Meet Virginia — Product Designer @ Payments Squad
We continue sharing stories about Preplers driving changes for our product. Today, Virginia tells a bit more about her journey, how the company impacts diversity in the Design team, and a little bit about her favorite things to do in Barcelona.
My name is Virginia de Colombani and I joined Preply as a Product Designer in February 2021, although it feels like I’ve been here a lot longer! I am originally from Italy but I moved to Barcelona from London, where I was living and working for the last 8 years.
What are your day-to-day responsibilities within the design chapter?
I’m currently working in Preply’s Payments squad, overlooking our checkout and package flows. A lot of what I do on a daily basis is problem solving: I identify user pain points and, along with my team, address them through experimentation. In addition, I also:
💡 Facilitate brainstorming sessions to generate new ideas (FigJam has been a great tool for this!)
🔬 Actively participate in research and user interviews
🤝 Collaborate with our Engineers to make those experiments come to life
💬 Synch with our PM on current experiments and next steps
💪 Test, test, test!
What has been the most exciting challenge for you so far?
Preply is currently at a very interesting stage of growth, which I hadn’t experienced with my previous roles before. As Product Designers, this means we are challenged with balancing speed vs. quality, unifying the user experience, adapting to changing business models… all whilst still having the demanding task of designing a product that people love.
What has been your most impressive learning?
Going out of your comfort zone always pays off! Recently I launched a sales “design project” where I personally got in touch with potential students who had created a lead but never booked a trial lesson. By calling them directly, I identified their blockers and we solved them together in real time. Believe it or not, not only did I learn more about our product, I actually helped people book their first lesson! It’s also great seeing other squads use insights from this project to launch new experiments.
What do you enjoy about working at Preply?
- I really align with Preply’s mission to build an innovative space that connects learners and tutors. As a Product Designer, it’s extremely gratifying to work on a product that helps people and makes learning accessible for everyone! As employees, we are also encouraged to take lessons and experience the magic of learning a new language first hand — I’m currently learning Catalan!
- Working with talented and diverse Preplers from all over the world is very inspiring and I learn something new every day. My squad for example, consists of a UX writer, Data Analyst, Researcher, Front & Backend Engineers, Tech Lead, Engineering Manager, a Product Manager and myself — I feel like we’re the Dream Team!
- Data & research are at the core of Preply. We analyse data and listen to our users in order to build the best possible experience. From a product perspective, it’s great to see both qualitative and quantitative insights being valued and considered when iterating.
How do you feel Preply empowers their people?
I am really grateful that Preply gives us the space to grow and pursue our interests! We are always empowered to try new approaches, implement different ways of working, and explore new tools and methods within our teams.
How is Preply impacting equity, diversity and inclusion within the design team?
For us it’s more than just having colleagues of different genders, ethnicities, or backgrounds. It’s about inclusion and belonging. This is an enormous challenge that takes time, and although Preply is not 100% there yet, I would say that it is a big focus for us right now and a lot of resources are being invested to get diversity and inclusion. We put conscious efforts in hiring a diverse team, adapting our interviewing process, encouraging diversity in our mindsets by inviting other teams to our design critiques, and making sure everyone feels heard and respected are just some of the areas being addressed.
What are your hobbies outside of work?
Now that I moved to Spain, I’m discovering lots of new hobbies! Barcelona has the perfect mix of sea and mountains so there is so much to explore. My partner and I love to rock climb and travel so we’re always out and about. I also love cooking, practicing yoga (I can do that by the beach now!), and I’m hoping to get back into pottery soon.
And finally, what would be your tip for anyone looking to join Preply’s design team?
Don’t be afraid to be disruptive, be passionate and authentic, be a team-player, and most importantly, just be yourself! P.S. Don’t forget to read about our values and reflect what they mean for you: Learner Obsessed, Curious, Hacker, Hungry, Human, and Humble :)
We’re actively looking for talented candidates to join us in building the most effective language learning platform to help customers across the world to learn languages more effectively. If you’re excited by this challenge apply to one of our open positions!
