May 30, 2019 How Feedback Helped New Designer ndondo_ Get to Where He is Today

Please tell me a few things about your background and where you are from.

I am from Indonesia and live in the city of Medan. I am a graduate of Information Management Diploma III, and currently, I continue my undergraduate education majoring in Computer Systems. Basically, I am a programmer. I worked as a Web Developer for 3 years until the end of 2018.

How did you hear about Topcoder?

Back in 2016 I saw the post of fajar.mln on Facebook about the Topcoder UI / UX Design Workshop in Medan, and it was held in my campus. I registered and attended the event. But after that event, I was not actively competing because I was still working as a Web Developer.

What attracted you the most to start competing?

I want to learn more about design, especially UI / UX, and one of the ways to do so is by competing in Topcoder. From Topcoder I can get feedback to improve my designs, and I can learn how to make good designs to solve a variety of different problems from different companies.

When and how did you start learning to design?

I began to focus on learning to design after returning from the TCO18 Regional event in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. I attended the event and met many designers there. I saw them competing to make great designs, become champions, and win the grand prize of two trips to the TCO Final. It motivated me to focus on studying design more deeply so that I could become one of the winners in the future. I decided to quit my job as a web developer at the end of 2018 and began to focus on learning how to make good design.

Although you are new to Topcoder, you already have an impressive achievement: you managed to make it to the Topcoder Design Pool through our 6 round challenge and now are working on designs for our site. How did you achieve that?

Honestly, I was surprised that I became one of the winners of the challenge and joined the Topcoder Design Pool team. I just tried to do my best in each round of the challenge, ask questions, receive feedback, and improve the design based on the feedback given.

And I want to say thank you very much to Victor George for giving me the opportunity to join the team. I am very happy, I hope I can contribute and get a lot of feedback to improve my skills and experience.

What hobbies do you practice in your free time?

Usually, I spend my free time watching box office movies, exploring the city, or playing games. It makes me feel refreshed and sometimes I also get design inspiration from there.

Do you have any mentors?

Last March I attended the TC Design Bootcamp event in Medan. I got a lot of new knowledge and experience at the event. I want to thank all the mentors who have shared their knowledge and experience while in Topcoder: iaminfinite, riopurba, eriantoongko.

Besides that, I also want to say thank you to fajar.mln and DaraK, who never get tired of answering my questions and comments to help me learn and improve my design skills.

Where are you getting inspiration from? What sites, magazines, artists do you admire?

Usually, I get inspiration and reference from Pinterest. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where we can collect images that can be entered into categories. And there are lots of designs from various sources that can be used as references, it really helps to get inspiration when designing.