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Product Design

Currently working as a Product Designer at Birdie, an 👵 AgeTech startup on a mission to reinvent the way we age.

Designing for olders (it’s not misspelled, just non-ageist) is much cooler than you think. I’m basically designing for my future self. I see the future me ageing in my lovely home. My kitchen is still mine, the pictures of my lovely family are still in their place. I go out if I want to, I decide how to spend my well-deserved pension. I get all the encouragement and support from my beloved ones to hold on to my independence. They all know that freedom is the best medicine for my dignity.

That picture of my future self is my mission as a designer here at Birdie. Challenging, but remarkably meaningful 💗

Design Ethics

I truly experience and feel the fast-paced tech environment. Technology moves so fast, one can never feel like an expert on anything. You learn new things every minute and you ask yourself new questions every second. This is how I discovered the incredibly fascinating link between Design and Philosophy 💭

Technology isn’t just a tool nor a corporate evil. We shape technologies and they shape us. We dance together at the rhythm of humankind’s progress. We co-shape the world and influence each other.

The products we create can generate new experiences, new emotions, they can shape a new way of living or perceiving reality. This is incredibly exciting. As designers, we influence the world of tomorrow. We need to be the voice for ethical approaches.

We’ve come a long way from being underestimated “beautifiers” to have an active voice in the business decision-making process. Our ambition as designers is now to foresee the impact products can have on people, people outside the targetted ones, the environment, the social and political context of people. Our dearest human-centered design has come to an end, it’s time to take a wider look.

Illustrations

I love illustrations. I’m currently working on a side project called Boony. It’s a card game aiming to connect olders and youngers. Starting a conversation can sometimes be hard in getting to know each other, especially if it’s an inter-generational one. Feel free to reach out if interested in a collaboration ☺️.

The world needs a little bit of beauty to inspire progress and continuous improvement. Magical beauty is everywhere. Capturing people and emotions, a specific moment and feeling is like watching the world with a different lens, the lens that pushes me to always bring the best out of everything and everyone around me.

Multicultural

I was born in one of the first communism-free generations in Romania, which is probably why I often challenge the status quo, my perception of the outside world, and my own beliefs. 

I have a deep, almost spiritual connection with my country. I love the myths, the pagan traditions of celebrating nature, and the astonishing crafts kept incredibly authentic.

I follow and support La Blouse Romaine, a community project that aims to protect and value the Romanian traditional textile heritage in the contemporary creative context, preserving craftsmanship and sparking innovation through cultural design. 

My other heart’s language is Italian. For the past 15 years, Italy has been my home. This country has taught me that beauty isn’t about something extra you could just do without, but a life purpose. Beauty is in the small things. The good life is as simple as pasta al pomodoro 🍅. Add a basil gem and you’ll experience what luxury feels like.

I probably did my heart’s maths wrong, because London holds an important place in my heart. I’ve spent 2 years in this fascinating city coming from the future. This is a celebration I wrote while walking in the Gherkin area.

London dresses in dark, apocalyptic colours. Its metallic architectures resonate in humanity that belongs to the future. I landed in a natural coexistence with robots. I walk like them, following well-defined paths, isolated in my own reality injected by my headphones. Whenever I meet the future, I finally feel that I belong.

info@oxanatamas.com
oxana.tamas@gmail.com