Enkel Design by Erik Jansson
Certified specialist, educator, and coach in UX-design and digital accessibility.
Email erik@enkel.design Den här sidan på svenska
About me
I work as a development coach, educator, and mentor at Bolagsverket's IT department. I help our development teams create accessible and usable digital services for the web. I am also responsible for processes, the design system, and tools for UX-design and digital accessibility.
Born in in Stockholm, with roots in Northern Sweden. Since , I have been living in Söråker on a lakeside property with my wife, two children, three cats, and zero mice. I enjoy playing chess and table hockey. I have also worked with the web as a hobby since the 1990s.
Education
My academic background includes the technology and engineering preparatory program; a Master's degree in Cognitive Science and a Bachelor's degree in Theoretical Philosophy – both degrees from Lund University.
In practice, my expertise is problem-solving and design at the intersection of people and the digital.
My competencies
- UX design
- Digital accessibility
- WCAG 2.2 and EN301549
- Service design and user research
- Identity design
- Usability testing and analysis
- Expert review in UX and web accessibility
- Wireframing and lo-fi prototyping
- Component-based, interactive prototypes
- Design system management
- HTML, CSS, WAI-ARIA
- Agile methodologies
- Design sprint/studio
- Educator and lecturer
- Figma, Adobe XD, Balsamiq
My design philosophy
No one has ever said that a website was too easy to use. In an era where more and more aspects of society are becoming digitized, simple design is essential to ensure we build a web for everyone.
Simple design is intuitive and easy to understand. It is accessible to all users and purposeful without being complicated. It is also aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable to use. Simply a great user experience.
Enkel design in practice
Enkel is a Swedish word with several meanings – among them “simple” and “uncomplicated”.
Make it easy for the user. No unnecessary or difficult-to-grasp content, no extra div elements with classes when semantic elements exist, and no needless JavaScript. Enkel design is compatible with all conceivable devices and connections and accessible to all users.
Respect the user's time, attention, and needs. When we remove all unnecessary parts and let function and content take center stage, we create solutions that feel natural.
It's worth noting that any and all barriers to accessibility on a website were put there by designers and developers.
What I'm saying is that all the problems we have with websites are ones we create ourselves. Websites aren't broken by default, they are functional, high-performing, and accessible. You break them.
Enkel Design is inspired by David Bryant Copeland's Brutalist Web Design, which he likens to the architectural style Brutalism, being true to its materials, robust, and functional. Simplicity that works.
This page is built according to the principle of progressive enhancement and is my attempt to find a balance between brutalist web design and modern UX – a balance that never compromises accessibility, my most important design principle.