Alkistis Mavroeidi is currently the Director of Product Design at KAYAK, where she is responsible for managing the metasearch product using UX research, design thinking and UX practice methodologies. She collaborates with the product managers, designers, and engineers at KAYAK to create products that facilitate people's exploration of the world. Prior to joining KAYAK, Alkistis worked at Building Conversation, a tech startup, where she utilized VR and AR technologies to inform product design. She has a Bachelor's degree in Architectural Engineering from NTUA polytechnic school in Greece and a Master's degree in Design Studies from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Disrupt's fundamental goal has been to challenge traditional architectural practices and explore alternative business models and employment strategies, as well as leverage modern technology. This aligns with the objectives of OOA, which seeks to examine the experiences of individuals who have transitioned from architecture to other fields. Alkistis, a designer who has experience in both architecture and tech, finds that there is a core of design thinking that can be applied to different disciplines. She emphasises the importance of design thinking in bridging the gap between various elements within the tech industry. However, she has also learned that the pace of learning in tech is much faster than in architecture. In tech, you can learn from your own mistakes quickly and make adjustments, whereas in architecture, you often depend on others and the learning process can be slower.
What Alkistis likes about designing systems is that it is unique to product design, but the core principles of systematic thinking and structure can be applied to other disciplines. Design systems are a way of organizing and standardizing design elements and patterns to create consistency and efficiency in product design.
At Kayak
Kayak, a travel search engine, is an example of a company that has a unique challenge when it comes to design systems. They have multiple portfolio brands that they need to manage while still maintaining their core brand. This means that the design system they create needs to be flexible and adaptable enough to work across all of their brands. Design systems can be thought of as the building blocks of a product's design. They include things like typography, colour palettes, iconography, and UI components. By standardising these elements, designers can create a cohesive and consistent user experience across a product.
In order to do this, Kayak has developed a set of design principles that serve as the foundation for its various brands. The company has learned three main lessons in its design journey, which are crucial to its success.
Lesson One:
The first lesson focuses on developing design principles and how they can form the basis for a good design which can later help in solving specific problems. Kayak made a significant switch in its typography considering its design principles. The company also used colour in a strategic way to differentiate between its various brands while maintaining consistency. By adhering to these principles, Kayak was able to switch its design to other brands while still maintaining a cohesive look and feel.
Lesson Two:
The second lesson Kayak learned is about consistency and differentiation. The company created a baseline design, but left room for differentiation based on the brand and region. For example, some regions have a greater need for visual content, which Kayak had to consider while making its product different. This lesson helped Kayak strike the right balance between consistency and differentiation, which is crucial for any successful brand.
Lesson Three:
The third lesson focuses on design engineering and how it is a combined effort that requires collaboration between designers and engineers. Kayak's design system is a strategic process that requires systematic thinking about the brand's appearance and integration between design and code. The company also places a strong emphasis on user experience and spends more time on product design. This lesson helped Kayak ensure that its design decisions were made strategically, resulting in a differentiated yet consistent brand.
From Architecture to Tech
Transitioning from one industry to another can be a daunting task. However, for Alkistis, her background in architecture has served as a good foundation for her current role as a UX designer and director. When asked about the impact of her architectural skills on her career, Alkistis notes that problem-solving was a skill that translated well into her day-to-day tasks as a designer. Architecture taught her how to identify design problems and apply creative solutions to them, a skill that has proven invaluable in the UX design world. However, one major difference she has noticed is that in architecture, the building is often the protagonist, whereas, in tech, the product has to be in the background and simply do its job. This means that the art aspect of design is less emphasised in tech, and the focus is more on creating a product that is functional and user-friendly. Alkistis likens designing a product to brand design, where the goal is to create a design that is invisible and simply blends into the background, while still being effective in fulfilling the user's needs. In her current role as a director, Alkistis has had the opportunity to apply her problem-solving and design skills to a broader scope, working on design systems that are not only effective but also consistent across multiple brands and regions.
The Overlap
As technology continues to evolve and influence the way we live and interact with the world around us, the field of user experience (UX) has become increasingly important. At the same time, architecture, which has traditionally focused on designing physical spaces, is also shifting towards incorporating digital technologies and creating spaces that are more user-friendly. Alkistis sees an opportunity for UX design to learn from failures in public space design. She notes that there have been instances where large offices have designed public spaces that ultimately failed because people didn't use them. While the principles behind the design may have been sound, the practical application was lacking. Alkistis wonders if there is an opportunity to incorporate experimentation and direct feedback into public space design to see if people will use them.
In this sense, UX design and architecture have a lot in common. Both fields require a process of trial and error to see what works and what doesn't. However, UX design has the advantage of being able to prototype and test designs in a much shorter time frame than architecture. This enables designers to see how people interact with their designs and make adjustments before the product is released.
