How does your work/your team's work contribute to Backbase's mission to power the digital banking revolution?

Daily, we're dealing with clients who don’t have a clear understanding of how to jump on this digital transformation journey. Our role is to help them level up and making them independent, turning them into ambassadors for the digital banking revolution. We help them to adopt new methodologies and new mentality in their way of working.

Which project are you most proud of? 

A project in Angola 🙂 I only run Intake and Inception with that client, but they are so honest, receptive and open it was a pleasure working with them and providing some knowledge about UX and how to stand on their own legs.

What is the most challenging about your work?

The hardest part of my job is managing the expectations Sales creates with the clients. It is difficult to explain to a client why the delivery process that was presented during the Sales cycle is longer once the project actually starts and every step in the process (from UX research to agile development)  is there for a reason. But we are working together towards a more consistent message that showcases the value of our ways of working. Baby steps 🙂

Everything else is manageable. You need to be okay with coming into a room with a client not knowing what’s going to happen and how the meeting will go. So a good share of assertiveness always helps me to manage any unexpected situation.

What have you learned since joining? How are you developing your skills at Backbase?

The main learning has been to be patient with me and give myself time to learn in and out products, methodologies, etc, and that's okay not knowing everything right away. I have the tendency to say yes to whatever comes on my table because they're exciting opportunities, but at times it can be overwhelming and the work suffers from that.

Oh, and I truly learned to stick and be consistent with morning and night-time rituals, to take those moments for myself while traveling and not, and to go back to them after skipping a few days.

What advice would you give to someone who's interested in joining Backbase's design team? 

Depends which design team they're joining 🙂

For the Product Implementation team, the main advice is to expect the unexpected at any given point and to enjoy the opportunities that come from it. And for sure you need to know how to engage with people and do a lot of networking within the company, so communication skills are key. 

For the Product Development team, it'd be to let "your design babies" go. Every designer is proud of their work but sometimes it's limiting thinking one's design is the best option without research that supports it.

You also need to have an entrepreneurial mindset, have a ‘let’s fix it attitude’ rather than complain and don’t take steps to change something. This is universal across Backbase for any team you join.