Every month, we move our spotlight to someone behind In The Pocket's screens. Who are the people behind the digital products? What drives them? And what can they teach us? Time to talk design with our Product Designer, Stefaan!

"Design is a process, not just a deliverable."

What's the most important reason to have great design in digital products?

This question actually kept me busy for quite some time, because to me the most important reason to have 'great design' is… common sense.

If you’re not sure why it’s important to have great design in your digital products, your definition of design might be too narrow. Every product or service has been shaped or designed by someone, even if you don’t have a product designer. The thing is, not every product or service is designed well… With everyone involved to create a digital product, it might be best to have one or more people in place coordinating the process of shaping your digital product.

Design ís a process, not just a deliverable. From the moment you start thinking of building a digital product until the moment you find yourself looking at the analytics of your product, trying to figure out how you can improve your product: great design is what draws everyone involved together and gives direction to your team.

A great design process makes everyone happy:

• End-users end up with a solution to an actual need or problem and they feel no friction whatsoever when using your digital product. Everything is in the right place, everything feels familiar, they trust you and your company and the digital product might even bring a smile to their face
• People who work on your digital product are involved in each step of the process. They can be proud of the impact they had on their digital product.
• Your business will have an actual solution to people’s needs

‘Great’ design isn’t even that hard. Just listen to your user and the people in your company, and you’re already halfway there… If you design consciously, genuinely listen to the people in your company, and genuinely listen to your users, I’d be surprised if your digital product isn’t a success. So why is it important to have ‘great design’ in digital products? Because it just is…

How do you keep challenging yourself as a designer?

I think user tests are a great way to challenge yourself as a designer. Important here is to believe the user is always right. Even if the button they should click is right in front of them, even if they are clearly missing the obvious… they are still right. And it’s your job as a designer to make sure everyone can use the application your team is working on. It’s your job to make sure the user always finds that button. And that can be quite challenging.

"It’s your job to make sure the user always finds that button. And that can be quite challenging."

What inspires you on a day-to-day basis?

Whenever I feel like I’m overthinking a problem and the prototypes I’m creating are becoming too complex, I take my dog out for a small walk. This usually helps me to take a step back and find a simpler solution to the problem I’m trying to solve. And my dog is happy. Everybody wins.