My name is Vlad and I like to build products. While my job title is "designer", I also enjoy tinkering with code (mostly JS & PHP) and learning about business models.
I've been growing up with technology since age 3, when my father brought home our first PC running Windows 95. As a child, I played a lot of video games, tuned my desktop themes, reinstalled OS once in a while, but never envision a career in tech, believing it was solely for engineers. When time came, I pursued what seemed like a more predictable path, enrolling in a university for a business degree.
A couple years later I got my first job as a marketer at Microsoft, but deep inside I had a persistent desire to create things. So one day I switched to designing and building websites. This transition was challenging and required acquiring many new skills rapidly, but it was more than rewarding and allowed me to impact millions of people.
In my first design role, I was involved in launching e-commerce websites for numerous fashion brands. Later, I took on a leadership position, managing five designers and overseeing team coordination and recruitment.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I worked on the website and mobile applications for Zakaz.ua, the largest grocery delivery service in Ukraine. Our platform was essential in helping people access necessary groceries without leaving their homes. We experienced rapid growth and nearly finalized an acquisition deal with Glovo, but the war introduced unforeseen complications, and the deal ultimately fell through. While there, I also had a chance to try myself in product management.
For the past three years, I have been part of the Preply's team, a language learning platform. Here I contributed to foundational experiences such as chat, classroom, and students' homepage. I am particularly proud of being the first designer at the company to work on AI projects, exploring its potential to transform teaching and learning. My work on an AI teaching assistant helped secure an investment round for the company and was mentioned in the media. I helped to build a new product from scratch that helps people to improve their speaking skills in a fun way. Most recently I've joined the Monetization team.
My homeland country Ukraine is going through a full-scale invasion by russia. I try to work hard and do my best even under missile attacks and long blackouts to support our armed forces. We will win, but if you want to help us do it sooner, please donate here.
Want to talk? Get in touch.