Blockchain is redefining many fields and Design is one of them – designers have to think bigger, face steep learning curves and fill blank pages with creative ideas. This helps people to understand complex technologies and it highlights the benefits of the new FinTech Era.
In this “Meet the Team” interview, we talk to Paulius Slivinskas, Head of Design at Bankera and SpectroCoin, about his role leading the Design and UX/UI teams, and developing ideas into working, functional and user-friendly environments.
Paulius, could you tell us more about yourself and your work as a Designer?
I was fascinated by design since my childhood, so after High School I went straight to the Vilnius College of Technologies and Design. After graduating from it, I ran my own Web Design agency, worked as a Senior Designer for multiple different brands and agencies. I had the chance to experiment in distinct fields and to solve challenges with the use of Design. Also, I can say that I was lucky enough to meet and learn from legendary creatives during those years.
After spending long years at Design and Creative agencies, basically working with traditional businesses (banks, shopping malls, and products you use, eat and drink), I found an opportunity to dive into FinTech. When I discovered blockchain, I saw it as a possibility for new design solutions – there were no rules set for it. I kind of felt that this is the place where you can set trends, not only follow them. It is like a blank page to draw on.
What does a typical day with the Design team look like? What are you currently working at?
Every morning we do a little planning session with our team of talented people, consisted of a few Graphic Designers, a couple of UI/UX Designers and a Motion Designer. It might seem that not much is going on, but everyday we are crafting and shaping things for our brand. As a team, we seek to design an identity that reflects our brand and its goals.
We have recently finished Bankera’s landing page design, so currently we are putting our efforts into Bankera’s exchange development, while also crafting products for SpectroCoin. So you should watch our communication channels, a lot of amazing stuff will come out at once.
Could you describe the design process of the website? When can we expect to see the new webpage and when Bankera will have its own mobile app?
Well, it all starts from making a prototype of each specific page of the website – basically, designing blocks for where each piece of information should be added. We have a meeting with the Marketing team to think about the information that we need to communicate, so we will know what message we will have in specific places in the block. Then the part we love about doing our work begins – preparing texts and visuals, merging and shaping them for a better outcome. We revise the final version with the Marketing team, and make the necessary adaptations. This is an interesting process, it is almost like sculpting. You add things, you take them away, improve them, until we create a solution that works for all teams. Regarding Bankera’s app, it will probably come out in the first quarter of the next year – we are currently putting ideas together for it.
What were the biggest challenges faced by the Design team in the redesign of Bankera’s website?
When we were redesigning Bankera’s main page, we had in mind all the small details – from font and icons, status bars, social icons, to big ones, such as upcoming product pages, navigation of the website and UX and UI solutions. You simply cannot make one without thinking about the others.
Working at FinTech must be challenging – fast-pace environment, cross-functionality issues and collaboration with non-design team members (developers, writers, managers, marketers). Could you tell more about these daily challenges?
As everything is growing fast, we are gathering a lot of information from different departments. I guess, as part of the Marketing team, we are working as mediators between the IT, Business and Customer Service departments. Sometimes, little things appear to be more complicated – you are making a small design flow to improve our user’s experience and you end up by being surrounded by developers, who are explaining that things work differently than you imagined.
Where do you set your priorities – latest design trends, user interface, functionality?
It all comes from our users. Our user base is very big, so we try to shape the image of our customer and think about our average user. After that, we look deep into what this average user likes, how to make them use our tools with ease. So this is our priority. Other things like trends and functionalities come from being up to date with what is happening in our planet in terms of Design. To do that, we read blogs, take part in conferences. We have to be literally addicted to different apps and follow who releases what, how does it look and feel like.
How do you incorporate the community’s feedback into your designs?
Our wonderful support team does the magic. They gather information from our users: issues, suggestions, compliments. We get direct feedback from them and try to improve, solve or include our customers suggestions into the new design. No one is allowed to do things that are only beautiful for themselves, we design for the community.
Stayed tuned for the next “Meet the Team” post!