Kees Wolters, Chief Product Officer and Founder at Mopinion: “To fuel your creativity, you need a solid foundation in design principles”

If you read our feature on the best cities for tech workers in the EU, you’ll discover that Rotterdam ranks number 13 out of 45. An excellent result. We always reach out to companies in featured cities to see if they’re happy to write a couple of paragraphs about what it’s like to work there, and many are. However, Kees Wolters, Chief Product Officer and Founder at Mopinion, went several better, writing what amounted to a love letter to Rotterdam that we published in full.

Here, we’re thrilled to invite Kees back for more – but this time, we want to know about him and his company. In particular, his thoughts on technology’s role in the creative process. How generative AI fits into Mopinion’s workflow. The latest design trends and what he’s loving – and what he’s ignoring.

First, though, some background on Mopinion. This company offers three products, all focused on getting user feedback: Mopinion for Websites, Mopinion for Apps and Mopinion for Email (the latter is to help boost engagement for email campaigns). It’s now in its 15th year, with KLM, DHL and TomTom among its long list of satisfied clients.

As you will soon discover, Kees himself brings not only expertise to Mopinion – from technical skills such as web development to digital marketing – but also bags of enthusiasm. Right now, he’s leading the development of AI-powered user feedback solutions, which makes his thoughts on AI below all the more interesting. But first, we wanted to talk about technology as a whole…

When thinking of your creative process, at what point does technology come in? What role does it play in different stages, from concept to final design?

In my role leading the product and marketing teams at Mopinion, a lot of our creative process revolves around developing new features or creating assets for the website and marketing campaigns. This is a bit different from what you’d experience working at a design or web agency, where the process often starts with receiving a creative brief. Instead, our approach is highly collaborative from the very beginning, with both the product and marketing teams involved in shaping ideas.

At Mopinion, the creative process typically begins with getting the right people in the room -whether it’s face-to-face in the office or via Google Meet. In these early brainstorming sessions, we’re using tools like Google Slides or Docs to capture initial ideas and summarise discussions. Sometimes, we’ll even jump into tools like Figma or Miro right away to sketch out rough concepts. The technology here is mainly about communication and capturing those early sparks of creativity.

Once we move to the actual design work, technology becomes central. If the design task falls under marketing, it will likely be tracked in Asana, whereas product-driven designs get funnelled into Jira. Regardless of which team owns the project, tools like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Affinity or Figma are crucial for bringing ideas to life. These platforms allow us to experiment with typography, colour schemes and compositions, ensuring we can quickly iterate on designs and maintain consistency across all assets.

Managing feedback is another key phase where technology plays a crucial role. At Mopinion, feedback is in our DNA, so naturally, we rely on our solutions for feedback, but also on the tools we use –  like Figma – to streamline this process. Figma allows us to manage feedback centrally, with team members commenting directly on design elements, ensuring that communication is clear and actionable.

In the final production stage, technology ensures our designs are optimised for their intended platforms, whether it’s print or, more often, digital media. Since most of our assets are used in digital channels, we focus on optimising performance, and ensuring fast load times and responsive layouts.

While technology helps us streamline processes and collaborate effectively, it doesn’t replace the human element. Those early brainstorming sessions, creative thinking and human interaction are still at the heart of the process. Technology is there to enhance, but the core ideas come from people.

How has technology changed the way you collaborate at work? And in your view, has it improved or worsened navigating creative differences with clients or team members?

Technology has transformed how we collaborate at work, especially in managing feedback and creative differences. In the past, we relied on emails and attachments, which made version control tricky and slowed us down. Now, with tools like Jira, Figma and Google Chat, everything is real-time, allowing for faster feedback and team alignment. However, with this convenience comes the challenge of information overload. It’s easy to get bombarded with comments and questions, so filtering and prioritising feedback is key.

Cloud-based platforms have also made remote work seamless, improving version tracking and project management. The visual aspect of tools like Figma helps us navigate creative differences by comparing iterations and making feedback more precise. But not every issue can be solved digitally – sometimes a quick in-person or Google Meet chat is still needed for more complex discussions.

Overall, technology has made collaboration more efficient and transparent, but it’s important to balance it, ensuring we don’t get overwhelmed by the constant stream of input.

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What trends in graphic design are you most excited about right now, and where do you see the industry heading?

Generative AI is an obvious choice when it comes to speeding up certain aspects of the creative process, but it’s important to remember that it’s just a tool and it all depends on the quality of what you put in. At Mopinion, I’ve seen how Gen AI can be really helpful in the idea generation phase. Even when you’re not asking it to create a final graphic, it can offer suggestions or different approaches to a design challenge. You can also use AI to generate visuals and then tweak them to fit your specific needs, making sure the final result aligns with your brand and product.

As for design trends, they come and go. One year it’s all about flat design, the next it’s 3D or big fonts with gradients. While trends can inspire, it’s more important to stay original and true to your brand rather than jumping on every hype. Since our designers work solely on our own products, consistency is key. We need to deliver a cohesive product experience, and brand identity is more valuable than chasing trends.

Sustainability is another factor we consider. Although we mainly design for digital, we’re mindful of reducing waste. So, if something doesn’t need to be printed, we keep it digital. It’s a trend I think the design industry as a whole is becoming more aware of. Also, Gen AI itself consumes a lot of energy, so we’re cautious about when and how often we use it, keeping sustainability in mind even on the digital front.

Generative AI Art has taken the graphic design space by storm – what are your views on the use of tools like Stable Diffusion, Leonardo, Midjourney and others?

I’m really excited about the possibilities Gen AI Art offers. However, I also feel that it often tends to produce variations of what already exists rather than truly original ideas. In some cases, such as in the fashion industry, AI can add significant value. For instance, using AI-generated fashion models can save a company a lot of money compared to hiring and photographing human models. The results can be impressive, but we must remember that these tools are just that… tools. They work well for some applications and fall short in others.

It’s crucial to recognise that generative AI relies on data from existing creations. Take the example of prompting for “the Statue of Liberty in the style of Van Gogh’s sunflower painting”. While the output may be visually appealing, it’s not inherently creative in the sense of offering an original concept.

For my team, the designs we create are often highly specific and tailored to our unique products, which means AI may not always meet our needs. When we develop a new feature that aids in analysing or visualising user feedback, it’s designed for our brand and user interface. Since this feature didn’t exist before, the AI simply hasn’t been trained on it and would struggle to produce something useful. But of course, AI tools in Photoshop for example could help in altering it or making certain variations of it, which could help speed up the process. 

That said, I see the value of generative AI in contexts like magazines, where specific illustrations in a particular style can be generated quickly and effectively. For us at Mopinion, while generative AI is an exciting avenue, it’s not always the go-to solution for graphic or UX design. We remain mindful of its limitations and the specific needs of our projects, balancing the use of technology with our creative process.

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What tools or software do you find indispensable in your daily work, and why?

In my daily work, there are several indispensable tools and software that we rely on, particularly for graphic design. For creating graphics and illustrations for our social media, website, and other marketing assets, we often use Affinity Designer and Adobe CS. Our content marketers frequently turn to Canva because it’s user-friendly and offers a wealth of templates that streamline the design process. While this efficiency is a major plus, it can sometimes result in a look that feels a bit generic. For more specialised and complex tasks, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are more often our go-to options; they really get the job done when we need detailed work.

On the product side, our designers heavily utilise Figma, along with tools from the Atlassian suite, like Jira. Figma’s integration with Jira is particularly helpful, allowing us to link tasks in our sprints directly to action prototypes, which makes it easy to visualise what we’re working on.

In terms of communication, we’re fully on the Google suite, so Google Chat, Gmail and Meet are essential for keeping our team connected. Additionally and maybe not a surprise, we use our very own Mopinion solutions for user research and feedback, which helps us close the loop by gathering insights from both our internal teams and end users. Overall, these tools play a crucial role in enhancing our workflow and collaboration.

Over the course of your career, what is one technological shift you’ve witnessed in graphic design that really stuck with you?

Throughout my 25 years in the internet and web space, I’ve witnessed numerous technological shifts in graphic design, each leaving a mark on my career. One of my earliest memories when it comes to designing is when I was just a kid and was drawing on an old Apple Macintosh. The Macintosh belonged to a friend whose uncle was involved in desktop publishing and taught at an art school. That experience of drawing in a GUI opened my eyes to the possibilities of computer graphics and sparked my interest in digital design.

As I’ve continued in IT and design, one of the most significant shifts has been the transition of software applications to the cloud. This change, particularly the ability to work simultaneously on designs and documents, has transformed our workflow. It has been around for quite some time now of course, but it was really an important one. It allowed us to stay aligned with project goals, document design decisions, and incorporate real-time feedback. 

This whole online collaborative approach not only ensures consistency – for example with brand guidelines – but also facilitates quick adjustments, especially when content changes arise. It has made our creative process much more organised and efficient, ultimately helping to scale our business, and enabling us to work smarter and faster.

Of course, generative AI is the current buzzword in the industry – and at Mopinion we offer AI-powered solutions within our own product offering. However, while we do use gen AI within a lot of teams, we haven’t fully integrated it into our design processes in particular (just yet). It can offer some benefits, but we’re still figuring out how to best harness its potential for design work. 

In commercial teams, for example, generative AI has already found its footing, particularly in text generation for email campaigns and data analysis. However, in the realm of design, it feels more like an experimental phase. Tools like Adobe Photoshop are starting to incorporate AI features that yield impressive results for image editing, but when we use AI in platforms like Canva, the outcomes can sometimes be too generic or prone to errors. So, while the technology is exciting, we remain cautious and focused on finding genuine value in its application.

What advice would you give to aspiring graphic designers looking to break into the industry today?

If I were to offer advice to someone eager to break into graphic design, the first thing I’d emphasise is the importance of staying human. At its core, design is about people. It’s people doing business with people. We live in an age where technology can perform incredible feats, but no computer can replicate the unique way you think or the emotions you can convey through your work. While mastering the latest design software is certainly beneficial, I wouldn’t recommend becoming overly fixated on the fancy tools available.

Another critical lesson I’ve learned is the power of collaboration. So many successful projects have emerged simply because we listened to feedback or shared ideas within the team. Design doesn’t occur in isolation; it’s a dialogue. Be open to feedback, yet don’t hesitate to stand firm on your creative choices when necessary.

Of course, to fuel your creativity, you need a solid foundation in design principles. Understanding the basics like typography, colour theory, and composition is essential. While keeping an eye on tech trends is important, those trends shouldn’t be your end goal. Once you master the fundamentals, you can confidently break the rules and let your creativity shine.

As you navigate your journey, be sure to build a diverse portfolio that showcases your range. Demonstrating your adaptability, whether designing for a SaaS company or something more playful, is vital. In this industry, versatility is your secret weapon, so embrace it fully as you forge your path in graphic design.