"It depends."
Last updated on 30 Mar, 2025
How did you get started in your role as a designer?
My first role was a contract role with a UK-based startup called Tred who were looking for design support at very early stages. I grew very quickly and it was supposed to be a brief stint from the beginning but luckily the founders actually were able to help me score my first full-time role in another pretty fresh startup that just raised decent funding. From there my road continued to Juro where I'm currently.
What difficulties do you encounter in your role as a designer?
I work and have worked mostly in earlier stage ventures. Things are chaotic. There is a lot of work to do and tons of things of (perceived) high priority. In this environment it's absolutely crucial that you can prioritize rigorously. Otherwise you drown in work and burn out quickly. I had to learn prioritizing that way and there are still moments where it's really tough but I think I'm doing well at this point. Other than that generally making trade-offs is something that can be really tough. Do I skip research here because I have some data points and have to move fast? Can I really hand this off like this? Can we actually leave this functionality out of this one without negatively affecting UX? I have to make decisions on these questions close to daily and they still haven't gotten easier.
How do you incorporate the apps in your design process?
Figma & Notion are for iteration. Notion is there all along the way and often I spend more time in Notion than in Figma. Especially in the early stages of a project. ChatGPT has increasingly become part of the process to help with research by distilling data, diving deep on an important topic with Deep Research or helping me with good and consistent microcopy. Lottielabs is my companion to get things moving if necessary. And lastly I started adopting AI tools like Trae and Bolt.new in the code space to prototype way quicker than I ever could in Figma and with better results too.
What advice would you give to your younger self trying to get into the field of design?
Hammer the fundamentals into your head and practice, practice, practice. Also leverage both your natural talents and your acquired product skills as much possible.
Do you have any regrets in your journey in becoming a designer?
Not really. The only one I guess is that I didn't attempt it earlier. I could have but I always felt like I wouldn't be good enough and I held myself back. I shouldn't have. But I'm here. That's what matters.
As a designer how do you stay inspired?
I'm subscribed to a range of newsletters like Today in Design or One Page Love that keep me inspired on a kinda daily basis. Aside from that I'm pretty active on LinkedIn and, at least a silent watcher, on X where I find a lot of inspiration too.
