November 28, 2012 at 17:38UIDesign Group office
Hello! For a long time something on the hub was not "excursions" to the offices of IT-companies. Not so long ago I managed to visit the office of the usability company UIDesign Group (or UIDG for short), which I really liked.
That is why I decided to tell you about him.
Just in case, I’ll briefly talk about the company itself (I won’t give links to the site) - this is a group of experts who carry out various projects for large customers and are engaged in usability research. In addition, the company is part of the international usability alliance , together with which it recently organized the international conference UX Masterclass in Moscow , and UIDG employees often make presentations at various events (e.g. 404fest ).
The office itself is located on Baltic Street (Sokol metro station) in a building on the ground floor of which it was possible to find a pointer to a “soap shop”, which broke all my ideas about the demand for certain goods. True, I didn’t go for soap products, but went up to the necessary floor and looked into the office, which was the purpose of the visit.
A lot of companies are lodging in the business center, but it’s hard to miss the UIDG office:
As soon as a visitor enters the office, he immediately catches the eye with a hefty inscription on the wall far from the entrance, a photo of which I took out to announce the topic, but there is something to see besides it.
For example, a meeting room in which glass, however, creates the feeling of a room for interrogations from American films. It is interesting what is happening "on the other side." It’s quite possible that during interviews the bosses observe the candidate through this transparent wall and notice the peculiarities of his behavior :)
All company employees are in the open space - there aren’t so many of them (a couple of dozen people), so no one bothers anyone and it turns out that on the contrary, even more fun. Only the director’s room is fenced (they have their own open space — they don’t have separate rooms), and even then this is an “aquarium”, so isolation is conditional here and is needed only from noise. No one fenced off from the people. Full openness, democratic and horizontal.
In general, the atmosphere in the office seemed creative, comfortable and kind of homely or something.
Coffee Point:
On one wall there are photos of joyful moments in the life of the company (birthdays, etc.):
Another meeting room:
Time can be found on the clock with a silent cuckoo - a symbol of self-discipline and independent time management:
In general, this whole wall is made in the “bird” style:
Office walls are a real pride in the company:
Director's aquarium with vegetation and furniture of cheerful colors:
During breaks in work, employees can compete in table hockey:
Or arrange a slam competition dunks and three-point throws:
Zone for discussion and rest on the second floor (yes, you heard right):
Someone even practices playing the electric guitar:
The company has an interesting tradition - every Friday at 5 pm the office hosts the so-called 5 o'clock - interesting people and professionals in their fields are invited for a pleasant conversation and tea drinking together. In addition, employees themselves, if they want to share some new information, can always speak to colleagues themselves.
Testing. Here they torment ... no, not users, but different software, sites, gadgets. However, they often show resistance, and testing is also hard. Particularly obstinate interfaces are sent for processing, flexible ones are finished with plastic operations:
Well, that’s probably all. In conclusion, I can say that both the company and its employees made the most pleasant impression on me (I myself do not work in the company, I communicate only in business). So if suddenly someone is offered to work here, as for me, it’s definitely worth thinking of with this proposal :). Well, to cooperate as a client makes sense by itself.
Thanks for attention!
The office itself is located on Baltic Street (Sokol metro station) in a building on the ground floor of which it was possible to find a pointer to a “soap shop”, which broke all my ideas about the demand for certain goods. True, I didn’t go for soap products, but went up to the necessary floor and looked into the office, which was the purpose of the visit.
A lot of companies are lodging in the business center, but it’s hard to miss the UIDG office:
As soon as a visitor enters the office, he immediately catches the eye with a hefty inscription on the wall far from the entrance, a photo of which I took out to announce the topic, but there is something to see besides it.
For example, a meeting room in which glass, however, creates the feeling of a room for interrogations from American films. It is interesting what is happening "on the other side." It’s quite possible that during interviews the bosses observe the candidate through this transparent wall and notice the peculiarities of his behavior :)
All company employees are in the open space - there aren’t so many of them (a couple of dozen people), so no one bothers anyone and it turns out that on the contrary, even more fun. Only the director’s room is fenced (they have their own open space — they don’t have separate rooms), and even then this is an “aquarium”, so isolation is conditional here and is needed only from noise. No one fenced off from the people. Full openness, democratic and horizontal.
In general, the atmosphere in the office seemed creative, comfortable and kind of homely or something.
Coffee Point:
On one wall there are photos of joyful moments in the life of the company (birthdays, etc.):
Another meeting room:
Time can be found on the clock with a silent cuckoo - a symbol of self-discipline and independent time management:
In general, this whole wall is made in the “bird” style:
Office walls are a real pride in the company:
Director's aquarium with vegetation and furniture of cheerful colors:
During breaks in work, employees can compete in table hockey:
Or arrange a slam competition dunks and three-point throws:
Zone for discussion and rest on the second floor (yes, you heard right):
Someone even practices playing the electric guitar:
The company has an interesting tradition - every Friday at 5 pm the office hosts the so-called 5 o'clock - interesting people and professionals in their fields are invited for a pleasant conversation and tea drinking together. In addition, employees themselves, if they want to share some new information, can always speak to colleagues themselves.
Testing. Here they torment ... no, not users, but different software, sites, gadgets. However, they often show resistance, and testing is also hard. Particularly obstinate interfaces are sent for processing, flexible ones are finished with plastic operations:
Well, that’s probably all. In conclusion, I can say that both the company and its employees made the most pleasant impression on me (I myself do not work in the company, I communicate only in business). So if suddenly someone is offered to work here, as for me, it’s definitely worth thinking of with this proposal :). Well, to cooperate as a client makes sense by itself.
Thanks for attention!