This week, we heard from Django Skorupa about his experience!
Hello Sauce Labs! I’m Django Skorupa, a photographer, freelance designer, and most importantly, a Sauce Labs Fellow!
I got my start in tech during my undergrad while I was pursuing an industrial design degree on a furniture track. This introduced me to the study of ergonomics and human centered design. When COVID came calling and I couldn’t work in the studio, I changed tack to user experience. It turns out that in the broader sense, whether you’re designing dashboards or doorknobs, ergonomic research follows a similar track. The only difference is that now I can do it from my home in the hills of rural Massachusetts.
I’ve worked in open source since graduating, initially in one of the first academic open source program offices (OSPO) in the country, and later as a freelancer. It was during a freelance speaking arrangement in Raleigh, NC that I met Paloma Oliveira and found out about the fellowship. I’m hoping to use this experience and the incredible guidance of all of our mentors to springboard into a full time position in tech as a UX designer. The intersection of open source and design is something I’m extremely passionate about, and I spend much of my free time also engaged in these communities.
Since starting the fellowship I’ve gotten a fantastic hands-on look at a lot of the parts of the development process that I haven’t previously had a chance to try. From setting up my own developer environment and building a presence on GitHub, to implementing my own instance of a headless CMS and linking it to a SQL database and Vue app.
As fun as it has been, I look forward to returning to the research and design work that won me over to this path almost a decade ago, albeit with a new found appreciation for those who will be implementing my future work!
Outside of the fellowship I continue to contribute to the Sustain group in Open Collective, as well as their podcast Sustain Open Source Design as a recurring panelist and host. I’ve spoken publicly on introducing developers and project maintainers to the principles of stakeholder-forward design, and look forward to doing so again soon.
