Meet the Team: Alessio

We are so lucky to welcome Alessio Schettino, a talented product designer and mentor in the community, into the Donux team! We wanted to sit down with him and learn more about his thoughts and motivation as a designer.

Great to have you with us, Alessio! What kind of design work do you enjoy doing the most, and why?

I love working with Design Systems. It’s like being a child who’s building the perfect Lego house (that will go on to become a Lego village). Working with a design system also requests a deep knowledge of the product, its pains and its goals, in order to build the perfect library.

What do you find most rewarding about working in the design industry?

It may sound a bit cocky, but I really believe that designing a great product can make people’s life easier. Think about how much design has impacted our way of accomplishing basic tasks in just the last 10 years, and think about how many comforts we have compared to our parents who always remind us how hard their life was (still my dad always says “when I was young…”).

How do you like to collaborate with others on design projects, and what do you think are the benefits of working in a team?

I strongly believe in the mutual transfer of knowledge when working in a team.

Working alone on a project is harder and it can also be frustrating, especially for long-term projects.

Having a buddy to discuss your ideas with, and to share your pains with, helps to achieve better results and a positive working environment.

Can you tell us about a mentor or someone who has had a big impact on your design career, and what you learned from them?

I have had many people who inspired me during my life, but I can’t be more grateful to my very first design mentor. He is a very kind guy and a great designer. He barely knew me while he was helping me understand Figma fundamentals to pass my very first design challenge.

I also had the chance to join a huge design community that has linked me to many experts who are super keen to share knowledge and grow together, as designers and human beings.

I strongly recommend being open and eager to meet new people in the industry. We all have the same wish to learn and discuss, so there’s no reason to be shy. Just ask, and you’ll find out that the world is full of great people.

How do you approach challenges or roadblocks that come up in your design work, and what strategies do you find most effective for problem-solving?

There are many strategies that we can adopt according to the problem that’s being faced:

• a very easy one is to split bigger tasks in smaller ones that are easier and faster to solve;

• always keep an eye on the business: the best design solution may not be the best for your specific client/product for many reasons (budget, development effort, and many others). Focus on the user but don’t forget about the business, and the team;

• and the last but not the least is share: share your problems with your team buddy or other designers in the company. Don’t be afraid to shout out and ask for help, because everyone needs support or feedback.

Thanks so much for your time, Alessio - it’s great to have you on the team!