Featured experience
Improving science publishing at Elsevier
Elsevier builds platforms and tools that help researchers, editors, and publishers move scientific work from submission to publication. In my role, I design workflow-heavy products where clarity, integrity, and operational reliability matter—balancing complex constraints with straightforward experiences. I focus on shaping product direction, prototyping, and scaling consistent UI patterns through the design system.
Building an insurance claims platform with ClaimSorted
ClaimSorted is a YCombinator-batch startup improving how insurance claims are filed, tracked, and resolved. I joined as a fractional designer to help define the product direction and rapidly iterate on core flows—from intake and evidence collection to status tracking and internal triage. The focus was pragmatic: reduce ambiguity, speed up decisions, and create a UI foundation that can scale as the team grows.
No-code lab automation with LabMate
A stealth project focused on laboratory management and research collaboration tools. Designed comprehensive solutions for research teams.
Future of freight forwarding with Beacon
I designed a freight tracking service at Beacon Technologies, a digital freight forwarder. Our goal was to increase transparency in the freight industry using advanced tracking technologies for real-time shipment monitoring and data analytics for cost reduction.
Working for the world's #1 classified, Avito
I spent three productive years at the biggest classified service in the world, with 50+ million monthly active users. Worked on Avito's design system, HR Information System (Best Intranet Award 2020), Avito Work, and enterprise Figma plugin Narrator.
Designing for designers with Sympli
I designed a versioning system for Sketch files and improved the UX of the design assets hand-off app. I enjoyed working in a close-knit team that emphasised rapid iterations and had deep technical expertise.
Making cities smarter with Habidatum
Habidatum has been developing a platform to make architects' and urban planners' work more efficient and streamlined.
Interaction design work for various clients
One example of the interaction work I did between 2013 and 2020 is the Tooktook Agency identity that we imagined, programmed, and implemented in 2017 with Sergey Tarasenko.
Speaking & writing
| 2025 | I wrote "Three years in London: Alexander Katin on Global Talent visa and life in the UK" for Immigram. |
| 2021 | "Award-winning intranet: From Russia with love", a talk at the IntraTeam Event Online. |
| 2020 | Panel discussion: "Why do designers need side-gigs?" at the Avito Design Talk #2. For 5+ years, until late 2020, I led Processing courses for designers at BHSAD, BangBang Education, Moscow Coding School, and Yandex. |
| 2019 | "How we removed unnecessary colours from the production build", a talk at Avito Design Meetup (Avito Design Talk #1). "Creating digital products", a one-day workshop for the Product University. |
Mentorship
I approached Sasha to discuss my portfolio, experience, and my chances of getting a job in a foreign company. I was also very interested in learning about life in another country and the difficulties I might encounter. Sasha answered all my questions in great detail and sincerely, without rushing. He told me about his experience, shared insights about the hiring process in a foreign company, we discussed my goals and I shared my portfolio. Sasha went through the portfolio studying each case, leaving valuable comments. I'm very grateful for Sasha's openness and expertise. This session helped me not to be afraid of the next steps, to understand what exactly and how I can improve in order to get a job in a foreign company.
Anastasia, senior product designer
In 2023, I worked with Sasha as my mentor while switching into product design. Together we built a portfolio case, a focused growth plan, and I later completed an internship. I'm now a product designer at a large company, working on WB Stream (our videoconferencing service). What helped most was Sasha's practical guidance and the way he pushed for structure and momentum during an uncertain transition.
Nadezhda, product designer · Full conversation
Highlights, learning, and recognition
Got the Global Talent visa endorsement allowing me to work anywhere in the UK.
Conducted dozens of scoring interviews with designers of various seniority levels and wrote a comprehensive review of each candidate at Typical.HR.
Graduated an online course, "Typography and Layouts", by Mikhail Nozik, Bureau.
Received Awwwards' Site of the Day for sulliwan.com.
Studied Interaction Design at the top design school in Moscow. Got an honourable mention from D&AD in 2013 for the BBC design challenge.
Colophon
Initially, built with Framer. Moved to Gatsby. Current version is coded in VS Code and Cursor. Text set in Mabry and JetBrains Mono fonts. Hosted on Github and deployed with Netlify.