Employee spotlight: Matej Žižanović

How did you first learn about Barrage, and what has kept you here?

I heard friends mention many IT companies in past years, one of them being Barrage - a cool, future-oriented, design-minded company from my hometown of Osijek. It immediately got my attention, and as soon as I got the opportunity to apply for work, I took it without much hesitation.

Once I got to know the team and environment, I knew I was in a great place to develop my skills as a UX/UI designer and eventually show what I could do in design. It's been an amazing experience so far, with a lot of new challenges and learning opportunities, a great work atmosphere, and people that truly make me feel like I'm in the right place.

You came to Barrage with little experience in UX/UI design, but you quickly got up to speed. Was that beginning difficult for you? Give us your take on it. 

I've been involved in design since high school and have worked in the graphic and design industry for over a decade, so I understood the principles and knew how to use popular design tools really well. Also, I've been making websites since the early days of Adobe Dreamweaver, so I kind of felt like I had a “head start” in some areas, so to speak.

I was mostly worried about learning the tools, and Figma proved to be an intuitive powerhouse of software that is now by far my favorite design tool to use, so much so that for me, it even replaced Adobe’s InDesign and After Effects in many tasks Figma isn't even built for.

Designing the “experience” part was totally new for me, though. This includes way more thinking and planning than I was used to doing in everyday work. I am getting a hold of the rules and best practices and learning from every project. The entire crew has been really helpful in directing me. Nowadays, UX is probably my favorite part of the job, while still being the most challenging for me.

Overall, it has been a fun journey, and I'm enjoying the challenges so far, so I would recommend it. 🙂

With the rise of AI-generated design, how do you envision the future of the design industry? 

I'm looking forward to it. It has been helpful to me so far, and I can't ever be mad about groundbreaking stuff. I understand the concerns about people potentially losing jobs, and some people will probably have to switch careers, but new positions will open, and there's always gonna be room for human creativity.

Certainly, we are going to see an increase in the number of designs being made, but in the words of Macho Man Randy Savage, a professional wrestler and a baseball player - the cream always rises to the top - so I believe it's gonna eventually lead to more quality in the design world.

What has been your favorite project at Barrage and why?

Probably a webshop for business customers for a telco company we have been doing for the last year. It was a huge learning opportunity and very challenging, especially considering the rigorous implementation requirements. Also, this is where I got to work with my main team. I believe we all grew so much doing this project, both individually and as a team, and I'm proud of the way we are delivering together.

You seem like someone who stays calm under pressure—what’s your secret to managing stress?

It helps that I'm the type of person who tries to evade conflict and just lets some things happen naturally - I am adaptable, as some of my close friends say. I guess it also comes with experience. There were times in my past work when stress did get to me, but as time went by, we needed to understand some situations that just came with the job. Like a taxi driver stressing about traffic - what's the point of doing it then if you can't handle traffic?

How do you define success in life?

Being able to inspire people around you in a positive way, having a comfortable and happy environment at home, and the ability to fully enjoy and appreciate the experiences you get.

What was the best concert you’ve been to?

Oh, come on, we all know it’s impossible to point out a single one! In no particular order, Slayer at Močvara, Tame Impala at Pulska Arena, Black Sabbath at Budapest…

If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?

Drums and singing. I’ve been trying singing for some time now, and it’s crazy how slow the progress has been, by far the hardest thing for me to learn so far. Drums I can handle, I just need time and a place. And drums.

If you could interview one person (dead or alive), who would it be (and why)?

Probably Jimi Hendrix. Seems like a simple and down-to-earth guy with incredible talent and a deep mind.

How did you get interested in kickboxing and martial arts in general? 

I loved martial arts since I was a kid. Kung fu movies, Dragon Ball Z, boxing, and everything martial arts-related attracted me for whatever reason, probably the high risk of every single move. 

I did train kickboxing in high school and during college. It was a really fun way to keep myself in top shape until training got serious, and I got punched in the nose a couple of times :). I knew I wasn’t a fighter, so I found other fun ways to stay in shape, like football and basketball. Also, discovering skiing was a big step for me. I’m still heavily into martial arts, but purely as a spectator.

Tell us more about the band you play in…and when is your next gig?  :) 

Currently, I’m only involved in a project under the code name “The Anchovies”. We were doing this thing where we improvised a song and recorded it in one session - we made a lot of material through the last couple of years and are now digging through it so we can put out some stuff. The world will be notified! Gigs are coming up next summer, hopefully!

Barrage has a lot of musicians, we’re just missing a drummer to complete the band. How would you name our band? 

Barrage Against the Machine!

Meet the rest of the team!

We love having people like Matej in our collective. Driven individuals are the ones who build the motivational culture we nurture at Barrage.

If you would like to be a part of that culture and get to know the rest of our team, check out our open positions.