Summary

Olli Suoranta, born on 24 August 1990, Jyväskylä, Finland. Raised by DOS PC and Lucasarts adventure games. Naturally gravitating towards user experience (UX), music, and graphic design. Passionate about privacy, accessibility, and equity, interested in bridging the gap between nature and technology. Dreams of a future where humans aren’t so dependent on the internet and social media, but on their brains instead.

Primary Skill

UX Designer

Description: “What differentiates me from many other designers is my background in software engineering. I am aware of the frustrations from both sides, the people who make the applications, and the people who use them. I insert myself in between marketing and development teams while trying to wear the shoes of an end-user. My designs often have a good balance between form and function. I don’t design for the likes on social media; first and foremost, I design to solve (user) problems. Then I add some sparkle with music, sound, or visual design, as an icing to the cake.”

Complementary Skills

Musician

Description: “Music has always played an important role in my life. I play several instruments (primarily drums) and I’m no stranger to playing in bands (30+ gigs). Though I've always been more of a producer type, not an instrumentalist. I've done music all my life and I’m able to do it in commercial quality. On some occasions, I’ve also done more trivial types of tracks, such as video game music for a gaming company, background music for ads, and podcast jingles.”

Graphic Designer

Description: “Drawing was one of my earliest passions, alongside reading comics and playing video games. I used to doodle, scribble and animate all the time, but, over the years the act of drawing has somewhat faded out from my daily activities. I still utilize my visual skills on an almost daily basis though, whether it’s creating raster/vector graphics, animation (cut-out, traditional, stop motion), pixel art, or even 3D in some cases.”

Software Engineer

Description: “I have a degree in it, and a bunch of experience. I specialized in web development, working in the e-commerce business, implementing both sides: web-shops, and payment services. I was also the lead developer on a few projects including UI overhauls and implementation of gross settlements. In my spare time, I've made game prototypes with various engines, chat bots, websites, and command-line tools. Nowadays, developing is no longer my passion, but knowledge in that area sure helps in the grand scheme of things (e.g. prototyping).”

Experience

Full-time

Aiwo

  • UX Designer (9/2021->present)
      • Product design/concepting, UX generalist work (research, interaction-, information-, usability-, and visual design), building a UX culture, studying and structuring a design process.
  • UI Developer (8/2020-9/2021)
      • UI design and development (React).

Solteq

  • Frontend Developer (6/2019-6/2020)
      • UI development and occasional help with design.

Paytrail

  • Frontend Lead (6/2018-5/2019)
      • Leading couple of projects including 'Merchant Panel' UI overhaul. Overseeing UX (especially accessibility) side of things in 'The State Treasury' related projects. Creating UI design for various purposes.
  • Frontend Developer (11/2017-6/2018)
      • Taking responsibility of turning Paytrail's services to be mobile responsive. Also leading a project of implementing gross settlements.
  • Software Developer (3/2014-11/2017)
      Jack of all trades and master of none. Everything from implementing RabbitMQ message queues, into changing the PDF building engine and creating new layouts for it. Fixed a whole lot of bugs, and spent lots of time in the backend.

Fixed-term

Metso (Valmet)

  • Automation Technician (6/2010-8/2010)
  • Automation Technician (5/2011-8/2011)

Jyväskylän Sähkö ja Tele

  • Electrician (6/2008-7/2008)

Freelance

Aiwo

Paytrail

Paytrail

  • Music producing (2017-2019)

Mega Cat Studios

*Often under an artist name: ’all forms of pandas’.

  • Music producing (2016-2019)

metsäpihahokkanen.fi

  • Logo design (2019)

Nuan (Client: Paytrail)

Paytrail Kanaliiga Team

  • Logo design (2019)

Paytrail

  • Graphic design (2017-2019)

Rot

  • Logo design consulting (2017?)

Blue Ice Jewellery

  • Logo design (2017)

Internship

Star Arcade

  • Software Developer Trainee (5/2013-10/2013)
      • Thesis work (it had nothing to do with video-games.)

JAMK University of Applied Sciences

  • Software Developer (5/2012-8/2012)
      • Being a part of 'SkyNest' project, creating a (open-source) project management system called FreeNEST. Lots of Linux, and my first touch with (glorious) Vim.

Metso (Valmet)

  • Automation Technician Trainee (5/2009-6/2009)

Insta Automation

  • Automation Technician Trainee (1/2009-4/2009)

Jyväskylän Sähkö ja Tele

  • Electrician Trainee (2/2008-4/2008)

Education

JAMK University of Applied Sciences

  • Software Engineer (B.E.) (2010-2013)

Kainuun Prikaatti

  • Viestimies, Polttoainemies (2009-2010)

Jyväskylän Ammattiopisto

  • Automation Technician (2006-2009)

Muuratsalon-, Lehtisaaren Koulu

  • Elementary School (1996-2005)

Certifications

Coursera

  • Google UX Design Professional Certificate (Currently studying)
    • Foundations of User Experience (UX) Design ✔️
    • Start the UX Design Process: Empathize, Define, and Ideate ✔️
    • Build Wireframes and Low-Fidelity Prototypes
    • Conduct UX Research and Test Early Concepts
    • Create High-Fidelity Designs and Prototypes in Figma
    • Responsive Web Design in Adobe XD
    • Design a User Experience for Social Good & Prepare for Jobs

Hobbies

“When I power off the computer after a day of work, I try my best to stay away from it, and do "real" things with my hands (play instruments, listen to vinyl, draw, read). Though, often I end up picking my Nintendo Switch or turning on the projector to watch some Angel or Buffy. Sometimes I try to move my limbs to generate sweat (kick-biking, fitness boxing, swimming), it's rare though, the dog sure helps.”

Recommendations

“I was the one hiring Olli. Never had doubts on him. Always was proud of him. Often was jealous about his height. We had many seasons together on product development adventures. Olli is an active, honest and open colleague. He is willing to give and receive help. He didn’t always agree and there were times when assignments did not tickle all his ambitions and desires - yet he played for the logo in his shirt. Olli is a multi-talent person and together with his personal characteristics and attitude towards work, he is really something. Man, I miss him.” –Vesa Kortteinen

“Working with Olli is a real privilege. He is a creative thinker who always works hard and smart to get job done. You can always count on his help, vision and on his honest opinion. One might call him a UI designer, but really he is an artist. He is the kind of player you definitely want to have in your team. I would work with him again at any time and with great pleasure.” –Saana Borgström