Daniel Murdolo is a Lead Engineer at Magnopus. He comes firmly from the creative side of the programming fence, following a degree in game design and a varied career as a Graphic Designer. His experience ranges from designing print and television promos for a shopping channel to building mobile and web games for an advertising agency. In recent years, Dan has specialized in social AR experiences for beauty, tech, and apparel brands – including work on an award-winning integrated marketing campaign featuring an AR-enabled artist collaboration t-shirt. Currently at Magnopus, Dan is using all these knowledge-building tools to enable others to create shared physical and digital experiences.

Tell us about your role at Magnopus!

I’m the Lead Engineer for the UK Web team, working on developing the OKO Web client, which is the first touchpoint and introduction for many of our users. I also go where needed, contributing to a range of studio and internal projects and assisting other OKO teams.

What three skills are essential for anyone in your role?

Flexibility would be at the top of my list, especially as you gain seniority – you never know what you’re going to be asked to write code for next.

Creativity is next. It’s a key part of programming and is hugely important for developers, even if it doesn’t seem obvious. Lastly, I would say remember to give yourself a break – programming can be hard, we all have off days, and self-doubt is ever-present. Taking time to work on things, and if you don’t get it right the first time, coming back to it later, and giving yourself that space, is as important as knowing programming languages.

How do you want to leave a mark on the world – personally or professionally?

This is a tough question for me. I think I’m still trying to find out what exactly it is, even after all this time! I think I’d like to be part of creating something that brings people joy – whether that’s through a website, game, show, experience, or the like. I know what I like to watch and play, and how those things make me feel, and if I could give someone else that same feeling through something I helped create, it would make me happy.

Outside of the digital space, contributing to a community I’m part of and seeing it grow – though I think I’m still looking for that opportunity too.

What are some things you’ve had to unlearn?

I’ve definitely had to unlearn the assumption that people think the same way I do about tasks or requests, both personally and professionally. Because you think a certain thing can be done a certain way, it doesn’t mean everyone else is thinking that too, and if they don’t do what you’re expecting, it doesn’t mean you’re any more correct than they are.

This shift in thinking has led me to become a better communicator, which for me didn’t come naturally, and I think can be exacerbated by being a software developer if you’re working alone a lot. Though I’d say I am still definitely working on it.

How do you approach challenges and setbacks?

Trying to distance myself from the challenge or setback and look at it rationally is what I try to do – with various levels of success depending on the situation.

Giving yourself the space to look at the problem and consider it from different angles can help you notice things you may not usually spot or think of. There is definitely a skill to being able to do this while working under tight time limits, but I believe the more you practice, the better you get at being able to do this quickly.

If you didn’t have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time?

This is probably a really cliché answer, but I’d spend more time creating and making things! I have a long list of side projects – from building games and websites, to creating pixel art and electrical projects – that I often start but don’t finish (or have yet to start at all). I figure at this point, I’m saving this growing list for my retirement.

How would your friends describe you?

I’d like to think my friends would say I am dependable and will follow through with things I’ve said I’d do. I’m usually the quiet one in my social groups, but if you need me for something, I’ll do my best to be there.

Where is one place you want to travel to in the world, and why?

I’ve been quite lucky in life and have been able to travel to a few places I’ve had on my bucket list, but a place I’ve yet to get to is Bolivia.

My step-nonna (grandmother) was from there, and I never got to learn much about it from her. So, being able to visit and experience where a small part of my family unit is from is up there on my list.

I imagine it will be like nowhere I have ever been before, and exploring places like that is important for me to understand how we all fit into this big, varied world.

What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives?

Learn another language as fluently as you can, though I am still working on it myself! I have absorbed many small parts of different languages from growing up and from my travels. But I have yet to get to the point of fluency in a language.

I believe you can experience visiting other places in the world in such a different way if you can communicate in the native language, and it opens up so many other opportunities generally.

Meet the Magnopians: Daniel Murdolo