by Renee

4 min reading time

Interview with UX designer Alex about the redesign of Staxcloud

earnings

mockup staxcloud v3 | Staxxer

How are Staxxer’s platforms made user friendly? A conversation with our front-end developer

As a customer of Staxxer and user of Staxxcloud, the design of our platforms is the first thing that you interact with. First impressions are important, so at Staxxer we put great value on creating an easy-to-use platform. A platform that looks good, but is also easy to navigate for newcomers.

The person who makes sure your interactions with the platforms and software are smooth and silk is called a front-end developer. In order to provide you with an insight in the inspiration behind our designs, we asked a couple of questions to our own front-end developer. Alex will tell you about his background, the things he likes, but also how this inspires his work.

Hi Alex, can you maybe tell a bit more about yourself and your background?

My name is Alex Bokstra, 24 years old and born in Leeuwarden (the Netherlands). Since February of 2022 I’m the UX-designer and front-end developer at Staxxer. Basically my work focuses on making sure that our customers have a flawless user experience, especially online. After my studies in Communication & Multimedia design, I came to Staxxer to share my expertise. Because of a young team and the jovial work environment, I feel definitely at home here.

12 1 | Staxxer

That’s great to hear. So can you tell a little bit about how you spend your free time?

I love to travel. While I’m traveling, I love to take pictures with my camera. Especially in environments that I haven’t been to before, I try to find special places and capture these through my pictures.

Photography is great because it requires a great attention for the environment around you. If you want to take a good photo, you have to be sure that you take every little detail into account. Only if you take into account every detail you are able to make the most creative compositions. This inspires me, so I also try to resonate this inspiration with my designs. Music is another thing that is a passion of mine. In combination with a ride on my longboard, I can be away for hours.

Basically everything I do in my free time contributes to creating different interpretations of the world around me. Sometimes you don’t control this, for example regarding the weather while riding on my longboard, or nature that is constantly moving when I try to take a picture. The unpredictability of things is the foundation of my creativity. I try to show this in my work with Staxxer too.

So how would you say this works? How are the things you do in your free time reflected in the design you develop?

The combination of eye for detail and understanding different interpretations of the world are the foundation of my designs. An eye for detail is definitely something that is evident in my photography. It’s a great inspiration for me and how I design the platforms and software.
On the other hand, the realization that the world is unpredictable makes me think thoroughly about my designs. I understand that sometimes, people have different views on things. Taking this into account while designing makes misunderstandings or uncertainties less prevalent.

What are the most important changes to the designs of Staxxer’s platforms and software since you started this position?

Since I started in February, the dashboard of Staxxcloud is reclassified and given a peaceful, quiet, design, with a lot of white space. This results in the fact that you’re not immediately submerged in a bunch of data once you start our software. Thinking about taxes is already hard enough, so our platforms should be peaceful instead of chaotic. It also became more clear for entrepreneurs to see whether they have tasks that still need to be done with regards to their VAT compliance.

Besides that, our registration process is newly designed and simplified. My analyses pointed out that a lot of people quit at the last step of the registration process. This was partly due to the steps people had to go to in order to register. In its current form, registration is easy and everyone can see their VAT numbers fast and efficiently. 

Also, scheduling an onboarding appointment was obligatory in the previous design. It’s understandable that people first want to get acquainted with our platform before actually having meetings with Staxxer. Therefore, scheduling an onboarding appointment is now optional. This way, everybody’s free to check out our platforms at their own pace. We can always make an onboarding appointment at a time that suits our customers.

That sounds like a lot of changes in just a short time span. Regarding the software, Staxxcloud, which elements would you say are the most important?

The main task for me was to even out the identity of Staxxer with the identity of the Staxxcloud. Many aspects will still feel familiar, but they are a bit smoother and look better.

Ofcourse, I didn’t assume that my creation was in line with the experiences of our users. After the development, we tested the software extensively and showed it to others. Based on this we made some adjustments. After a lot of positive reactions we had plenty of confidence that the Staxxcloud in its current form can function as a great foundation for the future. 

 

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