As design lead for Motorola Solutions’ Mobile Apps UX team, Catherine Witkin spends plenty of time at the office — but she also hangs out in fire departments and police cars. That’s because she develops new technology for first responders.
Read on to learn what’s on this UX design lead’s to do list — and how Witkins finds inspiration after a day with first responders.
WHERE I WORK: Motorola Solutions creates technology to help emergency responders do their jobs safely and effectively. Its solutions range from rugged radios that survive harsh conditions to mobile intelligence systems for public safety.
MOST EXCITING ITEM ON MY TO DO LIST: My field research with customers. We hear from firefighters about how they spend their days, and go on ride-alongs with police to observe their processes and technologies.
There’s nothing more exciting and inspiring than speeding to a call with sirens blaring. As a designer, I can’t help but imagine new ways technology can make the officer safer.
HOW I DO THIS: It takes a lot of planning and prep. We have to make sure we’re collecting the right information and going in open minded to experience for ourselves what our customers go through.
Our customers are an important part of the creative process. They get in on the ground floor of cutting-edge innovation and help shape the products they could use in the future.
MOST CHALLENGING ITEM ON MY LIST: It’s amazing to build a design, but design implementation comes with challenges. Sometimes technology hasn’t caught up to what you’ve envisioned. You have to make compromises to execute your final product.
HOW I DO THIS: With so many cool ideas and a growing software development team, we have to prioritize what we build. A close relationship with our development teams is key. If we can understand a developer’s perspective, we can find common ground to build the right solution.
HOW I CELEBRATE A JOB WELL DONE: We’re constantly building capabilities or new apps so product development is never "done." But when a new feature is built, it’s rewarding to look back to when it was just an idea during field research. It gives us a sense of accomplishment and pride.
It’s another reason to hang out in the office for some well-deserved beers – or in my case, Angry Orchard.
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