At 22 from Ostrava to Silicon Valley: With Jakub Zegzulka on motivation, design work, and the desire to do cool things

Jakub Zegzulka is a young designer who started collecting internships in Czech companies while still in high school, eventually ending up in Silicon Valley at the age of 22 and trying his hand at working in companies that many only dream of. We talked about what motivates him, his experiences at Apple and why he believes that design shapes our world.

How did it all start? Design, graphics, websites,…

You admitted that you've enjoyed making websites since you were a child. What was your path to design?

I started sometime when I was ten, I was making Minecraft servers, websites, banners, and some graphics. Later I realized that there is also something like UI/UX design — and that excited me. I enjoyed graphic design, later I moved more towards product design, business and metrics and today I am also exploring AR, VR or 3D. I think design is a huge field where you can move around and never run out of ideas.

How did you get your first internships while still in high school?

At sixteen, I was making websites for friends and putting them on Dribbble. Then I wanted an internship in the field, so I just approached all the agencies in Ostrava that dealt with UI/UX. I heard back from a smaller agency, where I then helped out once a week after school. There I found out that I still had a lot to catch up on, but at the same time I gained real experience.

After that, I wanted to keep trying, discovering other companies and seeing how they work. I always made a list of companies that interested me, found a few people from the given company, approached them all on LinkedIn and attached my portfolio. Now and then someone answered, but a lot of people never answered back. Sometimes they saw me as "that overly confident kid", but I believe that at a young age, a little healthy self-confidence is a plus. It helps you open doors that you would be afraid to knock on.

Why did you want to leave the Czech Republic and head to the USA?

I read that the book So Good They Can't Ignore You inspired you to do this. What drew you to Silicon Valley?

Yes, that book kicked it off, but I was always interested in what was happening in companies like Facebook or Apple. I wanted to learn from the best designers, to find out how far I could take it. I had internships in the Czech Republic, but I was attracted to California, where the concentration of top talent is the highest. It was a consistent long-term game. I just tried everything that was available, tried to contact all the people and apply for everything I could. I believed that it would work out one day. I applied for internships at Facebook, and at first they rejected me several times. But I didn't give up.

Experience at Apple: The beginning, not the end of the road

A lot of people think that when I got to Apple, I had "made it", but I see it completely the other way around. The experience mainly showed me how much at the beginning I am, how much more I can still learn. You work there with people who are the best in the world, and you realize that there will always be someone better at almost everything.

At Apple, I learned to go really deep — craft is everything. Subjectivity in design is important, not just personas and processes, but also the feeling the product evokes. And the obsession with details — a truly obsessive attention to every little thing.

Is the design process different in the Czech Republic and in the USA?

Do you feel a difference in the approach to design between Czech and American companies?

In the Czech Republic, there are companies that have a great design process. In the US, I often worked in teams for "technologies of the future", there it's a lot about hypothetical scenarios — you explore what people might want in 5 years, and you try to test it at least internally, so the process is a bit different.

What do you enjoy most about it?

I sense a desire in you "to shape the future".

So you enjoy working on things that will determine the future? Definitely. I love thinking about what the world will look like in a few years. When you're working on something futuristic, you feel like you're already living in the future. It's very creative and free — sometimes we just sit and say: "OK, in 10 years this technology could be common. How could it be used? How will it be controlled?" Sometimes you have no idea if you're going in the right direction, but that's the magic of it.

Motivation and meaning in design

What is your deeper motivation? Is it the desire to change something, to bring people joy, to have that social impact and use design as a tool for change?

I enjoy it when someone actually uses something I've created and is happy about it. Design has a big influence on how people live, what they do. It's up to us to define how products will work, and that's a huge power and responsibility. I also like the feeling of doing something "for myself". When I'm excited about it myself, I believe that the user will also receive it with enthusiasm.

I'm fascinated that a designer's life is so diverse, it's not just about creating products, but also about designing relationships, one's own life, career or words in a conversation. As a designer, I can do absolutely anything.

My motivation is a bit selfish — I want to do the most cool things, not just for people, but also for myself. I think that we often create mainly for others, but I believe that it has to start with ourselves. When you do things that you enjoy and that satisfy you, something much better will come out of it.

I'm realizing more and more that design truly shapes the world. I think a lot of people don't even realize to what extent.

Design in the technologies of the future

There's a lot of talk about AR/VR and "design of the future" right now. Is that something that defines you a lot?

It definitely attracts me, but I wouldn't say it's the only thing I do. AR/VR is interesting in that there aren't many established patterns, you get to experiment a lot. And in general, I believe in high-fidelity prototypes — developing a design so that you have a prototype that looks almost like a finished product. That's the best way to verify how it feels.

Design engineering and prototyping

Designers often also program, with the help of AI, or prototype without a programmer. What do you think about that?

It's a huge shift. "Design engineering" allows you to make prototypes that you can actually "take in your hand". In Figma, you can draw a wireframe, but you won't find out from it how it will be controlled in a real deployment. You have to physically touch it and make decisions based on that.

Advice for beginning designers

What would you advise people who want to get into design — whether in the Czech Republic, or focused on abroad?

Don't believe that you can't achieve something just because you're from a small town or starting late. Anyone can achieve anything if they put enough effort into it and have the passion.

And don't be afraid to show your work to the world. Share it on LinkedIn, Twitter, wherever. Write to people, approach companies — even those that aren't currently looking for anyone. Have an excellent portfolio. And most importantly — set big goals and don't be afraid of failure.

In conclusion

"Design is like a big game for me," concludes Jakub. "You're always trying something, moving on.

"I'm not a 'finished' designer. That's something I realized even more at Apple — there's always someone better, there's always room to grow. But that's what drives me on."

Jakub shows us aspiring designers that if you have the desire to discover, you don't hesitate to assert yourself and show your projects, the doors will open for you in time. Design has a huge impact on the way people live — and we can thus contribute to what the future will look like.