Five minutes with Anna

As part of our Culture of Success Programme we’re going behind the scenes at Pocketworks HQ in our new Five Minutes with… features; celebrating our staff, what they do and what makes them unique.

Five minutes with… Anna

I’m Anna, Pocketworks’ resident Digital Product Designer. I’m from Italy originally, near Milan, but now I’m a self-confessed Yorkshire-woman based in our Leeds office.

The biggest part of my role is making sure that user-friendliness is at the heart of the apps we build. The best apps are ones designed around people, not ones that expect people to work around them. So I’m here to make sure we spend time understanding our users and their frustrations to give them smooth working and useful end products.

My favourite app used to be Monzo, but I’ve recently discovered the Nike training club which works wonders when paired with headphones and my Apple watch. It’s such a great example of an app designed for a person, plus it makes going to the gym almost fun!

In my spare time I love to get creative, anything crafty or interiors related I’m there. I can often be found trying to marry the two and designing or creating beautiful decors and spaces. But like many creatives, I can be a touch on the messy side. So if I could create any app I’d love one that could fold my clothes Marie Kondo style while I’m at work, but I think that might be a distant dream.

One of the first things we do when we join Pocketworks is pick our company avatar, which has to be Star Wars themed. The one I wanted wasn’t free so I ended up choosing C-3PO, weirdly though he’s grown on me and I think we’re actually quite similar. We both speak multiple languages (although I’m still not quite rivalling his six million), we always try our best to get the job done, and occasionally we say the wrong thing at the wrong time.

My greatest achievement so far is probably starting a life and establishing a career in a new country. Adapting to the culture and habits, learning a whole new language fluently, securing and managing a full time job alongside doing a Masters degree was a pretty big challenge but I love that I’m doing it!

If I could pick a superpower I’d love to be able to fly. It would save me so much time and money against commuting! Plus, wouldn’t it be cool to see the world from a pigeon-eye point of view!

In five years time I can see myself on a stage talking about how I made it into the Forbes 30 under 30! Jokes aside (was it a joke?) I hope to keep designing products and services I’m proud of that help other people, and to just keep getting better and building up my skills.

If I was a biscuit I’d definitely be a chocolate Hobnob. They are the most flexible biscuit, simple, but fit for every occasion. I feel like that sums me up too.