I am a friendly and optimistic person. My communication is direct, so I usually avoid adding noise or decorations to my presentations that may distract from the message. I consider myself a logical and rational person, and this is reflected in the way I make decisions.

I enjoy discussing problems and figuring out ways to approach them. I strive to feel like I am solving a problem, so you will see me asking many questions and using drawings or diagrams to support my conversations.

These are some of my principles at work:

👻 Leave ego at the door: we are solving needs. If you want to make an impact, the best strategy is to have a collaborative attitude.
🔬 Self-criticism: use critical thinking and humility as mechanisms for learning.
🤥 Honesty: with others and yourself. Don't be afraid to say what you think or reject your own idea.
🥁 It's not that important: try to take things a bit less seriously and have fun at work.

A good design work addresses at least one need and has a real impact on people's lives. It is well-informed about the problem, takes into account the context (physical, emotional, and sensory), and in most cases is aligned with a viable business strategy. It does all this in an efficient and elegant way but also allows room for fun and enrichment along the way.

An environment where you spend time with good people and everyone wants to do an excellent job while having fun. An environment where it is easy to give your opinion and receive feedback. An environment where you don't have to feel embarrassed to ask questions and everyone shares the same vision.

Some habits that I consider red flags:
🚩 You don't like being asked too many questions
🚩 You struggle to handle criticism
🚩 You tend to point fingers instead of finding solutions
🚩 Team building activities after work always involve alcohol consumption

I constantly adapt my design process to the problem. I usually go through the same phases (understand, explore, prototype, test, iterate...), although depending on the problem, I spend more time in one phase or another. These are some questions I like to answer before getting into work.

- How much do we know about the problem?
- And about the user? What is their context of use?
- Have we solved something similar in the past? How did we do it?
- How do others solve it?
- Who are our stakeholders, and what key information should we know about them?
- Is this a project from scratch or a minor iteration of a consolidated product?
- Do we want to learn little by little about a problem or make a more risky bet?
- How does the new feature fit into the product's context and global purpose?
- What dynamics do we want to promote within the product?
- Are there stoppers or limitations?

It is as important to know what you want as what you don't want, and to find out this, I like to rely on the use of metaphors as a language to align visions and keep everyone on the same page.

I also like to bring the rest of the team into the process as soon as possible. Understanding the "Why's" is way easier when everyone has clear context of the problem.

To give you a better idea of my process, here I have left some exercises (Challenges) that I have submitted in past job applications.
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➝ Moving Netflix users to a premium plan
➝ First experience with Disney+ mobile app
➝ Improving engaging for a Film School platform via app

I wanted to do the exercise of reflecting and thinking about what has motivated me to choose a job over the years. It seems that what I value most today is the culture, mission, and people.