The Front-End Developer upping his game with UX Design. Meet Andrea.
He’s outdoorsy, which is not what you’d expect from a typical techie. And he’s serious about his career and his studies, which is perhaps unusual for a twenty-year-old. There are plenty of things which are pleasantly surprising about Andrea Briffa, and after a promising start as a two-time Java Hackaton runner-up, he’s already launched a tech career in iGaming. Let’s see how he got here and why he’s back at ICE Malta to study UX Design.
When I was sixteen years old, I placed second for the Malta Robotics Olympiad Java Hackathon and received sponsored training in Java Foundations, which is how my ICE Malta story begins. I really enjoyed the Java Foundations course and Keith, the educator, was fantastic. The way he teaches stood out for me because he manages to hold your attention and crack you up from time to time, which is just what you need if you’re trying to focus on learning after a busy day at school or work, for example. Learning takes energy, but Keith makes you look forward to the class. Having an educator like that makes all the difference. Even outside the classroom, he was always available and ready to help. I actually miss his teaching, and was happy to run into him in the second Java Hackathon, which I was encouraged to participate in.
The foundations course contributed to my holistic knowledge of coding, and I still recall some of the lessons I’d learnt at the time, so it came at a formative stage for me. During this early opportunity, I was even scouted by a prospective employer. After discovering what learning with ICE Malta was like, I kept it on my radar and even recommended the school to others. And though I pursued formal education at STC and Middlesex University, I’m actually back at ICE Malta now to study UX Design. I just like how things are done here, and the courses on offer can really complement your broader studies.
Really well! I’m really happy with the team, the offices, the flexibility, the trust. It’s the full package, and the projects are very exciting.
As a front-end developer, people probably think I just change how stuff looks: swap out the colour, the position of the text, that kind of thing. But there’s a lot that goes into those surface-level adjustments. From a technical point of view, we work closely with back-end developers to turn their output into something that a user can actually interact with. There is an aesthetic aspect to it, true, but it’s also largely about the user’s experience of the product, which should be as appealing as it is functional. This is why it made sense for me to study UX Design.
When I set myself the goal of learning UX Design last year, I immediately knew I would turn to ICE Malta to do this. I wanted to tackle a particular pain point of mine but without taking up too much time. Since I’ve experienced different educational institutions, I’m in a position to make certain observations and comparisons, and I chose the Professional Diploma in UX Design because it comes with a strong return on investment, given its focus and duration. I didn’t want to waste time on some quick online certification with no value, whereas the UX Design programme offered by ICE Malta ticks all the boxes. Every module comes with further tips and examples, which are really helpful, and James O’Brien is a really good tutor, always patient and thorough in his explanations.
I was conscious that as a front-end developer, UX Design could be a useful addition to my skill set and give me an edge. In a previous job, I’d already learnt about the value of good customer experience, and my current studies really help draw attention to elements in my job which can be improved. In fact, I’m already raising certain questions and finding new UX-based solutions to existing problems I come across.
I’d recommend learning UX Design not just to front-end developers but to anyone whose job involves dealing with a customer’s experience or the product itself, like designers or project managers. There’s a tangible experience to UX Design, which is not just digital. Anything that can be designed, that requires hands-on involvement in creating a product with a user in mind, can benefit from UX.
I’m a Gozitan living in Malta, but even so, the fact that lessons are online is definitely a plus. The recorded lessons are available for playback for a prolonged period of time, which I find useful if, for example, I have to go abroad and miss a lesson. This also means that the course is not limited to local expertise, logistically speaking, which is why we were lucky to have James as our educator.
Looking back on my time participating in the Java Foundations course, I think I spent most of my time in a classroom or on a bus. I was attending other, on-site classes up until 6PM, and then commuting to Zebbug for my evening class until 9PM, so as you can imagine, I had a couple of very long days to get through. Switching to online delivery means you can bypass all that and use your energy on what actually matters to you; in my case, I can do my job during the day and then focus on my studies in the evening.
These schemes are definitely helpful. After I’d finished Java Foundations, I participated in another sponsored class, which was the AWS Practitioner Course. It’s really encouraging to know there are sponsorship and funding opportunities or flexible payment schemes that give people easier financial access to such relevant skills. In fact, I’ll be applying for the Get Qualified scheme myself, and the staff at ICE Malta guide you through the whole process and offer all the support you need in this regard. They also help you establish your online presence on social media platforms, for example. They really put the time and effort into their communication and approach, which is very professional of them.
I was conscious that as a front-end developer, UX Design could be a useful addition to my skill set and give me an edge. My current studies really help draw attention to elements in my job which can be improved.
ANDREA BRIFFAFront-End Software Developer
