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Irvin Yakovenko

@irvinyakovenko

Message

Senior Product Designer and UX researcher building AI-driven MVPs and design systems.

Kyrgyzstan

Message

What I'm looking for

I’m looking to lead product design and UX research on early-stage MVPs and AI-driven prototypes—building scalable design systems, partnering closely with product/engineering/analytics, and turning insights into measurable growth with strong craft and experimentation.

I’m a Senior Product designer and researcher with 15+ years of experience at the intersection of technology, design, research, and creative systems. My background spans product strategy, UX/UI, AI-driven prototyping, applied research, and system design for complex B2C and B2B platforms.

I lead early-stage products, MVPs, and experimental platforms that combine AI, narrative systems, and human-centered design—translating research into product decisions and measurable outcomes. I build and scale design systems, run qualitative and quantitative studies (including usability testing, CJM, and metrics frameworks like North Star Metric and RICE), and develop AI/LLM solutions using tools like Cursor/VS Studio/Antigravity and model tooling such as OpenAPI, Genkit, Ollama, and Hugging Face.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Senior Product Designer & Research

Current

Jan 2020 - Present (6 years 5 months)

Led UX/UI design and product research across discovery to delivery for consumer/content platforms reaching up to 1M+ DAU. Built and scaled cross-team design systems, ran usability and user-interview studies, and mentored designers in partnership with product, engineering, analytics, and stakeholders.

UX UI Design Product & Design UX Research Design Systems Usability Testing North Star Metric RICE Prioritization Figma

UX/UI Designer

Breffi

Jan 2018 - Jan 2020 (2 years)

Designed UX/UI for omnichannel marketing web platforms, campaign websites, and interactive digital tools, creating user flows, high-fidelity UI, and animations. Built design systems and visual guidelines for consistency across client products while collaborating with product managers, marketers, developers, and medical/brand stakeholders.

UX UI Design User Flows Animation Design Design Systems Regulatory UX Constraints

Web Designer

iPort Premium Reseller

Jun 2016 - Feb 2018 (1 year 8 months)

Maintained and evolved the company’s main website by designing landing pages, promotional websites, and illustrations aligned to iPhone guidelines. Produced web-ready design assets to support development and promotion campaigns.

Website Maintenance Landing Page Design Website Promotions Illustration UI Design

Product & Visual Systems Designer

Goethe-Institut

Oct 2015 - Jan 2016 (3 months)

Developed visual identities for international cultural and educational programs and designed print and digital materials, including character-based visual narratives. Collaborated with international teams across multiple Goethe-Institut branches to maintain research sensitivity and institutional consistency.

Visual Identity Design Illustration Collaboration Visual Consistency

Graphic Designer

Goethe-Institut

Sep 2014 - Oct 2015 (1 year 1 month)

Created visual styles for regional cultural and educational projects, producing print materials and illustrations. Delivered consistent character-based visual assets to support long-running institutional initiatives.

Graphic Design Print Materials Illustration Character Based Visuals Layout Design Creative Consistency

Independent Web Designer

Independent

Sep 2008 - Jan 2014 (5 years 4 months)

Provided end-to-end web and product design for startups and independent initiatives, creating landing pages, corporate websites, banners, newsletters, and brand identities. Worked directly with clients across different domains and time zones from concept through production.

Freelance Web Design Landing Pages Branding Banner Design UI Design Client Delivery

Art Director

ITConstruct

Sep 2009 - Sep 2011 (2 years)

Led a team of designers delivering complex web and platform projects, creating website and product concepts for client presentations. Oversaw the full design and development lifecycle while ensuring visual quality and consistency across deliverables.

Art Direction Web Design Design To Development Oversight Visual Quality Assurance Platform Design