Andressa Lombardo

Where are you based as a UX/UI designer?

I'm based in the 'land of a thousand welcomes', Ireland. More specifically, Dublin.

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What led you into UX/UI design?

My career has followed a natural path from graphic to digital/visual design and finally UX/UI –– much like many designers, I suppose. But, when I landed my first UX/UI project, I knew this is where I wanted to be. I just love the balance between logic and creativity.

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Why are you a UX/UI designer?

I'm passionate about creating beautiful experiences with purpose and pixel precision while somewhat helping people along the way. How exciting is that?!

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What does a typical day look like for you?

I'm an early riser, usually up at about 6:45 – 7am. Early mornings are when I feel most productive, so I tend to start planning my tasks for the day straight away (and the mandatory daily check of Muzli for some inspiration). Then at about 8:30am, I'll have breakfast with a strong cup of coffee, so as I'm ready for stand-up with my project team at 9am.

I try to block 2 - 3 hours to focus on my design deliverables, which brings me up to lunchtime. Lunch is standard Monday to Thursday, but on Fridays I participate in group yoga (virtually for now).

My role also involves mentoring and guiding other designers, so I make sure to check in with them throughout the day.

Last minute meetings and peer reviews can take up the rest of the day.

After work, I usually exercise. On Mondays we have our amazing yoga session with the lovely Liza Heap. Tuesdays and Thursdays I have personal training and Saturdays are for HIIT workouts.

Mid-week, somewhere in between yoga, workouts, dinner and life admin, I love to participate in the Memorisely design challenges (shameless 🔌).

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What is your current desk setup?

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And your Workstation setup across devices?

What work are you most proud of?

I'm an absolute design system nerd, so I'd have to say I'm most proud of the work I've recently carried out on two large scale systems. I'm also very pleased with some of the concepts I came up with for the Memorisely UI challenge. It was such a creativity booster. I got to experiment with styles I wouldn't usually get to apply in my day-to-day work.

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Which Product recently blew your socks off?

I'm a hardcore Figma fan, and their products never fail to amaze me. What was even life before auto layout and variants? Figma's tools continue with speedy improvements –– ease of use and inclusivity are just unmatched.

Not to mention the collaboration aspect, which was vital for our team on switching to fully remote in 2020.

The team behind Figma recently released FigJam, which is an online whiteboard for teams to ideate together. It's still in beta, but it has absolutely blown my mind. At first glance, it may look like other tools you've seen before, but it just has that extra level of intuitiveness with a dash of fun. I am sold! (They aren't paying me to say that, I promise).

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What challenges do you face as a UX/UI Designer?

I'm very fortunate to work for a company that's hugely invested in UX/UI design and understands its value, but it hasn't always been the case.

I feel like we UX/UIers are continuously educating those around us and attempting to validate the importance of what we do to clients and senior leadership teams.

Dealing with subjective views can also be quite challenging. Despite our best efforts to assert the logic behind every design decision, opinions overrule on certain occasions.

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What tunes do you listen to whilst designing?

Tunes for days....

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Three suggestions for budding designers?

1. Design for everyone. Learn everything you can about accessibility and always have it at the heart of your design process. Accessibility is way more than just colour contrast!
2. Don't be precious about your designs. Having our work criticised isn't a negative thing! Indeed it can feel uncomfortable initially, but criticism gives you the chance to learn, improve and progress. Sometimes we work so hard on a solution and become unbiased towards it, so creating the habit of asking for feedback is vital.
3. Build a good relationship with developers and engineers. Always keep in mind that you're all working towards the same goal. Find common ground, collaborate, and above communicate. Constantly.

⚡️ Bonus tip! Learn about design systems as early as possible in your career 😉