Thinking, designing, and building digital products
Culture is not exclusive to large teams or established studios. It also exists—and is especially important—when working solo or from a hybrid practice.
In my case, work culture is the invisible system that connects how I think, how I design, how I write code, and how I collaborate with others. It defines my decisions when there is no manual, no boss, or imposed process.
This text does not intend to set a standard. It is a way to document the mental framework from which I work today, knowing that it will evolve over time.
1. What “culture” means in an individual practice
I understand culture as a set of internally shared beliefs: ideas, values, and criteria that guide how I face problems and how I make decisions.
Although I don’t work in a studio of 50 people, I do work with:
- clients
- external teams
- other designers and developers
- end users
Culture is what maintains coherence among all those interactions.
For me, culture answers questions like:
- What do I consider a good digital product?
- How do I balance design, technology, and business?
- What am I willing to sacrifice and what am I not?
- How do I want to grow professionally?
When these answers are clear, work flows better and decisions weigh less.
2. Underlying philosophy
My practice comes from pure design, understood not as aesthetics but as the search for the best possible solution within a real context.
I believe in:
- simplifying until finding the essential
- respecting what already works before breaking it
- adding value not from excess, but from judgment
I am especially interested in that point where something is sober and functional, but has 1% more intention, character, or emotion that makes it memorable.
In digital products, that 1% is usually found in:
- an architectural decision
- a minimal but well-thought-out animation
- an honest interaction
- a well-built system that is not seen, but felt
3. Principles guiding my work
These principles are not aspirational. They are decision-making tools.
Rigor
Real commitment to the problem, not just the visual solution.
Rigor is:
- understanding the context before designing
- writing code that others can maintain
- not taking anything as “good enough” without reviewing it
Critical thinking
I don’t execute by inertia.
I question:
- frameworks
- trends
- legacy processes
Not to reject them, but to understand when they make sense and when they don’t.
Generosity
I share what I learn because documenting clarifies thinking.
Generosity, in an individual practice, translates to:
- writing about real processes
- explaining decisions
- not hiding doubts or mistakes
This blog is part of that.
Essentialism
Less noise, more intention.
Removing is not losing value; often it is gaining it.
Honesty
With the client, with the user, and with myself.
I prefer:
- saying “this doesn’t add value”
- acknowledging technical limits
- adjusting expectations
Honesty saves time, friction, and frustration.
4. Ideas that sustain my way of working
Beyond principles, there are structural ideas that run through my day-to-day.
The process is part of the result
A good result usually does not come from a bad process.
Documenting, iterating, and reviewing are not secondary tasks: they are work.
Design, frontend, and branding are not silos
Separating them generates friction.
For me:
- branding lives in the product
- frontend is a design tool
- design must know its technical limits
The more connected these layers are, the more coherent the product is.
Learning is part of the work
Nothing is closed.
Technologies, tools, and contexts change constantly. The only sustainable way to work is to maintain an attitude of continuous learning.
5. How I sustain this culture in practice
Culture is not defined, it is practiced.
In my case, it is sustained through:
- constant documentation
- written reflection
- review of past decisions
- open conversation with other profiles
This blog is one of the main tools to maintain that coherence: thinking in public forces me to be more precise and honest.
6. An evolving culture
My way of working today is not the same as five years ago, and it won’t be the same in another five.
What has changed:
- teams
- project scale
- ways of collaborating
- the impact of technology (especially AI)
Culture is not something that is “defined and done”. It is a living system that adjusts by observing, listening, and correcting.
In short:
This text is not a closed manifesto, but a starting point.
Work culture is what accompanies you when there are no external guides. Having it clear doesn’t make you more rigid, it makes you freer to decide.
I will continue refining these ideas through real projects, mistakes, learnings, and conversation. This blog is the place where all that connects.