The Lead Designer strengthening her business strategies with UX. Meet Charlene.
As a Lead Designer in the iGaming industry, Charlene Delceppo’s work centres on finding a balance between the needs of various stakeholders and those of the customer. Taking the initiative to broaden her skillset with the Professional Diploma in UX Design, Charlene has not only become a more versatile senior member of her team; she’s also gained a better understanding on the future of digital design – and where she sees herself in it. This is her story.
My role requires me to be very proactive in finding and applying new trends or ideas. Because of that, I’m always looking for opportunities to expand my skillset – not only on a personal level, but also so I can communicate better with my team and improve our output. I’m lucky that LeoVegas are extremely committed to employee growth because it facilitates better collaboration across the company.
Although we have a dedicated UX department within the company, I was interested in pursuing UX myself to get a better understanding of the bigger picture of design and how we shape customer journeys. Aside from that, the whole concept of product design fascinates me, and is something I’d love to explore more in future.
The industry is already moving in that direction in placing an emphasis on User Experiences, so learning UX allows me to work better with multiple stakeholders for different channels, including developers. At the end of the day, we’re all working for the same growth goals, so the more aligned we can be, the better!
I was familiar with ICE Malta as a local education institution and given its impressive international reputation, I didn’t see any reason to look further for a training provider. Even the payment support options made it extra convenient for me to fit learning around other commitments.
I didn’t really know what to expect from remote learning, but a friend who had completed another ICE Malta course reassured me that it was definitely worth a go, so I went for it!
Charlene Delceppo
In actual fact, the flexibility that came with the online learning model couldn’t have been better! My current job role requires a lot of responsibility and it wasn’t always easy to focus on the studies after long hours of work, so having the playback option was incredibly useful for lesson recaps.
The lecturer was extremely knowledgeable and very forthcoming with advice for real-world scenarios which I think added a professional depth to the course. Although I felt at a slight advantage because of my design background, the course was delivered in a very accessible and enjoyable way for students of all backgrounds.
As for the assignments, they were pretty challenging but I think they were an excellent learning exercise. I previously completed a BA in Interactive Media & Graphic Design with MCAST and realised the importance of making new skills stick through practice, so having to apply UX concepts to “real” situations was ideal. It was nice being back to studying and learning new things after a long time out of school!
I’m really excited to share my learnings with my team. I’ve learned to plan projects better from start to finish, from conducting research through to optimising design. I now feel more confident in building business-driven UX strategies and, since UX helps us analyse the success of things more accurately, I feel like I’m in a position to make wiser strategic decisions. I was already used to working with different departments, but it’s great to have the skills to make more of an impact on products.
I know there’s far more to learn in the field of UI and UX! As I mentioned, I’m very interested in pursuing product design further, because I think that, as everything pivots towards digital, companies are recognising the importance of user-focused design. Being a UX or product designer doesn’t mean working in a silo – it means bringing the needs of different stakeholders together and being able to create something together that the customer will value.
Although the assignments were challenging, they were an excellent learning exercise – having to apply UX concepts to “real” situations was ideal. It was nice being back to studying and learning new things after a long time out of school!
CHARLENE DELCEPPOLead Designer
