Kate Southern

Job:

Graduate product designer

Company:

Auto Trader

As a product designer my role is to make buying and selling cars as easy and straight-forward as possible. To ensure that the usability on the site is the best it can be. I work alongside a wide range of people from different disciplines such as product managers, engineers and researchers. My role also involves working through a full lifecycle of a design. This includes being apart of design workshops/sprints as well as designing, prototyping and testing ideas.

I am...

Resourceful

Patient

Easy-going

The skills I use most in my job...

Sketching, prototyping and visual design skills

Good communication skills and the ability to synthesise different perspectives

Usability testing, the ability to test with user of the site to understand their needs

Collaboration, talk to the team and communicate with any other people working of the project

Prioritisation/time management,

The most interesting thing I've worked on in my career so far...

Being apart of the digital retailing project which is still in the early stages but this project will be a big change for the company and it's very exciting to see whats going to happen.

What inspired me into digital and tech...

The scope and potential of what you can do in the digital and tech space is so massive and it's constantly changing. There has also been a shift for products to move online and especially in the two years this couldn't be more true. I was initially inspired to go into digital because of the scope you can do in the space and the fast paced environment.

My educational background is...

I did product design and technology degree. Then took a role in designing kitchen and then decided to make the switch over to a digital space.

What advice I'd give to girls thinking about a career in digital and tech...

There is a large amount of options within this area. You don't have to be a technical person or know anything about code to start a career in this space. I would certainly recommend looking around and understand all the options that are available out there and if you find something that you want to do, go for it!