Jaime Sporl: "My Creativity Mostly Comes from Things That Inspire Me"

A > I’ve been in this industry for about 10 years now. Seven specifically in experience design. In school I studied traditional advertising and public relations, and had a few jobs within those fields, it wasn’t until after school that I started UX. I found user experience through a happy accident. I took a summer internship after I got out of school. I worked my butt off that summer and it paid off. I ended up signing a one-year contract after the summer, getting a full-time role and stayed there for a total of four and-a-half years. At that point, all I had ever known was the agency world and I was craving to try something else. I got an opportunity to go in-house and I took it. Unfortunately, that in-house job wasn’t for me. I stayed there for about a year before landing my current job as a senior experience design in R/GA’s Austin office. 

Jaime Sporl > For me it was always less about the job itself and more about what the job did. I always knew whatever I did in the long-term, I wanted it to be about helping people. It wasn’t until almost a year into my job that the first project I worked on went live. I realised that what I did for brands with UX was helping people, just not in the way I had originally imagined. As I worked on more projects and brands, I started to see that come to life more and more and fell in love with the job. The job itself was something that came easily to me, so it was an added bonus. 

Jaime > My creativity mostly comes from things that inspire me. I am most inspired when I am in the world connecting with other people. So I tend to travel a lot. Most recently I was inspired when I did a cross-country road trip this summer. I was reminded that in the world of experience design, sometimes we get comfortable in the 'bubble' of user types that we design for, but in reality there are A LOT of people out there with different needs and beliefs. Connecting with people, learning from them and what they want is how I keep my creativity going, it helps me stay sharp, and reminds me why I do what I do. 

Jaime > I don’t have a single mentor. I’ve been lucky enough to have a few incredible managers throughout my career. Most of which I keep still in touch with. I feel incredibly lucky to have crossed paths with them, as well as learn from them. Watching them, learning from them, and listening to them, has been the greatest thing for my career development. They’ve given me a safe space to grow, learn and collaborate with, regularly.

Jaime > Oh man, this is a loaded question. I used to ask people I meet if they think in the next 50 years we will advance more or less as a society than we have in the last 50. If you think about 50 years ago, that was 1970. A lot was different. Technology, values, beliefs, brands... you get the point. Thinking about the next 50 and the future of our industry is really exciting to me. We're getting to a place in the next few years where the majority of brands user bases will have evolved. These individuals have grown up for most of their life with some kind of internet and digital presence. Their attention spans have significantly decreased, so brands will have to work smarter to connect and relate to them, day-to-day. I get excited thinking about how much the industry has changed in the last five years, the technological advances that have happened, and the 'things' that have taken centre stage. I'm excited to see how brands and experience designers adapt, to keep users at the centre of holistic experiences.

Jaime > Outside of work my passion lies in doing things outside. I love playing soccer, hiking, or throwing the frisbee at the park. Besides that, I love cooking and making things. I’ve gotten pretty good at making pasta dishes and I’m still working on my baking skills. I’m also a big foodie, and I like trying out new recipes at home.