Wouter de Bres

I’m Wouter de Bres, a psychologist turned product designer and founder from the Netherlands. I’ve spent roughly two decades designing digital products, which is a decent amount of time to learn that most complicated things usually get better when you stop making them so complicated. My background in psychology turned out to be surprisingly useful. It helps me understand how people think, what they notice, what they ignore, and why so many products make life harder than necessary.

I started out as a psychologist, then moved into product design when it became painfully obvious that this was the work I actually loved. Since then, I’ve co-founded Bread&Pepper (agency) and Gibbon (edtech startup), and after Gibbon was acquired by Degreed, I spent several years leading and growing the product design teams. Along the way, I developed a strong love for simplicity and a strong allergy to corporate nonsense. Both have been very useful.

I’m also the father of twin daughters, which is by far my best work. When I need to clear my head, I ride my motorcycle. When I work, I try to make products more useful, more human, and a lot less confusing. That is also what this book is about: better design starts with understanding people.

I used to say follow me on Twitter, but since that platform is now a smoking crater, I guess we should connect on Linkedin.