russian-ukrainian by blood, east asian by culture. grew up across beijing, seoul, & stuttgart. studied product design in china & later started an interaction design master’s at tsinghua university, which i left due to covid-19. resident of georgia. these days i live on koh phangan, with occasional visits to tbilisi. in my free time i compose music & create abstract paintings. i share my tropical home with a black cat called onyx & his girlfriend, phoebe.

design is the art of innovation & problem-solving. i like to be challenged by a complex problem or system, especially when i can propose a very simple, intuitive solution or optimization. i design to tweak reality for the better. i do it every day for myself & the people around me. designing is taking initiative, having a proactive attitude to life. i love it.

i care about functional products that feel cozy, soft on people, & sharp on craft. my work is guided by a few simple values: kindness over growth at all costs, curiosity over certainty, & collaboration over ego. i believe technology should give more than it takes & honor people’s time & attention, leaving them a little lighter than it found them. if we can make things useful, honest, a bit goofy, & quietly joyful, that’s the kind of product i want to spend my life building.

i often use the double diamond. first, i explore: research & discovery to uncover what matters most. then, i define the core challenge & shape strategy & creative direction. next, i map the experience with information architecture & wireframes, then bring it to life through interface design & handoff to development. finally, i run quality checks & user testing so everything feels seamless at launch.

man & his symbols by carl gustav jung
rest by alex soojung-kim pang
deep work by cal newport