Hi! I am Lena : )
Head of Web Department at SAE Athens.
Teaching Creativity, Visual Design, User Centered Design & Web Design since 2016.
Head of Tech Department at pod.gr.
Website Development & Maintenance, Supervision of Simplecast & other podcast platforms, Technical Support since 2019
Multidisciplinary Designer at RedMatter.
Creative Human Kind.
Has worked in different design fields since 2009.
Athens Digital Design Organizer, Angular Athens Meetup Co-organizer , Athens Gamification Organizer.
hello@lenalekkou.gr
contact me for any creative idea!
About me
Multidisciplinary Designer
I started from Interior Design & experienced with Set Design so that I move on to Graphic Design and continue to Web Design so that I find the beauty in UX Design and Interaction Design and implement it to Instructional Design.
So let’s say that I just Design all kinds of Designs. : )
GAMIFICATION
DESIGN
EXPERIENCE
I want to
Design experiences that matter
Experiences that are important to human beings, that will make their life better and will help them engage better with the world around us.
Visual Communication
This is the alpha and the omega of everything. The “rules” for every design.
Design Thinking
Empathise – Define – Ideate – Prototype – Test
The process behind everything!
UI Design
How the user interact with any given interface and how we can improve these interactions.
UX Design
User Experience Design. This is where the magic happens!
Gamification
Gamification comes from our genuine human need to feel Inspirational, Motivated and Excited.
Design Sprints
Time, Deadlines and countless Brainstorming sessions are the key to any creative project
How I work
My approach to any new project
I have worked from 2009 until now in different Design Disciplines from Interior Design & Graphic Design to Digital Design and Web Applications.
In all aspects of Design I see that users must be the main focus and if they are included in the process, the final product / service / design is well made and have the best experience possible.
From this 10 year design journey until now, I saw how the field has developed through the years and how we are now on a Multidisciplinary era, where you can’t design something without thinking 360 degrees. Users are now the focus point and I find very interesting and exciting how any project can be changed, based on the users’ interactions.
the users
Human – Centered Approach
From the start of my career where my focus was on Interior Design, we were searching for users needs and behaviours in space, how they move around and how we can improve their lives in their homes. Even when we were designing shops, hotels or any other kind of commercial place, users’ experience was always improved when they were walking around a well designed interior.
Same thing with Graphic Design where branding, packaging and any other kind of printed material has to be used appropriately and easily from the end user. For example, you can’t design a package for a product that users will not understand how to use it, or you can’t design a poster where the letters are too small for the human eye to read it. The exact same logic I found that is being used in Web Design where you have to design websites and applications for the end users.
So even though we have different Design Disciplines with different kind of products or services, we always have to design not for ourselves, or our bosses or our clients but for the End User. This is the focus point now and in the future.
You will always have users that will interact with your design, even if this is called Interior Design, Graphic Design, Set Design, Industrial Design, Web Design or any other kind of Design.
Talks
I like to talk about User Experience and Design. You can find slides of my previous talks here.
Workshops
Workshops are my thing. I really like to conduct workshops of any kind. Just give me a wall and some post-its and we will think of something to do.
Design Sprints
Design Sprints are similar to Workshops but with limited time and a lot of brainstorming sessions! It’s very revealing how our brain can work better and faster when we don’t have spare time and we have to be totally focused.
Videos
What I’ve been doing
Web Development Open Class with Nikos Apostolakis
UX Masterclass at SAE with Dimitris Niavis
UX Cross Event at SAE Athens
New Horizons - Introduction to Athens Digital Design Meetup
Are we designing the right future? | Campus Party Digital
"Done is better than perfect" | Athens Digital Design Meetup #1
UI/UX Designer in the year 2020 | Developers Day
IA for WordPress | WordCamp Thessaloniki
My Web Students' Projects! I am so proud! : )
John Papa's Interview | Angular Athens Meetup
The 4 w’s on using Angular | Angular Athens Meetup
Athens Gamification Meetup - Restart!
User Centered Design Certificate at SAE Athens
My Web Design & Development students : )
Blogs
What I’ve been thinking
Meetups in Athens
Meetups are very popular the last years. It’s a very nice way to meet new people, talk for topics that are imporant to your work, learn new things and start new projects.
Meetups helped me personally to grow, become better at my work, challenge my presentation skills and practice how to network. That’s why I totally recommend them to anyone and I support the community in Athens to grow.
Happy Moments
Some snapshots from happy moments creating, talking, brainstorming : )
