Hi, I'm Silvia—a UX/UI designer who took the scenic route to get here.

The architecture chapter:
I trained as an architect at the University of Florence, where I learned that good design starts with understanding people. My thesis project? Transforming abandoned port silos into a cultural hub—basically, user research for physical spaces. I had to understand community needs, map user flows (how people would move through the space), consider accessibility, and create something functional and beautiful.

Sounds like UX design, right?

The plot twist:
When I moved to the Netherlands, I stepped into logistics and customer success instead of architecture. Not the career path I'd planned—but it taught me something crucial: I got to see products from the user's side.

The realization:
I wasn't just helping customers succeed. I was collecting evidence of where products failed their users. And I kept thinking: "If I had designed this interface, I would've..." That's when it clicked: I wanted to be on the other side—designing the experiences instead of damage-controlling the bad ones.

What I bring to UX/UI:

✨ User empathy from real conversations
Not personas—actual humans who've told me exactly what frustrates them about digital products.

✨ Systematic problem-solving
Architecture taught me to break complex challenges into manageable pieces. Perfect for information architecture and interaction design.

✨ Stakeholder management
I've presented to factory floor workers and C-suite executives. I know how to design for different user needs and communicate design decisions to non-designers.

✨ Iterative mindset
Customer Success is constant iteration: listen → adjust → test → improve. Same as design thinking.

Today:
I'm channeling all of this into UX/UI design—creating interfaces that don't need a Customer Success Manager to explain them.