We’re proud to share that our Documents app has received a Red Dot Award 2025 in the category of Design Concept (Released) – Interaction, UI, and User Experience, one of the most respected design honors in the world.
The Red Dot recognizes products that combine outstanding aesthetics, smart functionality, and a user experience that feels seamless from start to finish. For the Documents team, this is a meaningful milestone and a reflection of the work we’ve put into making one of the most powerful file apps feel simple, intuitive, and fast.
Designing simplicity at scale
Documents isn’t a single-purpose app. It’s a file manager, PDF editor, file converter, archive tool, cloud hub, media player, VPN client, and more, used by millions of people every day to manage their digital lives.
With over 30 tools under the hood, the challenge is to make all of that power accessible without overwhelming the user. That means simplifying complexity, rethinking patterns, and designing experiences that feel invisible, where things just work.
“As the design team behind the Documents app, we are committed to delivering exceptional user experiences,” says Vlad Stepanov, Lead Product Designer for Documents.
“We’ve built our own FOCUS Framework to guide how we approach designing such a complex product. It helps us consider every aspect, from product design and marketing to branding, communication, and even the design processes themselves, and treat them as a unified whole, since all of it is part of product development.”
Vlad adds that the team’s attention to detail is what shapes the final experience: “Every detail is thoughtfully considered and refined through dozens of iterations and prototypes, ensuring the final experience feels intuitive, seamless, and truly delightful for millions of users worldwide.”
A design award that honors invisible work
The Red Dot is known for celebrating design that elevates everyday experiences, and that’s been our goal from the beginning. Someone might be streaming a video, signing a contract, or airdropping files between devices, our job is to remove friction.
“Simplicity at this scale doesn’t happen by accident,” adds Eugene Plokhoj, VP of Product of Documents. “It’s the result of deep UX thinking, countless iterations, and sometimes inventing entirely new interaction patterns to make complexity feel effortless.”
The award is a testament to the work of our design team, but also to the developers, researchers, QA testers, and product managers who’ve helped shape Documents over the years..webp)
Still just getting started
Winning a Red Dot isn’t the finish line. It’s encouragement to keep pushing.
This year, we’ve introduced new interaction models like Drag and Drop, and tools that make it easier to discover and use what matters most with File Reminders and Links. And we’re continuing to explore ways to make Documents even faster, smarter, and more useful without ever adding noise.
To everyone using Documents today: thank you for your feedback, your trust, and your patience as we keep making things better. We’re just getting started.
The Readdle Team 
