Introduction

I’m Zanli de Jager, a multidisciplinary product designer with a BA (Honours) in Information Design from the University of Pretoria (2002–2005) and over 20 years of experience across design, UX/UI, and product thinking.

My background spans graphic design, web design, and product design, which allows me to approach problems holistically — balancing user needs, business goals, and technical realities. I bring a strong sense of structure, creative problem-solving, and attention to detail to every project, while working collaboratively with cross-functional teams.

I’m a firm believer in servant leadership, shared ownership, and steady progress toward better products — not perfection for perfection’s sake, but meaningful, incremental improvement over time.

How I like to work (values and preferences)

At a high level

• Collaboratively, as part of a team — I do my best work when ideas are shared and challenged respectfully.
• In a kind, appreciative, but driven culture. Kindness really does go a long way.
• Using industry-standard processes, tools, and methods — while staying pragmatic and adaptable to time, budget, business, or team constraints.
• With evidence-led decision-making. I prefer minimum viable research wherever possible to avoid designing purely from opinion or gut feel, and I’m equally comfortable running deeper research when time and budget allow.
• As a doer rather than a performer. If you value designers who quietly produce solid work, I’m a good fit.
• As a listener first. I don’t feel the need to always have the loudest opinion or to be overly critical.
• Incrementally. I believe great products are built through continuous improvement, with everyone on the team contributing toward shared outcomes.

Work I enjoy doing

• Information architecture and navigation design (including card sorting and structure validation).
• Designing complex dashboards for web and mobile applications.