Your name and team you belong to.

Nofar Daskal, Wix Agency.

Tell us about your work. What is your current position?

I am a lead designer in the Wix Agency team.Wix Agency is a special team at Wix consisting of designers, project managers, tech designers and content experts with a passion for web design. We function as a creative agency, and we are the only team at Wix that creates real websites for clients, from start to finish—from kicking off the project and completing the design, to connecting a domain. We simulate an agency outside, we act like a laboratory and work on the platform all day every day in order to give feedback and improve the product. We work with strategic partners—including enterprises, marketing partnerships with influencers and other companies.My role involves designing and building the websites for our clients. Currently, I build mainly on Wix Studio which is the new platform made for designers and agencies. My role also involves being in charge of the connection between my team and all the products that we use on a daily basis. As pro users who know the products very well, have a wide overview on the platform and understand many needs of Wix partners, we are involved in usability tests, feedback sessions and brainstorm meetings. I also like to think strategically and imagine the dream platform that will make the work of the Wix partners and users easier and more efficient. It is extremely satisfying to see products being made or improved as a result of my ideas and feedback.This role requires me to always improve my social skills, to think out of the box and initiate like an entrepreneur, only inside a big company.I’ve acquired many of those skills during the 6 years that I owned my own design studio. I used to create brands and design for culture institutes and events as well as for the young tourism industry. Working with clients and always looking for the next project really prepared me for what I am doing today.

What’s the first thing you do when you get to work in the morning?

I grab a coffee, look at my calendar, to see what meetings I have that day so that I can plan it accordingly. I usually have many meetings that are product related and balancing between that and designing and building on tight deadlines is a challenge I always have.

Next thing I like to do is to check out the inspiration sites that come up on my Muzli extension.

What do you think is the most underrated characteristic in a good designer?

I believe it is the ability to really listen to the client and then to know how to extract the essence of the brief and translate it to an intelligent design that has extra secret or surprising layers that the users discover on the second and third glance. That makes the users want to engage with your designs again and again and never get bored of it.

What do you do when you feel stuck or frustrated in your creative process?

I always like to have someone else look at my designs. A new perspective always adds new insights and helps me when I’m stuck. Going back to the inspirations I collected and to see what works there is another tool that helps.

It also almost always helps to leave the project if possible for a day or two and to do some other project  meanwhile. Many times when I will look for inspirations for that project I will also find for the other one.

Which design trend / theme / persona are you obsessed with recently? And/or which are you sick of?

I really love the musician Stromae and he has been an inspiration to me for years now. When he came up with his second album and so well designed clips I was obsessed with him - the way he translated difficult subjects and his life story into pop music with intelligent lyrics was amazing in my opinion. He also launched back then a capsule collection that was inspired by the clips. In addition, he always thinks outside the box and is always a bit ahead of his time. In his last tour the back of the stage was made of many robots holding screens that together create one big screen but also move during the songs and the experience of seeing that live was astonishing to me.

You can call me a boomer but I’m sick of the trend of using bad fonts when designing in the 90’s spirit. I don’t mind all the other terrible effects but please keep the typography nice and readable :)

Who or what has been the biggest influence on the way you think about design?

I can’t think of one biggest influence that I’ve had over the years. I see myself as a curious person who always strives to improve. I believe that that makes me take something from everything I see and everyone I meet.

I’m also practical in my personality so I can never create a design that is only aesthetic - for me each design decision always needs to have a reason or serve the user/client.

What's the best advice you received - design related or not?

As someone with a very serious case of perfectionism, the best advice that I have received in the last few years is the Pareto law of 20-80. To find that 20% of effort that will make an 80% impact. I cannot say that I’m applying this enough but I’m on the way there. Sometimes putting a lot of effort into something is just not worth it - for the project or your health.

What would you do if you weren’t a designer?

I think I would be an archaeologist - I actually doubted between archeology studies and design studies when I finished high school. Discovering new things about our past through found artifacts sounded really magical to me. I also really loved to go to the museum to the archeology department, staring at the different statues, masks and jewelry. It’s amazing to see how rich the imagination of the human kind has always been. Though I didn’t think back at the time that it would involve standing in the sun and rain for long days sifting sand with rarely any significant finds :)

Thank you Nofar!