Before becoming a prolific angel investor and partner at the thesis-driven VC firm BlueYard, Hampus Jakobsson helped co-found TAT, one of the most influential companies in mobile user experience. He talks to MEX founder Marek Pawlowski about the motivations and challenges of building user interfaces for some of the world’s largest device manufacturers, as well as the decision to sell TAT to Blackberry. The conversation ranges from the unique virtues of Malmo in Sweden as a hub for creative start-ups to Hampus’ interest in analysing science fiction for clues about solving the big problems of the future. Get in touch with feedback and questions @mexfeed on Twitter or email designtalk@mobileuserexperience.com.
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On this edition
Links
- Our next MEX dining club event is in London on 26th March. Get in touch if you’d like an invite – it’s a relaxed dinner talking about experience design with fellow pioneers.
- Marek’s 2010 article describing the tech scene in Malmo, including a visit to Hampus’ former company TAT.
- TAT (The Astonishing Tribe), the mobile user experience company co-founded by Hampus and later acquired by Blackberry.
- The merger of Sony and Ericsson’s handset divisions, mentioned by Hampus as a deal which influenced early demand for TAT’s services.
- Sony Ericsson T28 and T610 handsets, mentioned by Hampus as examples of early products worked on by TAT.
- The demoscene, part of the culture influencing Hampus’ early forays into digital, including LAN parties and events like Assembly and Dreamhack.
- The Commodore 64 and Amiga were popular home computers when Hampus was getting into computing.
- Supercell, one of the companies which emerged from the Scandinavian demoscene, cited by Hampus.
- Marek’s article and video explaining some of the UI techniques employed by the Blackberry 10 platform which the TAT team helped develop for Blackberry.
- Don Lindsay, former head of design at Blackberry, mentioned by Hampus.
- TAT’s old Youtube channel showing examples of their mobile UI work.
- Pokemon Go, an example of augmented reality mentioned by Hampus.
- Episode 38 of the MEX podcast, where Marek talked to Tim Burrell-Saward about Beasts of Balance, a hybrid physical/digital game.
- Deep fakes, mentioned by Hampus.
- Funkify Chrome extension, mentioned by Hampus.
- Jobs to be done methodology, mentioned by Hampus.
- BlueYard, the VC firm where Hampus is a partner.
- UN Global Sustainability goals, mentioned by Hampus.
- MINC, a hub for digital start-ups in Malmo, mentioned by Hampus.
- Fast Track accelerator, mentioned by Hampus.
- Hampus’ blog.
- Hampus’ Full Worlds podcast.
- Hampus’ article explaining his theory that there are 4 kinds of books.
About MEX Design Talk & how to get in touch
The podcast for the MEX community, interviewing UX pioneers, exploring emerging technologies, user behaviour and how to design better digital experiences.
Thanks
- Jukedeck, for the artificial intelligence engine which provided the music
Marek PawlowskiMarek Pawlowski is the founder of MEX. Since 1995, he has focused the MEX business on helping digital industries to develop better, more profitable products through improved understanding of user behaviour with mobile devices and wireless networks. MEX is best known for its events, research and consulting, which balance commercial, technical and user insights to define the future of mobile user experience.
