Nyle Levi, Lead Designer, Monstarlab MENA
It’s time to meet another member of our team! Meet Nyle, Lead Designer (and ‘Foodie Finds’ chairman) at Monstarlab MENA.
Design is such an essential part of our team at Monstarlab; Our design team creates stunningly designed digital solutions and delivers best-in-class work for our clients. In this employee interview, we’re talking to Nyle about his background, what made him decide to pursue a career in design, and what he thinks the next UX trend will be.
Could you tell us when you joined Monstarlab and a little about your background?
I joined the Monstarlab family back in 2018; I just celebrated my fourth anniversary! I initially began working for Monstarlab in the United Kingdom, but since I have relocated to Monstarlab Middle East, and am currently based in the Dubai office.
Before joining, I attended university to study illustration and animation. I then went on to freelance as a web and graphic designer in France and started building my creative portfolio. While there, I worked for a translation company where I was working on a Google project that involved creating an educational course to teach children to learn how to program. I really enjoyed being part of something that made a difference to lives; this inspired me to look for an opportunity where I could do this in my everyday work, so when a friend recommended Monstarlab – it just seemed like the perfect prospect to continue my career.
Why did you choose to become a designer?
I wanted to become a designer because the ability to shape and design future platforms and products makes for a fulfilling career. As a designer in this field, you need to be creative and think of innovative solutions, and if you are good at what you do, you will improve lives through your designs.
What do you enjoy the most about your role at Monstarlab and of course, being chairman of ‘Foodie Finds’?
I enjoy being a part of the client conversations, understanding their vision, and then planting the seed of the idea and growing it into something bigger. I also like the endless possibilities each project can have at the start of the process and guiding that down a route that will work best for the client is a rewarding part of the job; seeing the final projects come to life after the process is always a good feeling.
When it comes to being the chairman of Foodie Finds, this is also a role I am passionate about. It all started with a general interest in what I ate for lunch in the office. After this gained the attention of my colleagues, I started the official Foodie Finds Monstarlab Slack channel.
The channel isn’t a quiet space, and our foodies don’t hold back when it comes to their opinions on food; we even had a judges panel in the group at one point, and things got a little heated at times! That being said, the group has also allowed us to come together and arrange themed weekly lunches where we go out and critique different restaurants and even weekend events where we attend brunches together to indulge in four hours’ worth of unlimited food and drink!
From your point of view, what is the next big trend you think we will see in UX?
If we look into what trends are most present regionally, Dubai in particular, it’s clear that people are hungry for further digitalisation. One thing that is really taking off is future tech. I believe these emerging technologies will shape the future of UX design.
Dubai has a real ‘forward-thinking focus’ and has now become the world capital of blockchain development and is a regional leader in adopting AI technology to help companies enhance performance, efficiency, and resilience. In addition to this, most of Dubai’s key sectors have already begun integrating AR and VR technologies.
Now, we are witnessing the Dubai Metaverse Strategy coming into play and seeing the creation of jobs and more business opportunities!
The Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said: The future belongs to those who can imagine it, design it, and execute it. It isn’t something you await, but rather create”. It’s a really exciting time to be working in UX in this part of the world as things change at such a rapid pace.
Lastly, what is your favourite quote to live by?
A wise man once sang, “Don’t worry about a thing, every little thing is gonna be alright” and this is something I try to live by.
Good and bad things will happen in life; it’s wasted energy to spend time worrying about things you can’t control, and at the end of the day, it will all work itself out.
Thank you Nyle for taking the time to talk with us!
If you would like to learn more about life at Monstarlab and search for open roles, please visit our careers page here.