Just Imagine with Anna Reka Nagy 💭
When your career is just beginning, finding your feet can be a daunting prospect - but an exciting one too. Just imagine the possibilities if you were surrounded by supportive people who just wanted you to be you. Anna joined us as a student worker in Denmark a couple of years ago. Her story will tell you everything you need to know about teamwork and the positive side of failing.
“I’ve certainly come a very long way since I was hired. From doing graphical work as a ‘pixel-counting’ student worker, I’m now working with more complicated parts of the digital design process. But we all have to start somewhere right? I’m very happy that my first job was here. It’s not just my role that’s allowed me to develop and grow, I’d say it’s also been down to my wonderful colleagues. They understood - and still do - that someone who is just starting a career in the creative industry needs to be involved in as many different parts of the process as there are – after all, that’s the way we all really learn. By sharing and being supportive.
“In my role as an Associate Digital Product Designer, I work with internal applications and digital products so, quite literally, I am working on making my colleagues’ digital work life a seamless, efficient and positive experience. So this seems like a good way to give back for what they’ve given me. Every contribution to what I do for my team is a win – no matter how small or big they are. Although, the latest achievement that I am really proud of is taking the initiative on establishing a UX vision. But, again, this just goes to show how they’ve helped me grow in confidence so quickly.
“User Experience is so important to get right, I think. It represents the countless digital touchpoints in our daily lives that contribute to our overall impression and experience of certain brands, companies, and products. What I do in my work is to make sure that the users of our digital touchpoints have a great impression and engaging experience with our brands. Making users happy makes me happy.
“For a Digital Designer, it’s incredibly important to stay on top of feedback. We have to be listening. That way we always know what our users want and I have an endless supply of work to do developing the digital products and applications to keep up with this. So it’s a win-win all around. I guess my background in graphics and illustration helps here too. It means that when I’m working with visual identities, for instance, that I can balance aesthetics with usability. I can put a lot of love into this because this kind of work will always have a special place in my heart.
“I’m a more introverted personality. If you were to ask me what I found most challenging, I’d probably say user research and testing. That being said, working here has helped me grow in confidence and I’m much more prepared to speak up and make my point. With my manager, for example, because we work so closely together, I’m able to bring my knowledge and insight. It’s taken seriously too. I may be a junior but it’s true. We all get to contribute. This is how we do things.
“It all counts. It all matters and goes towards creating a work environment where we can all thrive. My team - I talk about my team a lot but they are the most supportive people I have ever met. We not only help each other professionally but also lift each other up personally if needed. If something is a success, we are happy for it, if it is a failure, we help each other and draw the learnings from it. This is an environment that is truly motivating and safe to work in. My advice to any new joiner would be this: have courage and bring your curiosity. Be brave enough to initiate something and fail. Everyone around you will support you to succeed. Ask to collaborate, and explore with others. Basically what I'm saying is give your true self. It’s the only way you can be a really strong asset.”