can spend more time on concepts and creative thinking than just pure production tasks (which I do enjoy, I hope it doesn’t go away completely!) It will also open up design to a lot more people because you might not need to know tools like Figma inside out anymore - so just an idea and the ability to prompt the AI can help non-designers also get much further much quicker. At the same time, I worry that AI could devalue our craft, in the same way that “everyone thinks they’re a photographer” because of the amazing power of iPhone cameras.