If work is a pleasure, life is joy
Four weeks into my role as the first product designer at Treams. Reflections on product strategy, craft, meaningful work, and being part of a team again.
"If work is a pleasure, life is joy."
When Thomas Moes introduced me to Sjors Snoeren last year, I didn't expect this quote to resonate this strongly four weeks into my new job.
A month ago I joined Treams as their first product designer.
My role is a combo of product thinking and product making. I work alongside Iris Zonneveldt on vision and strategy, and with Sjors and the dev team to turn those ideas into product. It's a balance between zooming out to think about where we're going and zooming all the way in to obsess over the details that make a product work, feel, and look great.
From our first conversations, I felt a strong connection with both the product and the people behind it. Treams is built around a simple idea: people should feel engaged, challenged, and able to grow at work. That's when the good stuff happens for people, teams, and companies.
I've been using our own product over the last few weeks and am loving it. I'm not just designing for the end user anymore, I'm one of them. Getting to experience the same philosophy through the product, the team, and the culture has been pretty special. In many ways, I'm livin' it!
The biggest surprise so far has been how good it feels to be part of a place again. I moved back to Eindhoven five years ago, but remote work always kept me a bit detached from the city around me. Now, when I cycle home after a day of interacting and building with the team, I feel fully settled again.
Good times. Joyful times!