Member Stories
Michael Hagan

From New Jersey to Penzance, via New York and London, Michael Hagan tells us about life as a Product Designer at a pivotal moment in tech; his love of Cornwall and surfing; and why working from Pixel feels familiar, frictionless and never like being stuck in an office.  Oh, and pastries and coffee feature quite highly too!

Tell us a bit about your background and what led you to be a Product Designer?

I started off at a tiny ad agency in New York, doing a bit of everything – designing and building websites, iOS apps, promotional products and print ads.  It was crazy.  Around that time, user experience was becoming popular and I ended up getting recruited as a UX designer for a start up consultancy called Slalom.  It was more professional and I got to work with lots of different companies and industries.  Later I moved to London with my partner, but I was burned out from staring at a computer all the time.  I had some savings, so I got a studio and took a year off to focus on art – painting on glass.  This was really great, but eventually I had to start working again. So, I got a job at VMware, who had just acquired Pivotal Labs – another tech consultancy full of really smart, creative people.  Their methods influenced me a lot, incorporating more research and outcome-oriented thinking into what I did. When the approach is this broad, it goes beyond user experience.  Now people call it product design, but I’m sure in a few years it will evolve into something else.

What kind of projects have you recently worked on?

In my last project I was senior product designer for a startup that provided health and safety training in virtual reality (VR). In VR you can actually watch disasters play out in front of you when you make the wrong decision.  Which is really impactful!  I helped them develop alternative formats that were more scaleable than VR and designed a digital twin admin tool that let customers segment their users, assign training and track all kinds of interesting stats on how people were performing in the training. This helped them see where accidents were most likely to occur and take action.  It was fulfilling work because it improved the safety of tens of thousands of workers around the world, who are often under paid, under trained and become the victims of workplace accidents.

How do you incorporate AI within your design work?

I use AI in Notion to quickly develop documentation around something I want to do.  It’s good for breaking down a large idea into achievable steps that can be shared with other people.  Gemini or ChatGPT is good for more open ended queries about a client’s industry, or a subject matter I’m not familiar with.  I also use Figma Make to quickly get ideas for interfaces, code a feature in a website, or create a specific image I have in my head. Sometimes it works well and I save lots of time. Sometimes it doesn’t and I waste time trying to correct it. But like anything, it takes practice.

This is obviously a pivotal time for tech and I think my work will, in some ways, move further from design and closer to abstract concepts about how AI learns, interacts and is applied.  There are areas where AI is the clear solution to a problem and it’s very exciting.  But sometimes AI is pushed as a solution, without anyone really knowing what the problem is.  So there is a lot to think about and test in this space.

Do you think moving from the US to the UK has affected your approach to design?

That’s an interesting question.  My approach to design has evolved since moving to the UK, but I don’t know if it’s because of the UK. It’s more just learning from different people I’ve had the privilege to work with.  Having said that, I tend to work with more multi-national teams now than I did in the US.  So I’m getting more diverse perspectives, which is great.  The design I’m exposed to day to day is very different from the US.  Cars are very different.  Nike is still very visible in the UK, but perhaps Finisterre is more so in Cornwall.  The granite architecture and constant awareness of the land and/or sea.  All these things change my reference points a bit.

Why did you choose to base yourself at Pixel?

I wanted a place that felt similar to other places I’d worked before, so that when I got there my brain knew, I’m at work.  That doesn’t really happen if you’re working from home or a cafe or library. The Pixel branding, interior, people, all seemed familiar, so it fit.  It was super easy to walk in and just do a free trial day.  From there becoming a member was pretty low friction. The free coffee made it seem too good to be true!

Do you find opportunities to collaborate with other members at Pixel?

I haven’t officially collaborated with anyone yet, but I’ve had loads of good chats with people about various things and traded some good ideas.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I ride my bike here in the morning, put it in the back courtyard, then maybe go grab a pastry from Roundhouse or Loaf. When I come in I’ll say hi to whoever I know, get a coffee and settle down for work. Sometimes I’ll bring lunch, sometimes I’ll go out. There’s nothing terribly interesting about my work days at the moment.  Pixel is just a good place to sit down and focus on what you need to do, without feeling like you’re stuck in an office.

Do you have any exciting upcoming projects you could share with us?

My project at the moment is finding my next permanent position, so I’m working on my portfolio michaelhagan.io.  It’s been fun looking at what I’ve achieved and remembering all the challenges that had to be overcome.  It’s a great way to reaffirm your value if you’re not working consistently, which can be tough. I’m doing a bit of freelance work also, but it’s under NDA.

Can you tell us a bit about what you get up to outside of the design world? 

One of the main reasons I moved to Cornwall is for the surf, so I’m in the water whenever I get the chance. I also like going to the beach or just enjoying the outdoors with my family.  I feel insanely lucky to call this home.  I also like running, taking pictures with my old TSLR camera and designing/making bits of furniture for our house.  I’m trying to get back into playing music again, but finding the right time to make all that noise has been tricky.

And lastly, how did you find yourself living and working in Cornwall?

I grew up near the sea in New Jersey, so living in London did not feel right for me.  The first time I came to visit Cornwall was to visit my partner’s mother near Port Isaac.  That day it was cold, windy and raining and smelled like manure.  I knew right away if I was going to stay in the UK, I wanted to live here.  Over time I was able to convince my partner that this was a good idea and that Cornwall was a good place to start a family.  When remote work became widely acceptable we moved and have never looked back.