What led you into design?
When I was a kid I used to spend the summers high up north above the Arctic Circle in Sweden. Without any internet, computers or mobile phones there was a lot of time to fill. I started to draw on things like paper, tree logs and playing cards. Trying to fill this boring time made me creative and I learned to play with ‘nothing’. I eventually opened a small store, where I sold my logs with drawings to make enough money to go into the local town market and buy candy.
After that, I kept drawing and I was always intrigued by images and photography. I was encouraged in school to continue with photography so when the time came to choose a major, I selected photojournalism. That led me to the newspaper and magazine world and after some years spent with headlines and grid systems I realised I was more suited to be a designer, and started looking into advancing my design skills. I ended up at Hyper Island’s Interactive Art Director program and this later took me overseas to the website building company Squarespace in New York where I spent almost 5 years growing my love for product design.
What does a typical day look like?
During the pandemic WeTransfer became a hybrid company and I moved back to Stockholm to continue working from my home office. My day usually starts around 7:30am when I'm woken up by my dog Lowie, I take a walk with him around the block and eat oatmeal and drink tea. I look at my schedule, take a shower and go through Slack + emails.
My schedule is usually busy with a mix of 1:1’s, team leads meetings, recurring team rituals and design crits.
I write down my to-do list in Apple notes since it’s synced between my laptop and phone and I can mix private + professional notes. I use it every day and I love that Apple kept it simple.
During the day I move around the apartment, to the kitchen area and living room, and I try to take many walks with my dog to keep my mind sharp. Sometimes I go to the HQ office in Amsterdam where most people are based, it’s great to see people face-to-face and during these moments we use the time to team bond, do workshops and do social events.
What's your workstation setup?
I recently bought this new floating desk from finish company Artek, and it fits my small corner perfectly. I have an AOC 4K monitor and a MacBook Pro 14, and Apple's Magic Mouse is always by my side. Since I work with mobile, I have the latest Android’s and iPhone’s for work. Honestly, my desk is usually a mess with books, devices and papers but I cleaned it for you 😄. Most of the designers I know have VERY neatly organised desks but not me, I need it to be a bit chaotic and cozy to feel at home and inspired.
Where do you go to get inspired?
I head into nature or visit big cities like New York and London, because they make me feel inspired and alive.
I was recently in London without internet and I recommend leaving your phone at home or at least turn off the internet on your phone for a while and just look up and see what’s around you. It's like re-exploring the world around you, and it feels very inspiring to me.
What product have you recently seen that made you think this is great design?
My latest purchase is a black Fujifilm X100VI, I love the classic retro feel. You can use the viewfinder for a more timeless experience. You still have the weight of an older film camera but with all the digital features you expect in 2024. It’s easy to connect with your phone if you want to edit and publish photos on the go. A good choice if you want a good quality camera cheaper than a Leica.
What pieces of work are you most proud of?
This is a hard question because I’m proud of most of the product design work I’ve done. I always put a lot of love into the work that I do and I've been very fortunate to be working with some of the best designers, engineers and pm's out there.
When I joined Squarespace in 2013, the company was around 100 people and ‘teams’ weren’t really a thing. We were a bunch of designers, engineers and mostly customer care people. We didn’t have pm’s and I would say the company was driven by design. We worked on products until they felt great. There was no stress to ship things fast. The value was ‘good design takes time’ and they really meant it.
Thinking back at this time I’m not sure any company these days could afford to wait on the perfect release with AI around the corner and tools becoming easier and faster.
Working in an early start-up meant I got to wear many hats and my responsibilities grew fast even though I was pretty green in the field. My first project was working on the Squarespace Metrics app that showcased users' website data in a beautiful way. That app grew to an iPad app and later a more advanced Analytics app that I led the design for.
Another proud moment was the release of the Squarespace Commerce app 2015. We were giving merchants a way to control and manage their online stores on the go. It was also the first time I got to build an app from scratch; doing user research, coming up with new concepts and components and working with great engineers & pm's.
After the release, I felt proud since I had been given so much trust and responsibility to design and ship something. In hindsight, I think not knowing too much about processes and politics, was making me a more creative designer. Sometimes I miss that time now when everything is a design system component and following best practice patterns (yes for a reason but I miss the inventiveness and creativity in apps).
Since I’ve been fortunate to be working with so many great teams and products I must mention my latest project, the WeTransfer app, where we incorporated fullscreen ads and creative content in a beautiful new way on mobile. While you're uploading or downloading, a user can unexpectedly explore creative content and ads.
What design challenges do you face at your company?
When people land on WeTransfer.com they have one thing in mind: transferring big files, and changing this mindset is a challenge. I realised during the years that introducing new products when you have such a strong brand known for doing one thing well is hard. So making our new product offerings clear to our users is a challenge.
Another design challenge is to keep the brand feel coherent across multiple products + touch points.
What music do you listen to while designing?
Any advice for ambitious designers?
Learn on the job - Any job experience will make you grow
Be kind - Stay humble and be a nice but opinionated person
Go deep - I really think designers should stay for a while at a company to live through the product lifecycle if possible
Team is everything - Collaborate closely with your peers
Listen to your gut - Data is great to inform design decisions but trust your gut
Anything you want to promote or plug?
WePresent magazine - a great source of creative stories from all over the world
WeTransfer app on Web, Android, iOS & iPad
Find me on Linkedin if you want to connect
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