leading
product design
leading
product
design
Hi, I’m Ilya, a product design leader who turns complex problems into simple solutions that drive business impact.
Over 15 years I’ve led design teams and built products from 0 to 400M users across AI, FinTech, Web3, SaaS and consumer apps. Today I work AI-native: I design and prototype directly in code with AI models, so ideas get tested on real data in days, not weeks.
Hi, I’m Ilya, a product design leader who turns complex problems into simple solutions that drive business impact.
Over 15 years I’ve led design teams and built products from 0 to 400M users across AI, FinTech, Web3, SaaS and consumer apps. Today I work AI-native: I design and prototype directly in code with AI models, so ideas get tested on real data in days, not weeks.
15+
Years experience
Years
across various domains, company scales, and both IC and leadership roles
across various domains, company scales, and both IC and leadership roles
400M+
400M+
Peak user base
of a product whose design and team I shaped and scaled from an early stage
of a product whose design and team I shaped and scaled from an early stage
10+
Large-scale products
Large products
Large products
plus over 50 medium and small-scale projects delivered
plus over 50 medium and small-scale projects delivered
7
Design teams led
Design teams led
across multiple countries and time zones,
4 built from scratch
across multiple countries and time zones, 4 built from scratch
across multiple countries and time zones, 4 built from scratch
products
featured full-scale products
products
featured full-scale products
bold
results,
bold results,
bold results,
Their
words
Their words
Their words
Boris Maleev
|
Co-founder, PUNCH
"This guy is a true wizard when it comes to UX effectiveness. His creative vision and talent in creating a flawless user experience is simply amazing. He really knows how to ensure our users get the most out of the product. Ilya is our trusted guide in the world of user experience and one of the most important parts of the team."
Ches Rafferty
|
CEO, Scantek
"Ilya is hands down one of the best designers I've worked with. He is always prompt in replying and asks intelligent questions to ensure that a project and design are completed quickly and professionally.”
Yaroslav Polishchuk
|
CEO, Digital Ecosystems
"Ilya has taken on significant professional and personal challenges, achieving great success as a specialist and leader. He is thoughtful, attentive, calm, and friendly, even under the most stressful circumstances. He takes the time to consider all the facts, not just partial data, to ensure the design team produces high-quality results."
Gail Kraker
|
St. Augustine Lions
"Ilya is a talented and wonderful person to work with. I don’t think there’s anything he can’t do. He works magic with his projects and I’m always impressed at how stunning they are. I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to have come across Ilya."
Aedan McGarry
|
BYP Media
”Great to work with. Beautiful design that followed to our goals perfectly. Multiple rounds of feedback and additions that came to a beautifully packaged app design in the end. Extremely happy with the work.”
Boris Maleev
|
Co-founder, PUNCH
"This guy is a true wizard when it comes to UX effectiveness. His creative vision and talent in creating a flawless user experience is simply amazing. He really knows how to ensure our users get the most out of the product. Ilya is our trusted guide in the world of user experience and one of the most important parts of the team."
Ches Rafferty
|
CEO, Scantek
"Ilya is hands down one of the best designers I've worked with. He is always prompt in replying and asks intelligent questions to ensure that a project and design are completed quickly and professionally.”
Yaroslav Polishchuk
|
CEO, Digital Ecosystems
"Ilya has taken on significant professional and personal challenges, achieving great success as a specialist and leader. He is thoughtful, attentive, calm, and friendly, even under the most stressful circumstances. He takes the time to consider all the facts, not just partial data, to ensure the design team produces high-quality results."
Gail Kraker
|
St. Augustine Lions
"Ilya is a talented and wonderful person to work with. I don’t think there’s anything he can’t do. He works magic with his projects and I’m always impressed at how stunning they are. I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to have come across Ilya."
Aedan McGarry
|
BYP Media
”Great to work with. Beautiful design that followed to our goals perfectly. Multiple rounds of feedback and additions that came to a beautifully packaged app design in the end. Extremely happy with the work.”
experience
experience
Lead Product Designer
Kingpin.ai
|
AI-Powered B2B Retail Sales Platform
Oct 2025 - Present
Product Design Lead
Kingpin.ai
|
AI-Powered B2B Retail Sales Platform
Oct 2025 - Present
Lead Product Designer
Kingpin.ai
|
AI-Powered B2B SaaS
Oct 2025 - Present
■ Led product design for an AI-driven sales platform connecting brands to retailers.
■ Founded a scalable design system, speeding up design handoff 3x.
■ Designed the core UX, streamlining complex B2B distribution workflows for early-adopter clients.
■ Simplified the initial sales funnel and data dashboards UX, improving task completion rates.
■ Led product design for an AI-driven sales platform connecting brands to retailers.
■ Founded a scalable design system, speeding up design handoff 3x.
■ Designed the core UX, streamlining complex B2B distribution workflows for early-adopter clients.
■ Simplified the initial sales funnel and data dashboards UX, improving task completion rates.
Lead Product Designer
Whitelist Capital
|
Crypto Trading Software
Jul 2023 - Oct 2025
Lead Product Designer
Whitelist Capital
|
Trading Software
Jul 2023 - Oct 2025
■ Architected token-based design system cutting front-end dev costs by 40% across products.
■ Designed high-frequency trading UX with 5x fewer clicks vs competitors for core actions.
■ Engineered zero-click interactions for complex scalping functions (milliseconds matter).
■ Reduced hardware load 20% via lightweight data visualization and optimized rendering logic.
■ Embedded user research and design vision into strategic planning and UX design roadmap.
■ Established new UX standards for scalping trading terminals industry-wide.
■ Architected token-based design system cutting front-end dev costs by 40% across products.
■ Designed high-frequency trading UX with 5x fewer clicks vs competitors for core actions.
■ Engineered zero-click interactions for complex scalping functions (milliseconds matter).
■ Reduced hardware load 20% via lightweight data visualization and optimized rendering logic.
■ Embedded user research and design vision into strategic planning and UX design roadmap.
■ Established new UX standards for scalping trading terminals industry-wide.
Head of Product Design
Epharmacy
|
Online Pharmacy Marketplace
Aug 2022 - Jul 2023
Head of Product Design
Epharmacy
|
Online Marketplace
Aug 2022 - Jul 2023
■ Restructured a 10-designer team by redefining roles and implementing agile workflows, cutting operational overhead by 25%.
■ Drove the creation of a unified, multi-platform design system for web, mobile, and internal tools, accelerating feature delivery for 5+ product teams.
■ Authored and implemented a design career ladder and competency matrix, which directly contributed to a reduction in designer attrition and improved team morale.
■ Aligned the design department’s roadmap with company-level business goals, securing executive buy-in for two strategic design-led initiatives.
■ Restructured a 10-designer team by redefining roles and implementing agile workflows, cutting operational overhead by 25%.
■ Drove the creation of a unified, multi-platform design system for web, mobile, and internal tools, accelerating feature delivery for 5+ product teams.
■ Authored and implemented a design career ladder and competency matrix, which directly contributed to a reduction in designer attrition and improved team morale.
■ Aligned the design department’s roadmap with company-level business goals, securing executive buy-in for two strategic design-led initiatives.
Head of Design
Tango Live
|
Livestreaming App
Jun 2020 - Oct 2022
Head of Design
Tango Live
|
Livestreaming Platform
Jun 2020 - Oct 2022
■ Scaled design team from 3 to 15+ top-notch designers across 4 countries.
■ Led complete iOS/Android app redesign, driving engagement and session duration growth.
■ Built first comprehensive design system (1,000+ components), improving product consistency and increasing time-to-market by 50%.
■ Increased revenue by 10x on core gifting feature through redesign and zero-click solutions.
■ Optimized design-to-dev handoff processes across 8 agile teams.
■ Scaled design team from 3 to 15+ top-notch designers across 4 countries.
■ Led complete iOS/Android app redesign, driving engagement and session duration growth.
■ Built first comprehensive design system (1,000+ components), improving product consistency and increasing time-to-market by 50%.
■ Increased revenue by 10x on core gifting feature through redesign and zero-click solutions.
■ Optimized design-to-dev handoff processes across 8 agile teams.
■ Built from scratch a senior team of 15+ top-notch designers
■ Full redesign of the mobile app, that led to design-related metrics growth
■ Designed intuitive and simple UX for 10+ features, improved app usage and metrics
■ Designed and implemented numerous zero click UX solution
■ Rebuilt the motion design team, achieving a significant increase in design quality
■ One of the flagship features made 10x feature revenue increase with only design changes
■ Modular and scalable design system built: 1000+ components and multiple guidelines
■ Improved design-to-dev and other design-related processes and increased front-end dev efficiency by up to 30%
Senior IC Product Designer (Contract)
Scantek
|
KYC/AML Software Solutions, B2B
May 2019 - Jun 2020
Senior IC Product Designer
Scantek
|
KYC/AML B2B SaaS
May 2019 - Jun 2020
[Contract]
■ Designed mobile apps for clients/brokers and web admin dashboards/analytics portals.
■ Simplified complex ID verification flows using biometrics, OCR, and document matching.
■ Built intuitive KYC/AML UX reducing steps for high-volume enterprise onboarding.
■ Created supporting flows, diagrams, and brand identity materials.
■ Designed mobile apps for clients/brokers and web admin dashboards/analytics portals.
■ Simplified complex ID verification flows using biometrics, OCR, and document matching.
■ Built intuitive KYC/AML UX reducing steps for high-volume enterprise onboarding.
■ Created supporting flows, diagrams, and brand identity materials.
Head of Design
Digital Ecosystems
|
Apps, Games and SaaS Production
Mar 2013 - Mar 2020
Head of Design
Digital Ecosystems
|
Apps and Games
Mar 2013 - Mar 2020
■ Led and scaled design team from 5 to 50+ designers, managing 100+ daily tickets.
■ Delivered 10+ flagship apps: 5+ Apple Featured, top-ranked in App Store/Google Play categories.
■ Designed 20+ apps personally + supervised dozens across business/tools/games portfolio.
■ Built multiple cross-platform design systems supporting fast publishing cycles.
■ Led and scaled design team from 5 to 50+ designers, managing 100+ daily tickets.
■ Delivered 10+ flagship apps: 5+ Apple Featured, top-ranked in App Store/Google Play categories.
■ Designed 20+ apps personally + supervised dozens across business/tools/games portfolio.
■ Built multiple cross-platform design systems supporting fast publishing cycles.
Lead Designer
Litvice
|
Game Development Studio
Jan 2012 - Mar 2013
Lead Designer
Litvice
|
Game Development Studio
Jan 2012 - Mar 2013
■ Led first design leadership role: UX/UI, art design, hiring & mentoring 2 designers.
■ Designed core UX/UI and graphic design for RPG game, optimizing for device variability.
■ Built automated .png game assets builder, producing 4K+ combinations per set.
■ Improved webpage performance through optimized image asset strategy.
■ Led first design leadership role: UX/UI, art design, hiring & mentoring 2 designers.
■ Designed core UX/UI and graphic design for RPG game, optimizing for device variability.
■ Built automated .png game assets builder, producing 4K+ combinations per set. Improved webpage performance through optimized image asset strategy.
UX/UI Designer
Elance
|
Design Studio on Elance platfrom
Jan 2011 - Dec 2012
UX/UI Designer
Elance
|
Early Career Design
Jan 2011 - Dec 2012
■ Web Design, UX/UI design, Graphic design, Branding & Identity
■ Web Design, UX/UI design, Graphic design, Branding & Identity
Web Designer
Academ Media
|
Web & Games Design Studio
Mar 2008 - Jan 2011
Web Designer
Academ Media
|
Early Career Design
Mar 2008 - Jan 2011
■ Web design & Branding in web design agency
■ Game UX/UI, Game graphics and Graphic Design for two game projects
■ Web design & Branding in web design agency
■ Game UX/UI, Game graphics and Graphic Design for two game projects