about peter sikking

Peter Sikking is a leading user interaction architect. He runs high‐profile interaction design projects for clients ranging from blue‐chip multi­nationals to funky startups.

A pioneer of methods emphasising product vision and value delivery, he is known for swiftly getting to the heart of the matter and focusing his team on solving the real problem.

He teaches and mentors a next generation of interaction architects. His contribution to the user interaction industry and open‐source projects form the basis for his publications and lectures.

man + machine interface works

Peter is principal interaction architect at m+mi works. After founding the firm at the start of 2003, he built its reputation by designing a series of mobile phone applications for Nokia. Today these can be found on more than half a billion phones.

During these early years, he formulated the methods that m+mi works uses to structure design processes and to base vital interaction design decisions on value creation and the concrete project goals of their clients.

Today, he consults on user interaction and directs the design of solutions for web, software products and handheld devices. Increasingly, usability companies ask Peter to join their projects during the analysis phase and to lead their interaction concept process.

project libre

Due to their open, non‑proprietary nature, some of Peter’s most well‐known work is for open‐source projects. Having been involved with open‐source communities since 2005, he is a founding member of openUsability and currently serves as its vice‐president.

Peter leads the interaction architecture teams on two projects:

  • high‑end image manipulation application GIMP, redesigning the user interaction of this iconic—but also famously polarising—application, to realise its expert‐tool ambitions; this includes tackling major issues that have been overshadowed by dogma for a decade, strategies for next‐generation, non‐destructive workflows and improving interaction efficiency beyond the current (commercial) status quo;
  • printing user interaction for all linux users, all linux desktops, all linux applications and the 10.000 printer models of the last two decades: openPrinting; this is an infrastructure project, brimming with complexity, that demands universal solutions that can be applied specifically to a near‐endless number of unique situations.

Besides these major projects, Peter has also consulted on others, e.g. the KDE desktop environment, Krita and F‑Spot.

teaching

Since 2007, Peter teaches interaction design at the FH Vorarlberg, Austria. Titled interaction design for the real world, his course focusses on a structured, methodical approach to any kind of design problem. It also serves as an introduction to the demanding discipline of industrial‐grade interaction design.

Far from being an academic exercise, Peter structures the course as a project where students teams, under real time pressure, solve real interaction design problems of real, open‐source, software. Again, the open nature makes it easier for all involved to recount and publish the results of the course.

mentoring

Increasingly in recent years, Peter has been mentoring fellow interaction architects. Within his own firm and on projects, he has been leading teams of junior colleagues, designing with them, sharing his experience and guiding on the rights and duties of designers.

Today, several of m+mi works clients are specifically requesting Peter to take charge of overall design strategy for a project and to mentor their own designers.

publishing

According to google, Peter’s blog is the number one resource on the web on interaction architecture. He uses it as a platform to publish his views on fundamental issues of his profession, e.g. the role of interaction architecture in development processes; its relationship to other design disciplines; the ‘laws of nature’ that govern it.

On the practical side, Peter simply shows what’s it like, to design; to teach; to analyse; to lecture; to consult; to cooperate. This serves both as documentation and as to further the understanding and embracing of interaction architecture.

lecturing

Peter lectures and presents at conferences, symposia, seminars, industry summits, non‐conferences, workshops and professional events. Whether speaking about his works, principles of interaction design or the state of UI in a certain industry, he pushes the boundaries, making his audience see user interaction and his profession in new ways.

the trans‑European experience

1993–2002

To master his trade, Peter worked for nine years in user interaction research, design and development roles, in four different countries. The number of users he worked for ranged from a handful to tens of millions.

The mix of projects during those years was eclectic: customer management systems; collaborative engineering environments; mobile phone UI frameworks; database clients; car navigation systems; mobile phone applications and investment banking systems.