Anastasia Surikova, front-end developer at Publiq, likes a challenge. At fourteen, that meant figuring out how to build websites. At fifteen, it meant moving from Russia to the Czech Republic. More recently, it meant joining Publiq and buying a fixer-upper in The Hague.
"When I see a challenge, I immediately feel like I need to do it," she says. "If I am scared and do not know how to do something, that is probably the direction I want to go into." It explains quite a lot about Anastasia as a person, but also about how she became the creative developer she is today. This is Anastasia’s story.
Anastasia grew up in Volgograd, on the banks of the Volga River in Russia. When she was fifteen, she and her mother moved to the Czech Republic. Neither spoke the language: "I went to high school not speaking a word," she remembers. "I was completely lost in all the lessons, except for maths and programming.” Fortunately, those were exactly the subjects that interested her, and as numbers are the same everywhere, she had no trouble keeping up. By that time, Anastasia also already knew she wanted to become a programmer.
She credits her mother with giving her the confidence to make big changes. "She is my biggest inspiration," Anastasia says. "Because of her, I am not really scared to change countries now." The experience also taught her something she has carried with her ever since: "I might not have one particular place that feels like my home country, but I learned that I can make a home anywhere."
After secondary school, Anastasia studied software development, followed by a master's degree in Human Computer Interaction. It was there that programming became about more than simply making technology work. A course called Psychology of the User taught her to look beyond the obvious solution and understand what somebody is actually trying to achieve. That way of thinking still influences her work today.
After university and several years of developing healthcare applications, Anastasia was ready for something new. At the same time, she had developed an interest in The Netherlands: the culture, the people, and the life. She just started looking for a job there when a recruiter contacted her about a front-end developer position at Publiq. The timing could not have been better.
At Publiq, Anastasia is responsible for much of what users actually see and interact with. Buttons, forms, screens, animations, and what happens when someone clicks something are all part of her work. Deciding what those elements should do requires putting herself in the user's position. "I really try to think about how a user would interact with something and make design decisions based on that."
One project gave Anastasia plenty of opportunity to experiment: Wrapped. At the end of the year, Publiq and de BouwApp users received a visual overview of their project statistics. Bart Wesselink provided only the basic structure and left everything else - such as the design and animations - to Anastasia. "I had so much fun with that," she says. "I had to learn new things and could really be creative. I was completely in the flow."
The positive responses made it even more rewarding. It was also a good example of what Anastasia appreciates about working at Publiq. The team is small enough for people to suggest ideas, try something new, and see their work become part of the product. "I feel like my opinion matters and I am being listened to," she says.
Outside work, Anastasia is currently applying surprisingly similar principles to another design project: her new home. "When making design choices, I already try to empathise with the people who will live there after me. It is actually very similar to building an app. If somebody wants to create a survey, they should also not have to navigate through several unnecessary pages first.”
She deliberately looked for somewhere she could renovate. The property she eventually bought in The Hague has two floors and an attic, and enough work left to keep her occupied for quite some time. Yet, she already thinks about how future owners will navigate pathways through the house. If someone wakes up at night and wants a glass of water, there should not be furniture blocking the route. Just as she makes sure that navigation in Publiq is straightforward and without obstacles too.
The Hague was not a random choice. After growing up beside the Volga, Anastasia missed having a large body of water nearby. "I love that in The Hague, you can just get on a bike or a tram and go to the beach. When I look at the water, it makes my problems feel very small compared to the sea or the ocean."
For now, visits to The Hague still mostly mean renovations and contractors. Soon, however, it will become home. Anastasia is looking forward to settling down, discovering her new city, and finishing the house one step at a time. There will still be challenges, but fortunately, Anastasia appears to like it that way.