What do the career path and the day-in-the-life look like for a Designer at Piaggio Fast Forward?
We connected with Jerry Ding to find out!
Interested in learning more about Piaggio Fast Forward? Make sure to check out their company page!
Where did you grow up? What did your parents do for work?
I grew up in a small township in Hsinchu County, Taiwan, where you can see the paddy field in a 5-minute walk. My dad is working at a tech company. My mom taught at the school and now is a housewife.
Where did you go to college? What did you study and what were some of your initial jobs out of school?
I went to National Cheng Kung University in Tainan City where I studied industrial design. After I graduated and finished my military service, I came to the states and obtained my master's degree in industrial design at RISD in 2017. I did a couple internships, but PFF is my first job out of school.
What has attributed to your success thus far and has helped propel you to the position you have now?
I am lucky to be joining PFF and meet many great minds here. One thing I came to realize is that when I'm surrounded by that many talented people, one thing I have to do is to take any challenge as an opportunity to learn and grow. At the end of the day, they will all come together. My past experience has taught me that everything is connected and intertwined at some levels. Even I may not be aware of it at the beginning, but eventually, they will gain me a new perspective and provide me the strength you need to build a future career.
Can you share the high-level responsibilities of your current position as a Designer at Piaggio Fast Forward?
I’m addressing both physical and digital products from a user experience perspective to ensure that no matter what platform(s) the product is on, they are pleasing for people to use.
Any tips for someone considering a career in your field?
It's a cliche, but I think staying conscious and self-learning is essential in this fast-paced industry. The tools I learned and the format of the product we understood at school have changed dramatically compared to today's technology.
Day in the Life
Coffee, tea, or nothing?
Both
What time do you get into the office?
I go to the office once or twice a week when I need to. Other days I wake up around 8:30 and make a cup of coffee, which has become a ritual for me to mark the start of the day.
What are three things that motivate you in your role?
Come up with new ideas, solve new challenges, learn new things from people.
Every day is different, but can you outline what a typical day looks like for you?
It is very difficult. The design team has a weekly meeting at the beginning of the week, where we use this meeting to configure and prioritize the tasks that need to be done during the week. For the past week, I’ve been tweaking the app screen based on the developer’s feedback. Before that, I was doing internal user testing for the package design, so I spent a couple days watching people unboxing our product.
What time do you head out of the office? -> What time do you get out of work?
It is more fluctuated depending on where I’m in the process.
Do you log back in at night or do you shut it down completely?
I used to work until I felt comfortable with the progress before I left the office, so it's very flexible based on the workload. Since the pandemic, my work and life are now happening in the same space, I’ve been trying to separate them more strictly to make sure I get the right balance and have full energy to address the task the next day.
What are the 3 apps that you can’t live without?
Google Map, Spotify, and lately there’s another one, which is mygita app.
What professional accomplishment are you proudest of?
Our gita robot won a Red Dot Award and the package won a Adobe Dieline Award, I’m proud of being part of the team.
