Meet Raphael Diftopoulos, Senior Product Designer

With a background in SaaS and a passion for solving complex challenges, Raphael has played a key role in redesigning core tools within OpenOcean STUDIO, including Voyage Estimator and Invoice Management. His focus: enhancing user experience, driving adoption, and aligning design strategy with both user needs and business goals.  

What drew you to maritime tech and 90POE?   

I was drawn to maritime because it’s a global, high-stakes industry that’s just starting to undergo a serious digital transformation. I was drawn to the complexity and the opportunity to help design tools that bring real change to an environment still shaped by legacy systems. 90POE stood out because it wasn’t just trying to digitise processes, but to fundamentally rethink how maritime workflows are designed from the ground up. 

How important is user experience when designing a product like OpenOcean STUDIO, especially for users who may not be familiar with digital tools?   

User experience (UX) is foundational. Many maritime professionals still rely on legacy systems or even paper-based workflows. The challenge isn’t just to design software that "looks good," it’s to deeply understand and simplify complex workflows and translate them into intuitive experiences. Every design decision must reduce friction, build confidence, and ultimately make users feel in control, even if they aren’t tech-savvy. 

As the product continues to evolve, how do you ensure design remains consistent while allowing for innovation and experimentation?   

We build on solid design foundations: robust design systems, shared principles, and close collaboration with product and engineering. However, consistency doesn’t mean stagnation. We continuously test assumptions, explore emerging technologies, and incorporate user feedback. Our goal is to innovate in ways that stay aligned with the product’s vision while solving real problems in better ways. 

Looking ahead to 2025, what design or UX trends do you think will be most relevant for cloud-based platforms like OpenOcean STUDIO?   

Three things stand out: AI-driven contextual support, simplification, and intelligent decision systems. Platforms must become smarter, surfacing what matters, removing noise, and helping users act faster with more confidence. Especially in sectors like maritime, where every decision has operational and financial weight, good UX should reduce the burden, not add to it.