Blockchain Designer Profile: Vlad Todirut

Designer at Ujo Music, SingularDTV, and Variabl

With over four hundred people on board and offices popping up all over the world in places like London and Dubai, things are moving so fast at ConsenSys — and the blockchain world in general — that’s it’s tough to keep up with all the movement behind the scenes. To offer a little more insight to the human side of the ConsenSys mission, we’re profiling many of the remarkable individuals who dream up the design end experiential elements of ConsenSys projects…

Meet Vlad Todirut, designer at Ujo, SingularDTV, and Variabl.

How did you get involved in blockchain?

I got involved with blockchain when a friend of mine MarianOanceaCub started working at Consensys, he was previously part of the Ethereum Foundation. So when he joined Consensys together with a few other friends it became quickly clear that some designers were needed in the space. Bogdan Burcea was already part of the design team (he was the design team), so he invited me to join and 2 years+ later, here I am!

What are you working on now?

Right now i’m involved in 3 projects that are dear to me, and those are:

Ujo Music, SingularDTV, and Variabl.

What do you enjoy about designing in the blockchain space?

Having to figure out things that were not put in front of you before is something amazing, it keeps you on your toes. It’s definitely a challenge, the technology is new and we are nowhere near close to the goal. And the goal in my opinion is to design it in such way that the user does not realize that they are using this new technology. They should only figure that out when they see the doors that weren’t there before.

What are some of the challenges you face when designing for users of decentralized apps?

As a designer the main challenge is the one stated above, but another main issue is trying to show the user an interface that they seem familiar with, that is easy to use, but still make it clear that it’s a new technology, and this is the new internet.

What advice do you have for a designer new to blockchain?

Definitely do your research on what the technology is and what the limitations are. Understanding blockchain is the first step you need to take in order to make a user friendly blockchain design.