Senior Product Designer 10+ years of experience and Founder with a background in building and scaling digital products across fintech, banking, e-commerce, and sustainability. My work focuses on aligning business goals with real user needs in complex, highly regulated domains, while translating ambiguity into clear, scalable systems. Alongside my product design practice, I actively build AI-assisted products and tools, combining system thinking, hands-on execution, and emerging technologies. I started my journey in industrial design and 3D printing & wearable tech which still shapes how I approach problem-solving, structure, and craft today.
Designed and built a design system builder tool that helps teams create or import UI foundations and turn design decisions into reusable systems.Enabled teams to structure design inputs before AI generation, reducing trial-and-error and unnecessary AI usage.Translated UI choices into consistent, machine-readable design tokens, ensuring predictable outputs across design and code workflows.Focused on aligning design systems with AI-assisted development to avoid wasted AI credits and inconsistent generations.Bridged design, frontend logic, and AI consumption by positioning the design system as a single source of truth.
Stack & AI tools
Frontend: Web App
Database: Supabase
AI-assisted workflows: Windsurf, Claude, OpenAI
Designed and built a web and iOS application for German citizenship exam preparation as a solo product owner.Owned end-to-end product execution, including UX/UI design, frontend implementation, backend logic, and database modeling.Designed and maintained scalable data structures for 300+ official exam questions, structured across 6 core categories and localized into 10+ languages.Built practice and mock exam flows supporting 30-question placement tests and randomized test sessions.Made all key frontend, backend, and database architecture decisions, aligning performance, clarity, and long-term scalability.Shipped a production-ready product used by 1,500+ registered users, generating 20,000+ completed test sessions across web and iOS.
Stack & AI tools
Frontend: Web App · iOS App
Database: Firebase
AI-assisted workflows: Windsurf, Claude, Midjourney
Founded and led a cross-functional team of 5, owning product direction from concept to production.
Designed and built an AI-assisted language learning web & iOS app focused on grammar, vocabulary, and exam preparation.Made key frontend and database decisions, aligning UX, data structure, and scalability requirements.Defined structured content models and learning logic to scale educational content through AI generation.Owned end-to-end UX across onboarding, learning flows, exercises, progress tracking, and insights.Worked closely with engineering to translate product and design decisions into reliable, scalable implementations.Shipped a production-ready product with thousands of active users, generating high-frequency learning interactions and repeat usage.
Stack & AI tools
Frontend: React (Web)
Database: Supabase
AI-assisted workflows: Visual Studio Code, GitHub Copilot, Claude
Led end-to-end design of a consumer-facing finance platform, improving liquidity flow and simplifying user experience on top of a legacy UI.
Addressed lack of automation and visibility that caused user drop-off by manually re-depositing into weekly markets
Synthesized community feedback, restructured the sitemap, mapped journeys, and redesigned user flows and UI for clarity and automation
Collaborated closely with engineering to ensure scalable delivery and reusable component design
Introduced a modular design system that reduced dev sprint time by ~30%
Achieved +28% increase in rollover-related deposits and reduced support tickets related to user confusion
Contributed to shifting team mindset toward more design-driven decision-making
Designed and scaled the Buy Now Pay Later experience for Zalando’s B2C Payments product, tailored to market-specific needs across Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain.
Designed the payment experience for Zalando’s Buy Now Pay Later product, simplifying the flow and improving clarity around open amounts, fees, and due dates
Improved Payment Conversion: Increased GMV, reduced late payments by –4.2%, and uplifted PACR by +0.3% across multiple EU markets
Reduced Operational Load: Lowered Customer Care tickets related to repayment by –6.5%, mitigating €10M in annual support costs
Designed the end-to-end email communication flow, including payment reminders and dunning triggers, in collaboration with CRM, Legal, and Content teams.
Facilitated multi-team UX workshops to align repayment strategy, touchpoints, and timelines across Product, Engineering, Legal, Ops, and CRM
Contributed to hiring efforts by reviewing portfolios and participating in interviews across the Payments Design org
Led and grew a design team from 3 to 6 product designers, overseeing multiple parallel client projects and ensuring high-quality delivery across sectors
Established and scaled a collaborative design culture by introducing critique rituals, documentation practices such as Jira, Confluence, and shared Figma Design System libraries
Created custom design sprint and workshop packages to enterprise clients including Siemens, Charité, Lufthansa, and Audi, leading to expanded client engagements
Facilitated multi-day design sprints with interdisciplinary client teams (e.g., VMware), aligning product strategy with real user needs
Balanced hands-on product design with mentorship, client communication, and internal process improvements
Supported hiring and onboarding processes while shaping a strong internal feedback culture
Delivered end-to-end UX solutions for clients across banking, fintech focusing on research-driven design
Translated business goals into structured information architecture, wireframes, and user flows to support early-stage product definition
Delivered 3-day trainings for cross-functional teams from various companies, including non-designers
Worked closely with early-stage startups to define user journeys, validate MVP concepts, and build investor-ready interfaces
Contributed to 2 startups that later secured seed investment, helping shape their product strategy and demo day delivery
Supported founders with design mentorship, including prototyping, user flows, and pitch narrative alignment
Collaborated with program leads to prioritize design efforts across ventures
Defining and driving product vision in collaboration with product manager, design and engineering leadership.
Shaping design strategy aligned with business goals, technical constraints, and long-term scalability.
Facilitating cross-functional alignment across design, engineering, data, and stakeholders.
Leading discovery, prioritization, and decision-making in ambiguous problem spaces.
Translating strategic goals into clear execution plans and design direction.
Partnering closely with engineering on feasibility, trade-offs, and delivery.
Advocating for user-centered and system-driven decisions at product and company level.
Driving vision and strategy workshops to align founders and stakeholders around product direction and priorities.
Building, mentoring, and scaling design teams, including hiring, onboarding, and continuous coaching.
Enabling teams through clear decision frameworks, principles, and design standards.
Operating effectively in founder-led and early-stage environments, balancing speed, quality, and uncertainty.
Designing and delivering products across both B2B and B2C contexts, adapting process and communication accordingly.
Acting as a strategic design partner in high-stakes, highly regulated domains, navigating constraints with clarity.
IKSV Design Biennial - Customisation in design with Vestel White Goods Design Team, Workshop winner
Felix Awards 2018 - Best mobile application, Kahve Dunyasi Loyalty App
DPIP Awards - 3rd place in Loyalty Apps (Kahve Dunyasi Loyalty App)
The Communicator Awards 2018 - Albaraka Türk Mobile Banking App
Marmara University Fine Arts Faculty - Industrial Product Design (2010-2014)First Grade of Graduation Project Award
Languages - Turkish (Native), English (Fluent), German (Intermediate)
