411 - Anton Sten

Anton Sten is a Product Designer working with some of the largest and smallest successful companies in the world. He has over 25 years of experience in creating websites and apps.

Newsletter → antonsten.com/newsletter
Twitter → twitter.com/antonsten
Threads → threads.net/@antonsten

Anton's Workspace Tour

Workspace Items

• MacBook Air 15 M3
• Apple Studio Display
• Røde NT-USB
• Gather by Ugmonk
• Herman Miller Aeron
• HAY Desk + trash bin
• IKEA cord organizer (under desk)
• Sonos Move

Software

• Arc
• Things
• Slack
• Cron Calendar
• Figma
• Spotify
• My mind
• Fathom
• Convertkit
• Notion

What is the most useful item in your workspace?

Besides the obvious like computer and monitor, I don’t think I would be able to enjoy my work as much without music so I’ll say my speaker, a Sonos Move (though it rarely moves).

How do you spark creativity?

Get out of the office! A couple of years ago, we moved to the Swedish countryside (our town has a population of 900) so we were able to afford a large, beautiful old house. Whenever I need extra energy, I’ll grab my laptop and work from somewhere else in the house (or ideally the garden in the summertime!). Just a change of scenery can really change your perspective. If that doesn’t help, or I need something else, I take our dog Taylor for a walk. I probably solve 90% of all design challenges on walks to be honest.

What does your typical day look like?

Being 6 hours ahead of the East Coast and 9 hours ahead of the West Coast, my mornings are usually very chill. I typically get out of bed at around 8, have a relaxing breakfast and then take Taylor out for a walk. I try to hit the gym at least 3 times a week before the time work starts rolling in.
For me, work starts at around 11, which gives me about 3-4 hours of uninterrupted and focused work. A goal of my lately has been to have days totally free of meetings and days dedicated to them in order to manage my focused work better. Meeting days are usually typically more packed.
Around 5 or 6 pm, I take a break for dinner and another stroll with Taylor. I'll squeeze in a bit more work in the evening if the need is pressing. I’ll even on work Saturdays on occasion, but I try to avoid it if possible. It does help that my partner shares a similar schedule working as a chef making our routines sync seamlessly.

What is the most challenging part of being a product designer?

I think the design challenge at a lot of startups is similar - how do we make sure we’re designing something that’s needed, intuitive, and beautiful, all while not taking months (or more) to ship? Finding the right balance between speed and craft is the biggest challenge.