Antanina Nekrashevich approaches design through structure, usability, and human behavior. With a background in architecture, 3D visualization, and UX/UI design, she focuses on building products that feel intuitive, emotionally engaging, and easy to use. Her work spans mobile applications, product systems, dashboards, marketing websites, and startup-focused digital experiences.
In this interview, Antanina shares how architecture led her into UX, why frictionless experiences matter more than perfection, and how working with startups continues to shape her creative process. She also reflects on user testing, AI-assisted workflows, and the future of product design.
“Speed of execution will matter less, quality of decisions will matter more.”
What first sparked your interest in design, and what continues to drive your creativity today?
Honestly, it wasn’t a spark. I have an architectural degree and spent four years doing 3D interior visualization. After a while I noticed which parts I actually enjoyed — building a system from scratch — and which I didn’t. UX gave me more of the first. Plus a small but real bonus: I can work from my sofa with a laptop, which was impossible with heavy 3D rendering.
What keeps me in it is working with startups. Someone walks in, describes their idea in normal human words, and a few weeks later they’re happy holding a working product made of those same words. Watching a one-sentence idea turn into something material — that’s the part I love.
In your view, what makes a design successful? Is it how it feels, how it performs, or something different?
My test is plain: I don’t hate the flow, and nothing irritates me. If you can use the product without friction and without thinking about the interface, the design is doing its job.
It helps that in real life I’m a pretty mediocre user — I don’t read instructions, I get annoyed easily, I forget where things are. That’s actually useful. I notice “normal person” problems quickly, and I don’t overcomplicate things that don’t need to be complicated.
What do you find most difficult in your design workflow, and how has that difficulty shaped your way of working?
Understanding people simply is my superpower — that part comes easy. What I genuinely hate is creating App Store and Google Play metadata. Screenshots make me cry. I spent so much time looking for better ways to do it that I ended up getting really strong with AI tools as a side effect. So the most painful part of the workflow turned into a real skill. Not the path I planned, but I’ll take it.
When designing for attention, which element do you prioritise most: clarity, emotion, or visual appeal – and why?
If we’re specifically talking about designing for attention, then it’s the balance of emotion and visual appeal. Clarity is the foundation everywhere else, but attention is won by feeling and look working together — one without the other falls flat. Emotion alone is noise, visuals alone are decoration. Together they make someone stop scrolling.
Can you share an example of something that didn’t work as planned? What did it teach you?
Early on I trusted my own sense of beauty too much. I’d make decisions based on what looked right to me and assumed users would feel the same way. After running real user tests, a lot of those hypotheses just failed. It taught me to test more and trust results over my own vision. My taste is useful, but it’s one input — not the answer.
As design evolves, what change or trend are you most looking forward to – and how do you see it impacting the field?
AI doing the repetitive part. Not the thinking part, the production part — generating variations, basic mock-ups, copy drafts. That should free designers to spend more time where the real work is: understanding the problem, structuring the system, helping a startup turn a one-sentence idea into something usable. Speed of execution will matter less, quality of decisions will matter more.
If you could go back, what key advice would you give yourself when starting out in design?
Honestly — nothing. I did a lot of art in university, then architecture, then 3D, then UX. Each step gave me something the next one needed. I can’t think of a shortcut I’d take or a mistake I’d undo. I did everything right.
Key Facts
- Based in Warsaw, Poland
- Specializes in UX/UI and mobile application design
- Background in architecture and 3D visualization
- Works across mobile apps, dashboards, web platforms, and product systems
- Strong focus on usability, structure, and user-centered design
- Experienced in Figma, prototyping, wireframing, and design systems
- Worked on 80+ freelance projects across multiple industries
- Interested in AI-assisted workflows and product thinking
- Believes great design should feel natural, frictionless, and emotionally engaging
Support the designer and follow:
