First and foremost, who are you (name, age, home country)?
37, I am from Portugal currently living in Norway.


You are living and working in Stavanger, what brought you here?
I am currently working at Laerdal Medical as a Design Manager, but I also do freelance and consultancy through my own business; Studiolata.com. For many years, and because I come from the most south country in Europe, I wanted to experience the Northernmost country. My ambition is to grow as person and experience life here in Norway.


Moving countries are always exciting and sometimes challenging, are you settling well?
Yes, I have been very happy since I arrived Feb 2020. It is strange with the corona-situation, but I love the country and its beautiful landscapes. I also love the Norwegian people and their sense of humour.


How many countries have you lived in?
I have lived in Portugal, Poland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland and now Norway.


What has surprised you most about Norway?
The best surprise was how easily approachable the Norwegians are and how lite mood and fun to interact. A mixed of carefree attitude with a good life balance.


You work as a designer, what part of your work inspires you the most?
As a designer I have high focus on user needs and how to best address them in a service or business model that a) solves the user needs, b) is intuitive and easy to use and C) allows the business to scale in order to solve more user needs and more problems. Ultimately, no matter how you much succeed or fail; when you see your product being used and improving or meeting the need of the user that is when I’m happy and satisfied.


You have been a key volunteer contributor to Mylicia’s design work, how did you come to know about Mylicia in the first place?
I often support start-ups in early development stage as I have several years of experience and I was a start-up once too. Therefore I want to share the knowledge I have and help others.


What prompted you to help a start-up company like Mylicia?
After the first discussion with the Mylicia founder and hearing his story on why he is starting the company including his vision on how to improve others’ lives with this unique solution I knew I wanted to sponsor and help.


What is it, in your words, that makes a design truly great?
I believe that ultimately a great design has to have two very important points: 1) form follows function, in other words "solves a specific problem" and 2) form follows emotion meaning it "enhances and/or demonstrates a specific emotional state". I believe these two points are critical for a design to be successful in instances which requires the solution to solve a problem both in the physical domain while also making you feel empowered by its appearance.


What do you like to do in your spare time?
I am a father and I’m training my four-year old to become a designer :) Otherwise my little time I have available between the two jobs I have is spent with my wife and son.