Please give us a brief bio of yourself.

I'm a web developer from Sweden who is passionate about interaction and animation. I find the structural and strict of programming interesting but what really drives me is the will to produce a creative visual output. I work at Fi in Stockholm as a Senior Interactive Developer.

What do you do for inspiration?

Whenever I consciously recognize that I am in need of inspiration while working it turns into a downward spiral road leading to me getting less inspired. Inspiration for me is about being in the right state of mind and letting the ideas flow naturally rather than browsing around much too interesting sites and getting distracted. I still visit a lot of sites that I find creative and inspiring – but usually not while working.

Please list 3 of your favourite sites.

I frequently visit http://www.chromeexperiments.com/ for a dose of impressive creative and technical demos. One of my favorite sites which I often return to (and spend 20 minutes staring at) is: http://www.uniqlo.com/calendar/. Last but not least I always keep up to date with the latest jaw-dropping work of Mr.doob http://mrdoob.com/.

What do you regard as being your biggest achievement?

My biggest achievement so far has been getting half a million people to play with some odd interactive experiments that I did for fun. 

How many hours do you work each week?

I usually spend 40-45 hours in the office and another 20 hours or so on personal projects at home.

How do you relax or unwind?

I spend time away from home and my computer so that I can not, even if I wanted to, do any work. Sadly my iPhone has started to invade on this offline sanctum and nowadays I find myself checking my mail every time I get chance.

If you weren't working on the internet what would you be doing?

I have always been interested in motion graphics and animation so I imagine I would have continued and pursued a career in that realm. That, or gardening.

What's your favourite part of your job? What's the hardest part of your job? What do you do when you get stuck?

I really enjoy starting up the development of a new project since all efforts go into building new things - rather than maintaining and fixing bugs on something that’s already been built.

What's the longest you've ever stayed up working on a project?

I did a 35 hour stretch when working on a project for Nintendo. Luckily we had a Wii Fit board (and a lot of coffee) to keep us going!

 Who is your target audience?

Anyone that is curious enough to explore digital interactivity.

 Has winning FWA awards helped you in any way?

Winning awards from FWA is something we strive for and value highly at Fi so receiving one for my personal work feels amazing.

 When dealing with major clients, how difficult is it to meet the needs of such wide target audiences?

It’s very hard – but It's reassuring see a lot of companies in the industry are taking it seriously and recruiting people in the UX field since they realize the necessity of knowing, and adapting to, your target audience.

 Have you written any books, if not do you plan to?

Not yet, but I would love to at some point!

 Are there things you do OUTSIDE of work to ensure that you are in the right mindset to be creative and/or successful in whatever you are doing?

I try to do anything that distracts me from whatever it is I need to be creative at. That way I can start anew with a fresh point of view which often makes things easier. Kind of like when you end a day with spending four hours on a problem and come in the next morning and fix it in five minutes.

 Of all the websites you/your company have produced, which one are you most proud of?

A project that I often look back on and still find impressive in its details is the Alcohol Profiler (http://en.alkoholprofilen.se/) site we built at Fi. This was one of the first HTML sites I worked on and I was pleasantly surprised by what could be accomplished using the speed of modern browser JavaScript engines. 

What was the toughest thing you ever did with Flash? How long did you spend on it? Is it still online?

The most complex thing I’ve done in Flash is, by far, a stock market analysis application that is currently in production at Fi. One of the most challenging parts has been to create charting tools that are 100% accurate and still visually and interactively appealing.

Do you think Flash is here to stay?

Flash will stick around as long as no better alternatives are available. HTML5 will, and rightfully so, be taking over some of what is normally done in Flash today but it is not a replacement.

There is perhaps a shift in web use these days. We are seeing a decline in the purely experiential sites in flash with huge production efforts, to a relationship with clients based on tools and services, that many times have simples interfaces. How do you see that trend developing? Will Flash suffer?

I don’t believe there is a drop in production efforts, but I do think that the efforts and budgets have been spread more thinly since clients often want to build for multiple platforms (mobile apps, TV apps, etc).

 What are your views on design/graphic school. Do you think someone can get into the field without educational experience in a school environment?

Schools provide valuable knowledge but in my opinion what you have in your portfolio is more important than what grades you have on paper. Knowing how to use a pen doesn't mean you can draw.

 What does the future hold for your company, or you as a person?

I don’t think I want to know the answer to that question. That would take all the fun out of it.

 What are you excited about learning next and is there a long term challenge you are considering tackling?

I am looking forward to continue to learn more about HTML5 and the surrounding specifications.

 Any parting shots or pearls of wisdom?

Make mistakes.

 It has been a privilege, thanks very much

Thanks!

http://hakim.se/experiments
http://hakim.se/