#33 Ashley Oros : ~Designing Global User Experiences~ - Interview with Beatrusters
Hi, I’m Momoka Uchida, a Public Relations representative at Beatrust. Whether you are a regular reader of “Beatrust on Note” or a newcomer, thank you for opening this article. With every employee with a unique background, passion, and commitment, today let me spotlight our Senior UI/UX Designer Ashley Oros.
About Ashely Oros
Can you briefly introduce yourself to the readers?
Hi, my name is Ashley. I’m from the US, specifically a tiny town east of Texas. I went to The University of Texas in Austin (Hook’em) and felt shocked when I saw tall city buildings for the first time. I loved city life so much that now I find myself in the largest city in the world, Tokyo.
I joined Beatrust on May 1st as a Senior UI/UX Designer. UI is where everyone sees design (the output), such as colors and spacing. UX stands for user experience (the inner workings), where I consider the issues that the user and the business are facing. As a designer, I problem-solve to create seamless and intuitive user experiences.
Growing up in the United States, what sparked your interest in Japan?
My lifelong hobby has been drawing. Specifically, I draw landscape and portrait drawings.
When I was in high school, I learned about Ukiyo-e art and ever since then, I wanted to learn more about Japanese culture.
I decided to take Japanese language courses in university, where I met my professor who suggested considering living in Japan as an option after graduation. So, I went on a 2-week vacation to Japan and I discovered that living there could be a possibility for me. Later on, I worked as a contractor for Crypton Future Media, a company based in Sapporo, just to make sure, and I decided to fully move to Japan after that amazing experience.
You have decided to live in Japan, with an experience of studying Japanese culture and language. After actually moving to Japan, was it like how you expected? Did you feel any cultural differences?
So far, I’ve been grateful for my experience here. I’ve been lucky to have lived in the countryside of Japan during my initial years. I saw a side of Japan that was different from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. I met wonderful, kind people who were so patient as I learned about Japanese culture. When I could barely speak Japanese, still, everyone was so understanding.
What I like about working in Japan, from my experience, is there’s a balance between maintaining work relationships and prioritizing high-quality work. People in Japanese companies place importance on relationships with other members, which can be seen in doing “Aisatsu” (Greetings), having lunch or dinner regularly, and more communication.
I believe you have majored in Psychology and your initial career was as a mental health coach. What made you decide to shift your career to design?
I’ve always been passionate about design, but it wasn’t until I was working closely with tech support at an international school that I wanted to make the shift. Little did I know that I could use my psychology and design skills together as a UI/UX Designer. For me to learn more, I took online design and user experience courses. In the evenings, I also took part in an online boot camp and hackathons. My favorite mentor was a senior designer who (still) works at Canva. We can see her amazing contributions through Canva’s success! She’s such an inspiration to me.
Are there any hobbies that you like to do outside of your work?
My main hobbies are bouldering, gaming, studying Japanese, illustrating, and running.
If you’ve never been bouldering, I highly recommend it. It’s not just about completing the climb to reach the goal, but it’s a mental activity because climbers try to map out the route before attempting a climb. You can just immediately start climbing the wall without mapping it out, but you may find yourself stuck in the middle of a climb unsure where to go next. I jokingly tell Beatrusters, “If you can climb a ladder, you can go bouldering”. Actually, about seven members will be climbing together as a group this Friday, so feel free to join us too, Momoka!
About Beatrust
From now on, I want to ask you about how it is like to work at Beatrust.
First of all, how did you know Beatrust?
I was looking online for a start-up that stands out and when I came across a list of the top start-ups in Tokyo, I found Beatrust. I was so impressed by their mission that I started to research more about them through Beatrust’s blog and Youtube.
Talking about the mission of Beatrust, currently our product is mainly implemented in Japanese companies. From your perspective, do you think our mission and product can be successful in the States as well?
I think Beatrust has a potential to succeed both domestically and internationally. This is because every customer has similar basic needs with wanting to break silos between teams and improve communication. Our Japanese clients frequently use Beatrust to communicate between various departments or branches, but when it comes to the businesses in the US, they may prefer to use Beatrust to communicate with overseas branches. While there might be a need for some adjustments, I think it can be successful in the States as well.
You have worked at several companies in Japan before joining Beatrust. Compared to your past experiences, what do you think about working at Beatrust?
Beatrust is a small start-up but with many senior members. It’s not your typical start-up scene where members are in their early 20s (from my experience). It’s filled with senior members who have 10+ years of experience in their field. Because of this, we’re able to come up with good solutions faster when solving problems!
Lastly, What kind of person do you think will be successful at Beatrust?
Someone who wants to solve problems to help people internationally break silos and foster work relationships. We work hard to help promote psychological safety through our product and we would love for people to join us to help us achieve our mission of creating a world where everyone can realize their best selves.
Post Interview Notes
Ashley Oros is a new Senior UI/UX designer at Beatrust. Looking back at the interview, we can see her passion to make the product better and bring enhanced experience to the users. I’m grateful for Ashley’s time and discussion, and I’m looking forward to her further success at Beatrust.
Founded in 2020, Beatrust is made up of people from diverse backgrounds who collaborate and improve each other every day. Stay tuned for more interviews.
If you are interested in Beatrust, please contact us at “ pr@beatrust.com”.
(Due to a large number of requests, it may take some time to respond).
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