A life in UX

As the global head of our Experience Design practice, Leslie Fountain is integral to the strategic success of many of Foolproof’s biggest wins as well as a figurehead for leadership and change in our organisation.

She’s soon joining our team out in Singapore so ahead of the move we caught up with Leslie to discuss her journey from human-factors engineering to Experience Design leadership and her greatest achievements along the way.

Why did you choose to work in UX?

Well, when I first started working, UX didn’t exist. Back then it was called human-centred design and ergonomics – its origins dating back to the 1950s comprising psychology, biology, physiology and design.

I think my internal philosophy has always been about human performance and how we help people perform optimally as individuals or as part of a team/organisation.

Would you agree that your desire to help people grow and develop is something you’ve always been passionate about?

Yes, absolutely. Here at Foolproof, we believe in investing in people. We hire graduates and offer internships to people who are interested in transitioning into Experience Design. Once at Foolproof, we try our best to expose practitioners to different types of projects, across various industries, tools and methodologies to diversify and strengthen our collective skillset. As a result, our practice is constantly evolving which is terribly exciting. We’re always growing, learning and improving together.

What would you say is your greatest achievement at Foolproof so far?

I am most proud of the work we’ve done in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sphere. Many of the companies in this area have become successful based on their expertise in medicine or in the marketing of their products. They also recognise the need to improve our health care system and identify better ways of servicing people – physicians, healthcare professionals and patients.

In fact, we helped one of the world's leading pharma companies shift the way they deliver services to physicians and patients alike. For me, that is a stand-out piece of work which completely reimagined and improved their approach to service delivery by shifting them to a human-centric design culture.

Are we paving the way for this kind of change?

We have the know-how to affect positive change for organisations who recognise the importance of customer experience in creating competitive advantage; many of these organisations are large so shifting the way they think and work can take time but I think we’re best placed to help them.

Tim Loo’s recent strategic work helped another global pharmaceutical form a view of what best practice looks like, in three years’ time.

Having that vision but also an actionable roadmap on day one, is something we can provide time and time again. We’re one of the forerunners in experience design as a practice globally.