Interview with Stefan Porsche, Lead Designer
For me, Grassfish is about the people. On one hand it is the fantastic team spirit.
Designing with Curiosity: My Journey at Grassfish
For me, Grassfish is all about the people. On one hand, it’s the fantastic team spirit—coming into the office gives me energy and joy every single time. On the other hand, it’s the close and often long-term relationships we have with our clients and partners. That mutual trust becomes especially important in challenging times. Sometimes, it’s not so much about the plot of the story you write—it’s about the process of writing it together.
I started at Grassfish in February 2021 as a consultant on one of our larger Sales Companions projects. These are tailor-made applications that empower store staff to manage their digital touchpoints, fully customized to their day-to-day needs. From the beginning, UX—user experience design—was at the heart of our work. Over time, UX became a key role within our squads, always representing the user’s perspective. Since the beginning of 2025, I’ve been working as Lead Designer, which for me means driving innovation through design thinking and putting people at the center of everything we build.
One of my biggest highlights so far has been introducing our experience design and innovation framework, PLAY. It brings more human-centric thinking into our very tech-driven environment. In the end, we always measure success by the value our solutions create—for real users, for our clients and partners, and for our business. I take our company value “Dare to challenge” seriously. I genuinely believe that sticking to the usual paths won’t take us anywhere new. That’s why I constantly question assumptions and keep asking “why?”—even when it’s uncomfortable. To design something truly meaningful, we need to understand the real problems first. What excites me most about the digital in-store space is its diversity. Every client, every brand, every challenge is unique—which means the user needs are too. There’s never a one-size-fits-all solution. Collaborating, iterating, and solving problems together is what makes this work so rewarding.
Quick 5 This- or That questions
Cat or Dog person?
Stefan: Dog.
Beach or Mountains?
Stefan: Can I say both? ????
Text or Call?
Stefan: Text.
Early Bird or Night Owl?
Stefan: Night Owl.
Fruit or Chocolate?
Stefan: Both!