Nina Jurcic is a multi-disciplinary designer and design team leader, and a new ScreenSaverz mentor. Her career spans over ten years building apps, brands, B2B platforms, design systems and teams. She positions herself as a coach, a strong communicator and a change agent. She empowers design teams to achieve strategic goals and supports individual designers in personal development and community engagement. Nina currently lives and works in Berlin.
Hi Nina. Let's start at the beginning. How did your design career start and how did you end up designing products?
Believe it or not, the iPhone is what got me started in product design. It was 2013, and I was studying applied arts following the completion of my bachelors in information science. I had a business idea about an iOS app and connected device that was supposed to solve the problem of short-lasting iPhone batteries, so I joined Founder Institute, a startup incubator, and began researching and designing my app from the ground up by imitating known logic, interactions, flows and gestures of products I loved to use.
This was my first “product” ever so I learned on the fly. If I hadn't had an iPhone and experienced this problem myself, I would never get this idea and obsession to dig deeper. I failed at bringing it to market, but my work opened doors of possibilities, because it simply felt natural to work in such a medium, designing interactions and experiences. So I began freelancing.
What is your favourite part of the process/your work?
The human one. Designing collaboration and empowering teams so we can harness their synergy to create truly innovative products and services. On the other hand, bridging what they have to offer with what matters to the business.
Can you show us 1 or 2 favourite projects you've worked on? Why did you enjoy them?
First one is relayr Design System, that enabled my former employer, a 300-people strong company at a time, to scale their Industrial IoT platform to 2 distinct products and 10+ projects, while undergoing transformation from consultancy to product-led organisation and tapping into X-as-a-service potential. Our design system was fully treated as a product, and on the surface, we shipped and curated a collection of components and patterns.
However, what we created stretches beyond its tangible parts — a new standard in cross-functional collaboration and operational efficiency. We built a movement.
Second favorite project had nothing to do with digital design — it was an ecology festival for kids, which I creative-directed in 2016. This is how I discovered my knack for organising events. I designed identity, program and workshops for 2 festival editions attended by about 4K people in total. There was also a notion of building a movement in the way we simplify and communicate important topics to the youngest while celebrating their unique way of thinking.
What advice would you give to those who are just starting out in design?
I really recommend doing an internship in 1-2 companies because it is often a gateway to a full time role, get exposed to real product development process, be part of a design culture, and have someone dedicated to your professional development. Thus a great opportunity to expand your network.
However when it comes to entry-level positions, candidates typically face a chicken and egg situation — many require a portfolio and basic skills. On the other hand, design market is oversaturated and undergoing a crisis so you really need to stand out and show you have what it takes: from design and problem-solving skills to refined communication, analytical and strategic thinking to begin with. And guess what? All of these will get sharpened over time, by being exposed to different problems and challenges varying in domain and complexity so my main word of advice would be not to wait to land your first job but take your career decision into own hands and create your own opportunities.
The best way to learn is by doing and luckily, today this is easier than ever with so much free or affordable content like books, templates, conference recordings and courses. Seasoned professionals and industry veterans are generously sharing their insights and knowledge in form of posts and articles. Tool like Figma is free to use which is incredible. There are numerous design challenges and resources on to learn how to use it, develop your workflows and strengthening the problem solving muscle.
But keep in mind that tool is just an aid — to visualise your thinking, structure your process, derive solutions and collaborate with others more efficiently. Once you find your way around the basics you can recreate your favorite digital app or platform from scratch and treat as it were a distinct competitor product, or create a better alternative by identifying opportunities for improvement and conducting thorough research.
You can also create a couple of fictive, well-executed projects with disctinct branding, website, and product prototypes and draw inspiration from something you are really passionate about or that keeps you awake at night. You can get more focused guidance in a dedicated school or bootcamp program, join hackathons and competitions for a quick semi-real project, or even team up with others and start your own project.
Most importantly, find your tribe and mentors, be it at the company, on Linkedin, in online community or school, and leverage their advice, insights and connections. For once, you’ll realise you’re not alone in your efforts.
What do you see as the biggest challenge in the world of digital product design at the moment?
Our industry has reached a point of saturation — too many people breaking into field and working on the production side but not really producing value, which means they could be easily removed or replaced on sudden notice. With radical budget reductions there is less maneuver for playing feature bingo and erratic product decisions, and consequentially, less demand for design roles that support these mechanisms in rather reactive manner.
We are witnessing design & research organisations falling as collateral dominoes on behalf of poor strategic or product decisions they were never part of or had little say in due to internal politics, which only speaks of the fact that strategic value of design was hardly understood or utilized in these organisations. It is a patt-position in which design teams will stay unless they are able to execute strategy and demonstrate tangible impact on business metrics. Therefore more senior or hands-on leadership roles are on the rise, that involve refined communication and facilitation skills, and developing business acumen, and vocabulary to efficiently co-create impactful outcomes with other their peers and stakeholders across the business.
To put it plainly — this is not about us having a seat at the table but being at the right one — we have long sat at the kids table. It’s time to move to a designated adults table and lead by design and intention.
What or who has had the biggest influence on your professional career?
I am grateful for having strong role-models for two consecutive generations at home: my both parents and grandparents were fully self-made, resilient and known for their vigorous integrity and work ethics. The fact that my mother and grandmother both had successful careers in predominantly male workplaces —or inspite of it — might explain why I feel so comfortable being myself, while still greatly outnumbered. That is I wholeheartedly say representation matters — if it doesn’t start at home, it should be present at school, work, media and conferences.
What also made great impact is the fact my journey way anything but linear. I am self-thougt kind of person that took every challenge that came my way as a opportunity to learn, develop and connect with others — often out of a gut feeling, enthusiasm or pure curiosity.
What do you think we as designers can bring to companies?
Our empathy, interpersonal skills and strategic mindset and with that — deliberately designing the way work and collaboration happen, role-modeling different ways of thinking and behaviors, and de-risking and informing business and product strategy. And once we are are clear we solving the right problem and designing for value, we can make it smart, beautiful, and delightful.
