Interview with Ricardo da Silva

So far, Pen, Paper and Clay is the best technology to dive into the initial steps of the design process. In the next steps, when the refinement of the design takes place, the best options are 3D modelling and 3D printing.

Be exposed to different fields of design and then focus on an area where you stand out.

I am motivated by the opportunity to make complex things understandable and useful to people. Design gives me a way to combine creativity, technology, research and strategy to solve real problems.

I became a designer because I have always been interested in the relationship between people, objects, technology and the environments around us. Over time, that interest evolved from physical products into digital products and complete experiences.

I chose it. Design felt like the natural intersection between my creative side and my interest in how things work. What has changed over the years is not my motivation to design, but the scale and complexity of the problems I work on.

Today I design digital products and complex platforms, particularly products involving AI, healthcare, industrial technology and data. My background also includes physical products, vehicles, consumer electronics and brand ecosystems.

I would like to continue working at the intersection of physical and digital experiences, particularly products where design can make sophisticated technology accessible and meaningful to people.

I would not tell young designers to try to become a legend. I would tell them to become excellent at solving meaningful problems.

Learn to research, listen, prototype, communicate and understand technology and business—not just visual aesthetics. Stay curious, develop your own point of view, and learn from every project. Most importantly, design for people rather than for awards.

A good designer can create a strong solution. A great designer understands why the solution needs to exist, who it is for, what constraints matter and what impact it should have.

Great designers can move between details and the bigger picture. They combine empathy, critical thinking, creativity, communication and the ability to work with people from different disciplines.

For me, good design creates the right balance between function, usability, emotion, technology and business value.

I evaluate design by asking whether it solves the intended problem, whether people can understand and use it, whether it works within its technical and business constraints, and whether it creates measurable positive outcomes. Research, usability testing and real-world results are extremely important in that evaluation.

Good design reduces complexity and creates value for both people and organisations. It can improve usability, efficiency, accessibility, trust and ultimately business performance.

My experience in healthcare and industrial technology has shown me that design is not simply decoration. A well-designed workflow can influence how quickly professionals work, how confidently they make decisions and how effectively technology delivers its intended value.

I would like to explore products that connect physical and digital experiences and use emerging technologies such as AI in genuinely human-centred ways.

I am particularly interested in problems where technology is powerful but difficult to understand. Designing for those situations can have a significant impact because good design can act as the bridge between advanced technology and everyday human needs.

A project that combines industrial design, digital product design, AI and sustainability would be particularly exciting to me.

I would like to take something technologically complex and create an end-to-end ecosystem around it—from the physical product and interface to the service, brand and user experience.

Curiosity, persistence and listening.

I don't believe there is one secret technique. The strongest results usually come from understanding the problem deeply, working collaboratively, testing ideas early and being willing to change direction when the evidence tells you to.

I find inspiration across many disciplines rather than from a single group of designers. I am particularly interested in designers and thinkers who connect design with technology, society, manufacturing and culture.

I also believe inspiration comes from engineers, scientists, researchers, artists and, most importantly, the people who actually use the products we design.

I am attracted to designs that appear simple but reveal a great deal of thought underneath. Products that balance function, ergonomics, manufacturing, visual identity and emotional connection are particularly interesting to me.

I appreciate design where every decision feels intentional rather than decorative.

It is difficult to choose just one, because two projects stand out for very different reasons: Hilab and Brainomix 360.

Hilab was particularly meaningful because it brought together industrial design, UX, AI and healthcare in one physical and digital ecosystem. I led the design of an AI-enabled portable laboratory capable of delivering blood results in under 20 minutes. The project focused strongly on usability and accessibility, while also reducing costs by 40%, helping extend diagnostic capabilities to underserved regions. I also worked on integrating the user interface with the physical product so that the experience felt like one coherent system rather than separate hardware and software.

Brainomix 360 was equally significant because of its potential impact on clinical decision-making and stroke treatment. I led the redesign of an AI-powered stroke diagnosis platform, applying mobile-first and accessibility-first principles to simplify complex clinical workflows. The redesign contributed to a 50% increase in thrombectomy treatments and 61-minute faster patient transfers, with the work validated across more than 83,000 clinical cases.

What makes both projects great to me is not simply the technology or the recognition they received. It is the real-world impact. They demonstrate what I believe design should do: take complex technology, understand the people who depend on it, and transform it into something intuitive, useful and capable of improving lives.

Designers should continuously learn beyond design itself. I developed my skills by moving between disciplines, industries, countries and types of projects.

I learned industrial design, manufacturing, branding, UX, research, digital products and design leadership. Working with engineers, developers, clinicians, business teams and manufacturers also taught me how to communicate design decisions in different languages—technical, human and commercial.

The information in my professional profile doesn't give a definitive alternative career, but I suspect I would still have ended up somewhere at the intersection of creativity, technology and problem-solving.

Design is the intentional process of making something work better for people and for the context in which it exists.

For me, design is not limited to how something looks. It includes understanding the problem, defining the experience, considering technology and constraints, and creating a solution that is useful, understandable and meaningful.

My career has been shaped by many collaborators, mentors, colleagues and multidisciplinary teams. Design is rarely an individual achievement.

Working alongside engineers, developers, researchers, product managers, manufacturers, clinicians and other designers has continually expanded my perspective and helped me grow.

Experience across different environments helped enormously. I have worked internationally and across very different industries, from physical products to healthcare AI and industrial digital systems.

That variety taught me to adapt my process rather than rely on one formula. It also taught me that every project requires curiosity, humility and a willingness to learn.

One of the biggest challenges is learning to design within complexity and constraints. Real projects involve technical limitations, budgets, regulations, manufacturing, business objectives and different stakeholder expectations.

Working across cultures and industries also requires constant adaptation. I learned that constraints are not necessarily obstacles—they can become part of the design challenge.

Designers should tell the story behind the work rather than simply showing the final screens or objects.

I would present the problem, context, research, key insights, alternatives considered, design decisions, collaboration, testing and measurable outcome. The final design is important, but the reasoning that led to it often demonstrates much more about the designer's ability.

My current work is focused on industrial AI, digital twins and process-engineering platforms at Siemens Digital Industries Software.

Looking ahead, I expect to continue exploring how AI and increasingly complex technologies can become more understandable, useful and human-centred through design.

My ultimate goal is to create meaningful impact.

I want to design products and experiences that improve people's lives, help organisations perform better and make complex technology easier to understand and use.

People expect experience, quality and leadership, but I think they should also expect curiosity and humility.

Being experienced doesn't mean having all the answers. It means knowing how to ask the right questions, bring the right people together and create a process that leads to better answers.

Design influences how people interact with healthcare, technology, transportation, information, products and services. It therefore has enormous social responsibility.

Accessible and inclusive design can give more people access to technology. Sustainable design can reduce waste and resource consumption. In healthcare, better design can even contribute to better clinical outcomes. My work has shown me that design can have consequences far beyond aesthetics.

I am particularly excited by my work around industrial AI, digital twins and Model Predictive Control at Siemens.

These are highly technical systems, but the challenge from a design perspective is fascinating: how do we make powerful engineering technology understandable and usable without oversimplifying it?

Brainomix 360 and Hilab are particularly satisfying because they demonstrate how design can create measurable human impact.

Hilab involved an AI-enabled portable laboratory that could deliver blood results in under 20 minutes, while the work also improved usability and reduced costs by 40%. Brainomix involved simplifying complex clinical workflows and supporting faster stroke treatment.

I would like to see design become even more involved in strategic decision-making.

Design should not be brought in only to make something look better after the important decisions have already been made. Designers should participate earlier in defining problems, understanding users and shaping product strategy.

AI will transform the design process, but I don't believe it will eliminate the need for designers.

The value of designers will increasingly come from defining the right problems, understanding human needs, evaluating AI-generated possibilities and making responsible decisions. Design leadership, systems thinking and human judgement will become even more important.

There isn't a universal timeframe. It depends on the complexity, constraints, number of stakeholders, regulatory requirements and development process.

Some problems can be explored rapidly through prototyping, while complex healthcare or industrial platforms require extensive research, iteration, validation and collaboration.

I start with the problem, not the solution.

I try to understand the users, their goals, their environment, the business objectives and the technical constraints. From there, research and synthesis help identify the real problem before I begin exploring solutions.

Understand first. Design second.

I believe good design starts with curiosity and empathy. If we don't understand the people, context and problem, we are likely to design the wrong thing very efficiently.

It works both ways.

Design responds to changes in technology, culture and society, but design can also influence how people behave and what they expect. The most interesting designers don't simply follow trends; they understand why a trend exists and decide whether it actually serves the problem.

Technology is an enabler, not the purpose of design.

My work with AI, digital twins and complex engineering systems has reinforced this idea. Technology can create incredible possibilities, but design determines how those possibilities become understandable, useful and valuable to people.

My current toolkit includes Figma, Affinity Canvas, Maze and Miro for digital design, research and collaboration. My industrial-design background also includes Blender, SolidWorks, KeyShot and Onshape for 3D modelling, visualisation and product development.

They are important elements of the overall experience. Colour can communicate hierarchy, emotion and meaning; materials influence perception, tactility and durability; and the surrounding environment changes how a product or interface is experienced.

The important thing is that these elements support the purpose of the design rather than being applied simply for decoration.

I would like people to ask: "What problem were you trying to solve, and how do you know you solved it?"

That question moves the conversation beyond aesthetics and towards purpose, evidence and impact.

I immediately become curious about the thinking behind it.

I want to understand what problem it solves, who it was designed for, what constraints shaped it, how it was manufactured or developed, and why particular decisions were made.

My ideal design partner is someone who brings a different perspective and is willing to challenge assumptions constructively.

I strongly believe in collaboration and co-design. The best solutions often emerge when designers, users, engineers, developers, researchers and business stakeholders contribute their different forms of knowledge.

The people who influenced me most are often those outside of design. Engineers, developers, clinicians, researchers, manufacturers and users have all challenged me to understand problems from different perspectives.

That multidisciplinary interaction has been a major part of my development as a designer.

My professional profile doesn't identify specific books, so I wouldn't want to invent a list.

More broadly, I have been influenced by learning across industrial design, visual communication, technology, human behaviour and business rather than relying on design literature alone.

Through repetition, experimentation and exposure to increasingly complex problems.

Education gave me the foundations, but professional experience developed my judgement. Moving from industrial design into UX and product design—and then into AI-driven healthcare and industrial systems—forced me to continually learn.

I would choose someone whose perspective could challenge the way I think about the future of technology, humanity and design.

For me, the most valuable conversation would not necessarily be with another designer. It would be with someone capable of connecting science, technology, society and human behaviour.

Awards are gratifying because they recognise the effort of a team and the quality of a project. I have received more than 19 design awards, including an iF Gold Award for Hilab.

But recognition should never become the objective. The real measure of a design is what happens when it enters the real world and whether it creates value for people.

Those personal favourites aren't documented in my professional profile, so I would prefer not to invent an answer.

What I can say is that my work has taken me across different cultures and continents, and that international perspective is an important part of how I approach design.

One recurring irony of design is that a solution that looks simple at the end can require an enormous amount of work to reach that simplicity.

After years of working across physical and digital products, I've learned that when someone says, "It looks simple," it can actually be one of the greatest compliments a designer can receive.

A great day is one where I learn something new or see a difficult problem become clearer.

I stay motivated by curiosity. Complex problems, new technologies and collaboration with people from different disciplines keep the work interesting.

My professional profile doesn't describe my childhood, so I wouldn't claim that it was obvious.

What is clear is that design became a long-term path for me through education and experience, and over the years it developed from an interest in industrial design into a much broader approach to products, technology and human experience.

A thousand years is too far into the future for any confident prediction.

What I do believe is that the relationship between humans and technology will continue to evolve dramatically. AI is already changing how we create, communicate and make decisions. The further technology advances, the more important it will be to ask human questions: What should we create? Why? For whom? And what consequences will it have?

I would like people to know that behind every design is a human story.

My career has taken me from physical products and industrial design to healthcare AI and industrial digital platforms, but the fundamental principle has remained the same: understand people, understand the problem and create something that genuinely improves the experience.

I don't see design as simply making things beautiful. I see it as a responsibility to connect function, emotion, technology and human needs—and to create something that has a positive impact in the real world.

Apart from working in-house for companies, I do freelance projects from my office at home.

Improve people's lives by providing solutions that meet their daily needs.

Everything related to disruptive technology focused on life-changing solutions.

The Jaguar XK-E 1960s, due to its airstream style that portrays great elegance and lightness, withstanding until today the test of time.

The interior design of a Tramcar called Pesa swing for the Euro 2012 in Warsaw, Poland.

So far, Pen, Paper and Clay is the best technology to dive into the initial steps of the design process. In the next steps, when the refinement of the design takes place, the best options are 3D modelling and 3D printing.

When I have a complete view of the customer's needs.

The Brand Identity. This is the keystone to place the product successfully on the market.

Once the full picture of the customer's needs is achieved, I feel a great sense of confidence to meet their goals.

I feel relieved when the ideas come to fruition and in the expectation of seeing people interacting with the creation.

When the product communicates clearly the brand values being easily recognized and embraced by the public.

Does it solve the problem? Does it ease people's needs?

Bring people together to cooperate in finding solutions for feasible changes.

With the advent of the 4th industrial revolution, highlighting 3D printing and IoT technology, individuals are able to produce their own goods, remodelling their lifestyle in a dynamic and exciting environment.

Every product launch I've been involved in.

From being exposed to different cultures. Having experienced contrasting cultures awakened in me the senses to observe and comprehend the world from various perspectives.

I enjoy the eclectic style, where there is an excellent opportunity to harmonize disparate styles, juxtapose textures and blend distinct cultures.

I am originally from Portugal but currently live in Oxford, United Kingdom. The discoverer heritage of Portuguese culture is what defines me as a person and as a professional. This naturally inspires me to look for something new in the world and let that be part of everything I design.

At the moment I work with a permanent contract and occasionally do some freelance projects.

Design is a powerful tool that, when applied well, not only improves people's lives but also elevates the company's recognition. Is a must to choose a professional that is able to walk in the customer's shoes.

Client Brief and Brand Immersion, Explore and Research (Insight into the problem), Define and Synthesis (The area to focus upon), Develop and Ideation (Potential solutions), Deliver and Implementation (Solutions that work), Evolve (Monitoring the product on the market for new products and enhancements).

My favourite designs are those that are clean and carry a cultural heritage.

I cycle to work while enjoying the beautiful countryside landscape. After that, I come home where I dedicate my time to learn new design skills. During the weekends I spend time with friends and family.

Be exposed to different fields of design and then focus on an area where you stand out.

On the positive side, designers are in constant contact with the newest trends, technology and can easily acquire knowledge from different professions. Negatives, sometimes the best design doesn't see the light due to a limited budget.

Memorable and timeless

Being able to capture crucial information from the client in order to communicate effectively the best ideas.

I navigate from traditional tools like Pen, Paper and Clay to more digital tools, like 3D modelling software and 3D printing.

I mainly focus on research and sketching, to quickly communicate ideas with the client, in order to mitigate future pitfalls during the design process.

Each case should be analyzed independently.

How long does it take?

All of my past experiences were important to be the designer I'm today.

Mainly startups that develop disruptive healthcare products.

Health products, as there is nothing nobler to see a solution that really makes a difference in people's lives.

I plan to develop my own products.

Yes, but they are all under the confidential agreement.

Write to me at hello@rikardophilipp.com or rikardophilipp@gmail.com