Sonia Rakotomantsoa joins Bluespark UX Team

Sonia Rakotomantsoa has always pushed herself to try new things. A native of Paris, she moved to London eight years ago to experience a different culture and master English. As an undergraduate, she studied computer science, building on that with a masters concentrating on what was then called human computer interaction, now referred to as user experience design, and artificial intelligence.

While AI was fascinating, Sonia found herself drawn to UX. “I like the psychology of it — how do people use this technology? How do they think about what they want to accomplish?” Sonia says. “It’s very rewarding when you can define what the problem or the need is, and come up with the solution, and when you show the prototype, people like it.”

But when she was first out of school and looking for work in London, many firms weren’t even familiar with the discipline. But she did land with a digital agency that was helping its client, Sony Ericsson, to develop one of the first mobile apps ever, called Find It.

“That was very exciting, to do something that was so new, that was the next big thing,” Sonia says.

Over time, Sonia transitioned to working as a UX consultant, which eventually brought her to Bluespark. She was attracted to Bluespark for the variety of projects and the flexibility of working from home.

“In addition to her experience and the quality of her work, we appreciated that Sonia is always looking for a fresh solution, not just relying on tried and true,” says Bluespark founder Michael Tucker.

When she’s not working, she’s still all about seeking out the new — traveling, going to see live music, and teaching herself how to surf. And she has a two-year-old son, the ultimate adventure!