One Year Designing Abroad and I’m Still Learning
By: Felipe Sbravate
Tags: Fintech, Product Design, Design, UX Design, Designer

Klarna. Smoooth payments.

Klarna is one of the biggest and fast-growing fintechs in the world, known by their multiple different purchase payments methods, credit products, and recently by its new Credit Card. What I can say is that I had lucky to start my experience abroad in such a cool and big company as Klarna and had lucky for have had their trust in my work. I have a multiple experiences background starting as graphic and web designer, passing through Creative Director in an advertising agency, had my own sunglasses company, and before moving to Sweden I was working as Lead Product Designer in a health tech startup in São Paulo, Brazil. Sounds like I had a bunch of experience but never have worked in any fintech before. Great such market to work with the design, so how not feel lucky?

Changing the country, changing the game

But I can say that lucky ends there. When I started to work for Klarna it was very hard to figure out that everything I know about digital products, users, financing, etc, had half of the value I was used to in Brazil. The design core does not change, but how you use it, approach and the outcomes are very different. Even everybody saying that we need to separate our preferences and experiences when designing, we know that it's almost impossible to avoid adding our work baggage to our products — What in my opinion it is what helps us to create unique solutions.

But the problem is that everything was true for me was also basically out of my new reality. My users were different, my market regulations as well. The pace, operating model, frameworks, how people in the teams relate to each other, different type of priorities, even how the stakeholders face their jobs, everything had an impact on my work and this period of adaptation is, in my opinion, one of the toughest thing we face when working in a new country for the first time. As I said, a new game, these things have forced me to remold myself and broken my beliefs, and there are no such scary things as the new and changing.

Why I do think I'm still learning?

It's amazing how fast I could grow and how I improved myself professionally and personally in such a short of time. I believe it's easier for a designer than other competencies to be more adaptative, we are more curious, investigative, the uncomfortable push us to find a way and I'm still trying to use that in my favor.

Of course, I moved from a completely different culture, so we are comparing Brazil and Sweden, it’s easy to imagine the shock, but I still believe — and I’m seeing it happening with other colleagues — that even between similar countries the cultural adaptation is not easy.

From my side, we Brazilians are more passionate, like to use creativity over the logic more than usual, risk more. In Sweden, people prefer safety, the well-balanced mindset, focus on results and deliveries using a more analytical approach. For me, it was the perfect marriage and it's very interesting how I can contribute with more aggressive and practical characteristics, but mainly how many times I see myself not so comfortable and stepping back trying to conduct the situation using what I'm learning. Exhausting, but very enjoyable.

Design-wise what I also noticed is how much more often I see specialists instead of designers with multi-knowledge and skills. I'm not sure if it's specific for Sweden, but it's rare to find designers that can transit in different areas of the design as graphic, digital, the different types of products, etc. There are great UI designers that lack knowledge in using a more user experience approach and vice-versa. Specialists in apps and non-experienced in web-products. I came from a school where the Design is a multi-disciplinary competence, we as designers are a combination of problem-solving, research, investigation, efficiency, aesthetic, so I was expecting more full-experienced designers.

But also, working here now I can see how having specialists help the design development into day-to-day and how it contributes to finding a better solution as a team. It happens because the work culture, the pace, and the company structure are completely different than I was used to, and it's very interesting how I'm having to adapt myself to this new characteristics. I'm sharing more often and earlier what I'm doing in order to collect better understanding and opinions, I'm mastering faster areas I was not so good, and I know that there's no way to master everything without experiencing and learning from the others every day. It's being very cool figuring out all of this.

And what I’m still doing wrong?

Basically everything. Not everything, but something I try to do most of the time is keeping humble and keeping feet on the ground. As I said, in the beginning almost everything was new and there are many other things I'm still getting in. The room for learning and improvement are huge and I believe it’s infinite. Having the humility to understand this is the key, it avoids unnecessary frustration and at the end of the day, it will only make you a better designer.