Hi
I'm Katya, a curious individual,
UX Designer with a knack for
design magic
fuelled by coffee, a love for learning, deep
thinking
and problem-solving.
Contact Me
Freelance Project
Working alongside dev, branding, accessibility teams from the
Ruby on Rails Community
Tools: Figma
My Role: UX/UI Designer
Final Project at Le Wagon, Coding Bootcamp
Concept: Solving the problem of meal ideas, recipes based on
your ingredients
Tools: Figma, FigJam
My Role: Project Lead, UX/UI Designer
Final Project at UX Design Institute
Concept: Creating user centered website design for a flight
booking experience
Tools: Figma, FigJam, SurveyMonkey, Miro, User testing
My Role: UX Researcher, UX /UI Designer
Pet Project
Concept: Based on my own experience wanted to improve the user
journey and UI of the app
Tools: Figma, FigJam, SurveyMonkey, Miro, User testing
My Role: UX Researcher, UX /UI Designer
Ruby, Ruby on Rails, JS, API integration, Active Record,
Figma
Deployed in Heroku
HTML, CSS, JS
Deployed with Netlify (not mobile
optimized)
HTML, CSS, JS
Deployed with Netlify
HTML, CSS, Vanilla JS, API
Deployed with Netlify (not
mobile optimized)
React JS, HTML, CSS, API
Deployed with Netlify (not
mobile optimized)
React JS, HTML, CSS, API
Deployed with Netlify
Some soft skills I picked up along the way from HR, Client Support and Teaching that I believe I leverage very well as a UX Designer
I have always worked in people-facing roles, learning to communicate effectively with potential new colleagues, hiring managers, and cross-functional teams. This skill has translated well to UX design, where clear communication is crucial for understanding user needs, collaborating with stakeholders, and presenting design solutions. In UX empathy in communication is particularly important in order to build a product that users can truly resonate with.
Problem solving is at the core of any operational role and over the years I have learned to act quickly sometimes on little to no information. For me the key is willingness to dig deep into the issue. I learned to ask the right questions, pay attention to details and be patient in understanding the context of the issue. This desire solve problems is what led me to UX where I can use those skills to solve complex user problems and bridge the gap between technology and humans.
I have worked on many projects in Recruiting where I followed an approach similar to User Research in UX. In order to ensure stellar candidate experience, I conducted research via surveys and email communication, gathered data, and analyzed it to take further actions towards process improvement. Similarly, in UX I have carried out user interviews, product tests, benchmarking analysis and user surveys to make informed design decisions.
The close attention to detail I've had to demonstrate while reviewing resumes, scheduling interviews, and maintaining candidate records has definitely brought out a detail enthusiast in me. This attention to detail has proven a critical skills in UX, where one needs to carefully consider every aspect of the user experience, from visual elements to interaction flows.
And if you thought my use of emojis throughout was unintentional, have a quick listen to the fun podcast below that talks about the origin and use of emojis in business messaging and writing!
My journey to the world of UX design began a while back when I just
started working in recruiting operations. On a daily basis, I was
seeing engineers, product managers and designers getting hired and I
had no idea what they did or how they came about to be such
desirable talent in the industry. I wondered what they studied and
how smart they must be to have recruiters chase after them like
that! I began to dig further and soon realised that their
qualifications were not all that different to mine! Go figureβ¦
I began my experimentation cautiously by dipping a toe into a coding
workshop where I built my first simple webpage. With every line of
code I wrote, I continued to be amazed at what I was doing. I took a
further workshop which started to get more complicated, concepts of
usability and colour schemes began to emerge and this is where it
got even more interesting for me. I realised that I was more
interested in how the user would interact with my new creation and
in turn how I can make that experience one they would enjoy to
repeat. I began to think about what obstacles they may face
throughout their flow and how can I design and build in a way to
prevent those obstacles. I started to think about how to
strategically build products that would help the user along the
journey and so began to look into UX concepts. I also really enjoyed
playing around with colours, fonts and button sizes, making sure
everything is pixel-perfect and looks good.
This is how I arrived at UX design - a perfect merge of human
psychology, technology and design.
I completed an intensive UX Diploma training, which provided me with
a solid foundation in user research, wireframing, prototyping, and
usability testing. I really fell in love with UX and immersed myself
in it, I practiced my Figma skills and did my own pet project
research, I read books, I listened to podcasts and followed
designers on social media.
However, my learning did not stop there. Recognizing the importance
of understanding the technical aspects of the entire product
creation process, I also successfully completed a rigorous coding
bootcamp. This experience has been incredibly insightful and
valuable. I got to see first hand exactly how a UX team would fit
into the product creation process from idea generation all the way
to deployment. I got to tackle real-life problems and come up with
my own solutions as well as work within a UX/Dev union. I played the
role of UX designer and front-end developer but the real cherry on
top was that I led our small team of three to create a product that
I had personally
pitched.
To draw a conclusion to this very long spiel, I would like to
say, I am eager to continue contributing my passion and skills to
crafting smooth, friendly user experiences through purposeful and
intuitive designs that solve real human problems. The journey has
been one of continuous growth, and I look forward to the exciting
challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in this dynamic and
ever-evolving field. Don't hesitate to reach out and let's create
together!
kat.sitko@gmail.com