April is here and that means that International Design Day is almost here! In anticipation of the BIG day that’s coming next April 27th, we talked to some of the amazing Klarnauts working within the different design sub-pipelines at Klarna to learn more about their experiences and their thoughts on this year’s International Design Day 2022 theme, “Suspended in Transition.”
Meet Ashley Berlin. She’s a lover of Front-End Design and a fierce dog-lover. Keep reading to learn more about her journey at Klarna and as a designer of front-end.
“International Design Day 2022: “Suspended in Transition” asks designers to step out of their comfort zone, to accept moments of not knowing and not designing-yet, to reflect from a place of discomfort and change at the same time.” Tell us about a moment where you have felt this way in Klarna?
At Klarna we have a leadership principle called “Challenge the status quo.” This is not something that I was familiar with from other companies in which I worked at, but has become something of a mantra for me since I started working at Klarna.
It’s easy to rest on decisions of the past or iterate on existing ideas, but to really challenge yourself and seek change can be something new and exciting (and at times, uncomfortable) all at once.
I find myself questioning my colleagues on a daily basis – in a good way! Why are we doing things this way? Is there room for improvement here? Would it not be better if we tried this out, instead? This is something that has previously been outside of my comfort zone, but has allowed me to grow so much as a designer.
Tell us what made you interested in becoming a Front-End Designer?
From the moment I saw the ad for the Front-End Designer position, I was immediately interested. It’s the perfect mix of UX, engineering and coordination! I love coding, but I felt like something was missing as I stared at a code editor day in and out. Often during development, I found myself testing different corner cases and unearthing new customer journey paths that had been missed during the UX discovery. Finally, I didn’t have to choose; I could have my cake and eat it too! Problems that emerge at this particular intersection of engineering and design can be solved effectively by a Front-End Designer.
What has been the most interesting project you have worked on since joining the Design team at Klarna?
One project I am particularly excited about was actually an idea me and another front-end designer pitched. It is an in-house tool that is being developed now that will help fellow Klarnauts visualize our dunning flows with links to our communication templates, live with mock data. This way, we will always know that what we are looking at is a source of truth and will get to see exactly what our customers will experience when they use our products.
How do you generate impact with your work?
At Klarna we have 29 million send-outs a day – that is amazing! The content in all of those is our responsibility as Front-End designers. We handle the end-to-end, from mockups to implementation. This requires us to involve all key stakeholders (product managers, legal, back-end, analysts) to create informed design that delivers the best customer experience.
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