Who I am as a designer, and as a fellow human being

In my living room, I have a map with pins all over. I put a pin on all the places I've been to and pin handwritten tags of all the places I'd like to visit. There's simply so much to see, to learn, and to admire. I used to find that rather overwhelming (I will never be able to learn everything!!), but throughout the years I've learned to turn that into fuel instead.

I allow myself to simply be curious. There's freedom in caring less about the outcome and more about the process of learning something new. Be insatiable, try everything, take a different route from the one Google Maps hands you, and see what you find out there.

This one is hard - seeking comfort is in human nature after all. I hold the bar high for myself, not because of some guaranteed outcome waiting at the end, but because I want to.

I think passion can be for the process and for the thing itself, not the prize hanging off it. At the end of the day I do believe what I choose to spend time on should bring me genuine joy; and if not that, then at least genuine appreciation. I bring this relentlessness and fierceness to work, and to everything else I do.

Having determination doesn't mean having a big ego. I truly believe I'm an accumulation of all the merits of those surrounding me - any good ideas I have are probably inspired by someone else; any achievements I'm able to obtain, I could not have reached alone.

I have a proactive instinct to pick up whatever needs to be done for the success of the whole, not only the part with my name on it. There's so much advice out there about keeping work and life completely separate, but to me, it's the lifelong connections I've built on each of these journeys that matter the most. So be grateful for those who are on the road with you, and grow alongside them.

Not that you need to tell good jokes, not like that. (Although I do admire those who always have a witty comment ready on the spot.) Design as a practice needs some whimsy from time to time, and I don't think that it is the opposite of rigour. It's much like good stand-up: the jokes are the result of rigorous work underneath. Observing, understanding, and ultimately a deep empathy.

I think about this every time I present in a design critique. It should be well prepared, of course, but well prepared doesn't mean jargon in every sentence. Be relatable, have some fun with it, and be bold about the choices you put on the screen - even when one of them turns out to be a bad one.