Mailjet Monday: Alessandro Stigliani

What do you do for Mailjet?

As the UI/UX designer, my job is to build the bridge between the user and our product. To create an easy-to-navigate experience that's aesthetically pleasing.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Each day is different; it ultimately comes down to how many projects we've received. A little known secret though? I spend a large part of my day on Photoshop though — not Illustrator or Fireworks. I'm self-taught, so I've learned to manipulate Photoshop to do mostly everything I need.

How did you get into design work?

It all started with gaming — I've been a huge gamer since I was 11 or 12. I participated to many LANs against other players across Europe. As time went on the several teams I joined continued to rank higher, our team website started getting a good amount of traffic too. It got to a point where we realized we needed to spruce up our page. I picked up designing and my best friend learned to code and develop. At 18, we formed our first company together, Nitrografix, a web agency. We picked up momentum pretty quickly; signing several business contracts with some big clients, hotels and even developed themes for Wordpress.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

It might sound funny, but my inspiration doesn't come from surfing the web or reading design books — most of the time it stems from a problem. When the Marketing or Sales team presents me with an issue, it stirs me to think outside the box and think of creative but practical solutions.

A lot of good ideas also come to me when I'm sleeping. You have to be careful though, because most of the times ideas look great in your head but crappy on paper.

Favorite Mailjet Moment so far?

Our recent team building event in the Alps was one of my favorite moments. It was great to have everyone together to spend a day outdoors, especially the teams that we work with remotely. We spent a day kayaking — it takes a lot of teamwork! I had never gone before, so that was quite a treat!

Where do you see the industry going in the next 5 years?

In the next years, we'll see flatter, more efficient websites. There are a growing number of people who know how to design and the internet is expanding at a rapid rate as well. Several years ago, design didn't hold the same position of importance like it does now — in the U.S. most designers actually have a higher income than developers. Because the last thing you want is for a user to be completely lost on your website. It's all about making simple, intuitive experiences.

In the SaaS industry specifically, I think online apps will look more like local software. What I mean is something like Spotify. This is an integrated service that's directly connected to the internet. But there will always be new trends, you have to always be at the edge. Every morning, I start my day off by opening several websites just to keep up to date with what's new and what's developing. Even on the weekends. That's the hardest part about being a designer; always being at the edge.

[ Posted Mon, 23 Jun 2014 17:21:46 ]