Page 67 - Tropic Magazine Issue 12

Tropic
Opinion

you’re at work you are absorbed by it and the people around you
and don’t wish the day away. Tim
You speak with the people you work with and know something Cooke
‘personal’ about your colleagues.
You don’t stop learning. Design Director
Something, somewhere got sacrificed to be where you are today. Tropic
You feel like you make a di ference to something, some being or
someone in the role you do.
And, most importantly…
You take pride in your work. I guarantee that if you don’t, it’s not UX explained
the correct profession for you. In the words of Steve Jobs: “Your recently read a listicle that ranked the hottest freelance
work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to I
skills that are most in-demand right now. It piqued my
be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the interest because I’ve been a freelancer for long periods at
only way to do great work is to love what you do”. di ferent points throughout my career. UX design was close to
MORE: phyxmephysiocairns.com.au the top of the skills list. What the hell is UX design? Simply, it is
user experience design.
In its simplest form, UX is how a customer experiences and
relates to your service or product. A beautifully-designed
experience will ensure you retain a customer for life, while a
Darren bad one means they will never return. I have a recent example.
Barber I was recently given some free tickets to a show I was very
interested in seeing and was instructed to book online and
Owner enter a promotion code when checking out. But I never made it
ree Wolves to the check out! e process of selecting dates, the number of
tickets, seating allocation and entering personal details was so
shambolically cumbersome and glitchy I just closed the
Cheers! window and disregarded the opportunity to attend. A week
F a ter the show had played I was chatting to a person involved in
or those of us who are old enough, there was a time before
the production and they were concerned at how poorly the
the bearded barista was part of our everyday routine, a time
before the local pub was named a Gastropub, when an evening tickets had sold, even though the show was received brilliantly
by those who did see it. e marketing was called into question
out involved a Flu fy Duck cocktail. and the boss wanted answers. Well, the answer is the ticket
is was a simpler time, a simpler world and if you ordered a buying UX was...shit. Imagine doing everything right and then
beer there was a good chance it was a lager. failing at the finish line?
But out with the old and in with the new: the cra t beer My very simple advice is to consider how your user (customer)
revolution is here. ere has been an explosion of cra t breweries experiences every single touch point of your business. Take an
popping up all around Australia and they continue to grow at an objective view by pretending you are your customer or, better
exponential rate. Homebrewers turned entrepreneurs are giving still, ask someone less invested to road test your product or
up their day jobs, investing their life savings and creating a beer service. You may be surprised at how the smallest thing is
drinking culture not seen in this country before. contributing to your less than outrageous success. If that
e selection of beers now available at the local bottle shop is doesn’t work out, talk to an expert, like our crew at Tropic
mind-blowing, with lavours and infusions straight from a fine Studio. We live and breathe UX design – and every small
dining restaurant and cans and bottles in an array of designs. business should too.
With more than 500 cra t breweries in Australia, we have seen
an in lux in speciality beer bars popping up across the country in MORE: tropicstudio.com.au
How do we know we got it right? support of this revolution. And judging by American’s
cra t beer trends we still have a long way to go!
s a teenager, we are asked to make the actual decision on To own a brewery is not cheap…it requires deep
“what do we want to be when we grow up”. For some it is pockets, a lot of patience and a very understanding
easy, they always knew. While others feel enormous pressure family. Cairns is blessed to have three fantastic
because, in all honestly, they have no idea. micro-breweries: Macalister Brewing Company,
Some get it right from day dot and others loat in and out of Barrier Reef Brewing and Coral Sea Brewing. Each
professions, either happily or unhappily. So how do we choose one is a family run operation that strives to produce
what’s right for us – or how do we know we got it right? I think phenomenal world class beers.
there is a certain checklist and if you can answer “yes” to the So, let’s embrace this change in drinking culture and
majority of the points, then one could safely assume “you are get behind your local brewery or bar. Grab some
what you wanted to be when you grew up”. friends, head down to the local and cheers to this
Here’s my checklist: amazing tropical city we call home.
Can you happily tell people what you do? MORE: threewolves.com.au
Do you get excited by a new challenge at work?
Do you smile when your client, consumer, boss, patient, or
customer says “thank you” for the job you did?
Do you think of starting another profession?
While going to work, leaving the kids/boat/golf clubs/bed/book
or surf board may not be your most favourite thing, but once