We are TOWA: Florian, UI/UX Designer

Hi Flo, tell us first of all who you are, what you do at TOWA, and how you became aware of TOWA.

Hi! I'm Florian Schmierer, and I work as a UI/UX Designer at TOWA.

I actually came across TOWA before I was looking for a job myself. For my employer at the time, I was researching agencies and companies moving in a similar direction to the one we wanted to take. That's when TOWA first crossed my path, and it obviously stuck with me.

When I started looking for a new challenge later on, I remembered it. The fact that TOWA has an office in Vienna was an added bonus, of course. So I simply sent in a speculative application. Lucky me: it worked out, and now here we are. (laughs)

When did your passion for UI/UX and Design start, and how did you get into it?

That actually started when I was around 14. Back then we were designing laptop wallpapers in Photoshop at school, and I immediately started making them for my friends as well.

After secondary school, I wasn't quite sure yet which direction to take professionally. My first thought was actually: electrician.

Then, at an open day at a business school, they presented the IT track, including Photoshop. I was hooked straight away, and that was ultimately the main reason I chose that school.

The small catch: Photoshop didn't really start until the third year. Until then, I had to learn Italian, among other things. Less of that has stayed with me than the Photoshop part, but you can't have everything. (laughs)

After school, I studied design. At first I was still weighing up programming versus design, but by my master's at the latest I focused fully on design. Alongside my studies, I was already working as a designer and graphic designer and did internships at various agencies. Over time it became clearer and clearer that what I mainly wanted to work on was websites, apps, user flows, and digital products.

What does your typical workday at TOWA look like? 

I usually start with an overview of my open projects and check what's coming up. Depending on which deadlines or client meetings are getting closer, I set my priorities and switch between the different projects.

Then it's about understanding requirements and documents and translating them into user flows, interfaces, and concrete solutions in Figma or FigJam. In between, I regularly gather feedback: internally within the team or from the project leads, and of course directly in client meetings.

There's no such thing as a completely typical day. Sometimes a smaller topic comes in out of nowhere and needs two hours of attention, and after that I pick up the original plan again. So it stays dynamic.

Which projects are you currently working on? 

Right now I'm working for KRONE, a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, among others. I also look after ESG, where new requirements, bug requests, or additional features keep coming in after the go-live.

I recently joined a pitch and the kick-off workshop. That one will most likely really get going over the next few weeks.

In parallel, I support other design system and prototyping topics, some of them in international collaboration. So the range is pretty broad, and that's exactly what makes it exciting.

Do you work more from home or in the office? 

At the moment I work more from home. Over the summer in particular, my apartment stayed pleasantly cool, and I could concentrate really well there.

Especially on days when it isn't one meeting after another, I get into a productive flow very easily.

How does working at TOWA differ from your previous employers? 

At TOWA, I can concentrate far more on my actual area of expertise.

At my previous employer, my scope was much broader, and I took a lot of different topics from start to finish. Here, my clear focus is on UI/UX design, user research, and the conception of digital products.

For other topics, there are specialized colleagues. Of course you still take on tasks outside your own area from time to time, but it's no longer automatically part of my everyday work. That allows me to go much deeper professionally.

What did you particularly enjoy about your job? 

Above all, the responsibility and the trust you're given. I can largely plan my own timelines, set priorities, and handle a lot of the coordination independently.

I also find it really exciting that AI is a high priority at TOWA right now. I enjoy exploring the topic myself; I can try things out and develop my skills in a targeted way. That's a lot of fun.

Are there any specific challenges in your role? 

Definitely. On larger projects especially, you have to think very early about how to plan and prioritize the different areas sensibly.

A complex configurator, for example, needs far more coordination than a single dashboard. At the same time, you have to look beyond the current page or the current feature and keep the entire system in mind.

Ideally, you're already thinking at an early stage about what might be added in phase two or three. Not down to the last detail, but far enough that your first decisions don't build unnecessary limits for later.

Another challenge is the handover to development. Designs and logic should be structured and documented clearly enough that not every single feature has to be explained again in a separate meeting.

Do you feel that working at TOWA has helped you to grow and develop further? 

Yes, definitely. It makes a huge difference to have experienced team leads and colleagues who are very strong professionally, who give feedback and challenge you at the same time.

You get projects where you might not have all the experience yet, but you can grow into them step by step. On top of that, you get different perspectives from the team and plenty of training opportunities, provided you actually use them.

That combination of responsibility, feedback, and new challenges has definitely helped me develop.

Which highlight at TOWA has stayed with you the most? 

One highlight was definitely a table football tournament in Hamburg. It didn't have much to do with my actual work, but it was so unexpected that it stuck with me for exactly that reason. Getting to represent TOWA there was pretty cool.

On the project side, KRONE is a big highlight for me. I've been on board from the very start and have taken on more and more responsibility along the way. That means I know the project and how it has evolved inside out. It's a different experience from joining a very large project later and having to work your way through everything first.

And of course, the big team events and our design events are among my highlights too. I'm really happy with my team, and my team lead!

Now, a question for everyone who is considering becoming part of TOWA: What advice would you give them? 

You should start with motivation and the will to keep developing yourself.

I get the feeling that a lot of people at TOWA genuinely want to get the best out of their projects. It goes beyond working through a list and being able to say at the end: "Good enough for the client."

We try to question requirements, challenge them, and develop an even better solution together. If you enjoy taking on responsibility, learning new things, and pushing yourself again and again, you'll fit in very well with us.