Why I Design
Helping people understand what matters through thoughtful design.
I'm Rodrigo Jiménez, a Senior Product Designer based in Zurich. I work at the intersection of design, technology, and business, turning complex information and systems into experiences people can understand and use.
I'm Rodrigo Jiménez, a Senior Product Designer based in Zurich. I work at the intersection of design, technology, and business, turning complex information and systems into experiences people can understand and use.
It started with curiosity
Why did I become a designer?
I didn't become a designer because I wanted to solve problems.
I became a designer because I loved creating.
As a kid, I was fascinated by the idea that a blank screen could become anything. A drawing. A website. An animation. A story. Every new piece of software felt like opening another door into a world of possibilities.
I wasn't thinking about user experience, strategy, or business. I simply loved the magic of making something that didn't exist the day before.
Looking back, I realize creating was only the beginning.
Over time, that curiosity evolved into something deeper. I discovered that the most meaningful part of design wasn't simply making things look good.
It was helping people understand.
Curiosity became a career
How did curiosity shape my journey?
Long before I knew what UX or Product Design meant, I spent countless hours exploring software, drawing, building websites, experimenting with animation, and teaching myself new tools.
For a while, I dreamed of working at Pixar. Not because I necessarily wanted to animate films, but because I was fascinated by the idea that creativity and technology could come together to create something entirely new.
That curiosity never disappeared.
Graphic design became web design. Web design became digital experiences. Digital experiences became product design.
Today, that exploration continues through programming, creative coding, and artificial intelligence.
The tools have changed. The curiosity hasn't.
My first lesson in user-centered design
When did design become about people?
One of my earliest design jobs involved laying out a weekly newspaper for Connecticut's Hispanic community.
Every Thursday, I also helped distribute thousands of copies across the state. At the time, it felt like just another responsibility. Looking back, it became one of the most valuable lessons of my career.
I could see which cafés ran out of newspapers within hours, which locations barely touched them, how people interacted with the publication, and where the content seemed to matter most.
Without realizing it, I was observing people.
Years later, I would learn terms like user research, contextual inquiry, and service design. Back then, I was simply learning something that has stayed with me ever since:
Good design doesn't end when something is published. It begins when it reaches people.
Connecting the dots
What connects such different industries?
Throughout my career, I've worked across media, entertainment, education, finance, enterprise software, healthcare, and nonprofit organizations.
At first glance, they seem like completely different worlds.
But I've found myself returning to the same challenge: helping people navigate complexity and understand what matters.
Sometimes that meant designing enterprise software used around the world.
Sometimes it meant transforming tens of thousands of data points into an interactive experience.
Sometimes it meant helping investors understand financial research and make more informed decisions.
Sometimes it meant helping doctors visualize ICU capacity during a global pandemic.
Different industries. Different audiences. Different technologies.
One purpose: helping people understand.
Along the way, I've designed enterprise products at General Electric, transformed global economic data into award-winning experiences at UBS, created digital investment experiences for wealth-management clients, and contributed to nine granted U.S. design patents.
What I've learned
A few principles that guide the way I work
After working across different industries, technologies, teams, and cultures, I've learned that good design rarely comes from having all the answers at the beginning.
It comes from asking better questions, understanding the people involved, and knowing what deserves attention.
I don't believe great design is about making everything simple. Some problems are inherently complex.
The challenge is making that complexity easier to understand and act on.
Curiosity before certainty
The best solutions often begin with better questions.
People before technology
Technology changes constantly. Human needs change much more slowly.
Clarity over simplicity
Good design doesn't remove complexity blindly. It helps people understand what matters within it.
Meaning over novelty
The most rewarding ideas aren't necessarily the ones that impress people. They're the ones that make something more useful, understandable, or meaningful.
Still curious
Why do I keep learning?
Learning has always been one of the most enjoyable parts of my career. Every new tool changes what's possible. Every new discipline expands how I think. Graphic design introduced me to visual communication. Animation taught me about movement and storytelling. Web design introduced interaction. UX taught me to observe and understand people. Product design taught me to think in systems. And now programming and artificial intelligence are opening another set of possibilities.
Today, I'm expanding my practice through postgraduate studies in Programming for Creatives with an AI specialization, exploring how code and artificial intelligence can become creative materials rather than simply new technologies.
I'm particularly interested in what happens when designers can move more freely between thinking, designing, prototyping, and building.
There's always another tool to learn, another perspective to discover, and another question worth asking.
Design beyond business
Where else can design make a difference?
Some of the projects I'm most proud of never had commercial goals.
I've contributed my skills to initiatives connected to healthcare, human rights, education, sustainability, and community.
During the pandemic, this included helping visualize ICU capacity so critical healthcare information could be understood more easily. Other volunteer projects have allowed me to support organizations working with vulnerable communities and social causes.
These experiences have reminded me that the value of design isn't measured only through business outcomes.
Sometimes its impact is much simpler:
helping someone understand, participate, access something, or move forward.
Today
Today, I work as a Senior Product Designer in Zurich while continuing to explore the intersection of design, technology, programming, and artificial intelligence.
I still love creating.
I still get excited by a blank screen and the possibility that something that doesn't exist yet might exist tomorrow.
What's changed is what I look for in the result.
The greatest satisfaction now comes from seeing something I've helped create enable someone to understand, decide, navigate, or experience something in a better way.
In that sense, perhaps not that much has changed after all.
The tools have changed. The curiosity hasn't.
Let's build something meaningful.
Whether you're designing a new digital product, simplifying a complex service, communicating an important idea, or exploring how emerging technologies can create better experiences, I'd love to hear what you're working on.
Every project eventually comes down to a question I find myself asking again and again:
What do people need to understand in order to move forward?