What would you do, if you weren't working as a designer?
Oooo, that's a hard one, because I always wanted to do something in the design industry, but perhaps a writer.
What design tool do you currently use?
Figma and Adobe XD
What's your favorite band or artist to listen to while designing?
90s music :)
Your favorite font? :-)
Ahhhhh such a hard one!! Using Eina 03 and I love it!
Favorite book or movie (non-design related)
Good Will Hunting
What's your favorite color in hex or RGBa? (gradients are allowed too)
#5956E9
What was your first real/paid design project and when did you make it?
A logo and it was awful :)) In 2009.
If you could write something on the loading screen of all design tools, so all designers can see it, what would it be?
Your design decisions are not arbitrary, they matter and you matter! Keep going!
Did you study design, or are you self taught? And how did that path influence your work style?
A mixture of taking courses at a local computer school for religious women and reading lots of blogs online.
The biggest innovation in product design right now is...
Erm, probably, TikTok! The disruption and adoption in the social media marketplace has been insane. I also like its algorithm and how you end up in all sorts of TikTok world. Loom has really changed the way we communicate asynchronously, and Figma and Adobe XD have been instrumental on a collaboration level in the design community.
With all the current experience, what would you tell yourself when you were just starting out?
Don't worry Miriam, it's going to be tough, you'll go through a process all designers go through and then some, but you will get through it and you will be okay :)
What do you think is the biggest problem in the design industry right now and how can it be fixed?
We have a design leadership problem. We don't have clear design trajectories for product designers. There aren't many CDO positions and we need to figure out what happens to designers once they reach a certain level. Is people management the only way up? Or how does one become a high-level IC? Or does one need to go into consultancy and mentoring
