Collaboration and getting to make a difference through design are two compelling reasons why our Product Designer Olivia enjoys working at Auror. Since joining the company in 2019, she has firmly established herself as a talented and enthusiastic designer, who prioritises truly understanding the problems she’s helping to solve.

Learn more about what brought Olivia to Auror, how Product Design is different here compared to other places she has worked, and whether it’s a “Yay” or a “Nay” from her when it comes to the controversial hamburger icon debate. 

Hi Olivia, please introduce yourself.

Hi! I joined Auror in 2019 as a Product Designer which means I’m part of the team responsible for the interface of the product and making sure our customers have a great experience when interacting with it.  

What got you into design?

I did loads of creative subjects at high school so I definitely knew I wanted to do something in that space. I went into Year 13 thinking I’ll do Architecture or Graphic Design, but by the end of the year I was set on design. You get exposed to a pretty broad range of things at design school so I learned what I liked/disliked through that period and have ended up in Product, which has great problem-solving and creativity challenges.

What was your journey to becoming a product designer? 

I did a Bachelor of Design at Massey University in Wellington. I was a bit obsessed with print and branding so my first job out of uni was working as a Marketing Designer. I didn’t stick around there too long before joining Crimson Education as a Junior Product Designer. I was there for about 3 years before I joined Auror!

Why did you decide to work at Auror?

I initially heard about Auror through Alister (the Director of Design). Crime intelligence was definitely a new field for me, but I loved the idea of working on a product that has a positive impact and I could see there was real value in what the team was building. Going through the interview process, I really loved the way the team explained the culture around collaboration and I just felt like I could learn so much from the team.

What do you enjoy the most about designing at Auror?

Honestly I think it’s the team aspect. I love that Product Managers, Engineers and the QA team get involved in design. I think it creates a lot of safety as a designer because I know the rest of the team is as invested in what we’re building as me. We also have a lot of freedom to explore things, as well as a lot of support when we need it. 

How is designing at Auror different from, or similar to, other places you’ve worked?

I think aside from the super strong collaboration and team aspect, the biggest difference I have found is that we work towards the MVE (minimum viable experience), ship it and we have the space to refine and improve the designs based on how we’re seeing our customers interact with it. This changes the design process quite a lot because there’s less pressure to get something perfect the first time and we have the space to iterate and refine.

What is the most challenging part about your role?

Crime intelligence and loss prevention were totally new concepts for me so I think one of the biggest challenges is really understanding our customers and what’s important to them. Particularly when I first joined, I found it difficult keeping up in conversations with our customers because they are just so knowledgeable in that space, but it does get easier the more projects I work on. 

Walk us through a project that has been a highlight for you so far.

The biggest project highlight for me would have to be Auror Investigate. It’s been a huge project (1.5 years) and I learned so much in that time. We built it to help investigators run investigations more effectively and to address some of the challenges they were facing with their current tools. When we started off, I was working with one of the co-founders to get designs together and he’d constantly be sharing them and gathering feedback with customers so we could keep refining. 

We eventually were confident enough to build the MVE and we released it to a group of Beta users. These people used the product a lot more than we anticipated so it was such a great way to validate we were doing the right thing and gave us the opportunity to keep getting feedback. 

We’re now out of Beta and it’s awesome seeing the product being used in the real world!

Figma or Sketch?

I have always been a huge Sketch fan but we’ve moved to Figma recently and I am so impressed by it! It’s quite a steep learning curve but it would have to be Figma for me. 

Hamburger icon: yes or no?

Lol great question. On mobile I think it serves a good purpose. I think there’s better ways to navigate, but it’s scalable as you build out the product and it’s familiar so I think people understand that it’s a menu. I am a lot less keen to use it on desktop unless the key actions are already visible and it’s being used to contain less commonly used actions.  

Do you have any tips for other aspiring designers?

Don’t be afraid to share designs before you think they’re done and make the most of the opportunities when others share too. I think so much learning happens in those conversations. Also make the most of the wider team too. I find it so valuable hearing other perspectives, whether that's engineers or members of the Customer Success team.