Q: Tom, can you introduce yourself – name, age, and position at Zahara?
A: Hi, I’m Tom Northeast. I’m 25 and I work as a UX Designer here at Zahara, where I focus on creating intuitive and user-friendly experiences.
Table of Contents
Quick-fire Round
Q: Sweet or savoury?
A: Savoury. If I can skip dessert and get an extra starter, that’s the route I’ll go down.
Q: Cinema or Netflix at home?
A: Cinema, 100%. You just can’t beat the experience.
Q: Your all-time favourite film?
A: Heat by Michael Mann. It stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Val Kilmer. My dad introduced me to it and it’s become my most re-watched film.
Q: Best meal you’ve ever had?
A: At Nobu in Mayfair, London. Incredible food, great service, and unforgettable oysters.
Q: Superpower for a day?
A: Teleportation. Think of all the time saved on travel!
Career & Design
Q: Did you go to university, and what did you study?
A: Yes, I studied Computer Games Design at the University of Gloucestershire. It was a great mix of creativity, problem-solving, and learning new tech.
Q: How did your degree shape your current path?
A: I didn’t end up in the games industry, but the skills transferred well into UX design. Both aim to guide users through complex systems in a natural way.
Q: How did you first get into UX design?
A: It was a happy accident. I graduated in 2020 during COVID, which made job hunting tough. I joined Zahara in the support team and was trained as a UX Designer by our Head of Product.
Q: Who or what inspires your design thinking?
A: Feedback from users, sales, and support teams. It bridges the gap between design intentions and real experiences.
Q: What part of the UX process do you enjoy most?
A: The design iteration phase. Collaborating with stakeholders and refining designs until they’re both functional and genuinely useful.
Q: Can you share a design problem you’ve solved recently?
A: Users often got stuck when buttons were disabled with no explanation. I mapped out the conditions and explored ways to show that info directly in the product.
Design Trends & Advice
Q: What’s one UX trend you love and one you’d like to see disappear?
A: I love dark mode. I’d like to see overly complex “immersive” scrolling designs disappear — they’re resource-heavy and not user-friendly.
Q: What advice would you give to someone starting out in UX design today?
A: Immerse yourself in design. Read books, follow design leaders, and engage with the community. Stay up to date but take advice with a pinch of salt.
Q: You recently earned a certification with Smashing Magazine — can you tell us about that?
A: Yes, it was a course on measuring design success by Vitaly Friedman. It helped me learn how to evaluate whether designs genuinely improve user experience.
Fun Facts
Q: What’s something about you that might surprise your colleagues?
A: I log every film I watch. This year alone, I’ve watched over 111 films so far.
- Link “Zahara” to your About Page or Features Page: Zahara AP Automation features
- Where “user-friendly experiences” is mentioned, link to: Accounts Payable automation software
- For “support team” reference, link to: Invoice processing
