Akis Apostoliadis
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Athens, Central Athens, Greece
Toptal member since April 25, 2022
Akis is a seasoned lead product designer and UX designer with 24 years of experience, specializing in fintech, AI/ML, healthtech, dashboard design, SaaS, and eCommerce. With an extensive background in creating design systems for enterprises based on the Atomic Design methodology, his clients include companies such as the Harvard Kennedy School, Sony Pictures, WeWork, Pfizer, Cigna, and Unilever. He is a Certified AI Consultant (CAIC) from the US Artificial Intelligence Institute.
Portfolio
Work Experience
UX Specialist
XD
- Developed UX dedicated to creating visual, verbal, and sensory identities that elevate brands to serve their higher purpose.
- Built simple products for complex industries by challenging assumptions with a user-centric lens.
- Helped clients translate complicated requirements into easy-to-use products to deliver an experience that helps customers solve problems, ultimately driving business value.
Lead Designer (via Toptal)
Bodega Solutions LLC
- Collaborated with the client and team via design sessions, showcasing designs and incorporating feedback.
- Participated in daily standups with the team to gather additional feedback and ensure designs conform with the current product backlog and existing wireframes.
- Produced high-fidelity wireframes for clickable prototypes.
- Reviewed previous client-provided wireframes and initial feedback.
- Supported Project Manager/Business Analyst in the creative estimation of user stories.
- Collaborated with the client and team to ensure quality execution of designs.
Mobile UX/UI Design Expert
Ruki De Silva
- Applied design thinking involves synthesizing the information gathered in the empathize phase to create a problem statement or design challenge.
- Generated diverse solutions through creative ideation sessions.
- Designed and tested prototypes to refine user experience and functionality.
Lead UI/UX Designer
Vistacom Inc.
- Designed and implemented an inpatient video monitoring solution, enabling continuous, centralized remote observation of multiple patients by observation monitoring technicians (OMTs).
- Led the user experience design for a telehealth solution as part of an eICU program, incorporating feedback from several healthcare professionals and patients.
- Developed and executed a creative approach for the video monitoring system, incorporating advanced UI/UX principles and accessibility standards.
- Identified and profiled key user personas for both inpatient video monitoring and telehealth solutions, conducting user interviews to understand user needs, which informed the design process and ensured the products met diverse user requirements.
- Created comprehensive user flows and wireframes for critical application pathways, streamlining the patient monitoring process and telehealth consultations.
- Estimated and prioritized a backlog of design-related user stories, effectively managing the design team's workload and aligning with development sprints.
- Collaborated closely with cross-functional teams, including development and project management, to ensure design solutions were feasible, tested, and aligned with business goals.
- Conducted rapid prototyping and iterative testing for early-stage design concepts, gathering user feedback that led to key improvements in the final product design.
- Implemented a scalable design system for the telehealth platform, facilitating consistency across multiple features and reducing design and development time.
- Authored and maintained detailed design documentation, including user personas, flow diagrams, and wireframes, ensuring clear communication and alignment across the project team and stakeholders.
UX Designer
The Kraft Heinz Company - Digital
- Developed solutions that seamlessly integrated data from multiple sources. This consolidated approach eliminated the need to switch between different systems to gather information, enhancing productivity.
- Designed the dashboards to ensure that the supply chain team had up-to-the-minute insights at their fingertips. This real-time functionality was pivotal in allowing the team to make timely and informed decisions.
- Created an interaction design functionality where users could click on specific data points, drill down to get detailed insights, filter data based on specific criteria, and visualize trends over a specified time frame. This interactivity empowered users to extract the exact information they needed.
- Prioritized user experience (UX) throughout the design process. The dashboards were not just functional but also intuitive, and that ensured that even non-technical team members could use the dashboards with ease.
- Integrated a system of custom alerts and notifications. If any metric or KPI went beyond a set threshold, the concerned team members would receive instant notifications, enabling them to take immediate corrective action.
- Handled deliverables that provided them with powerful tools to monitor, analyze, and optimize their processes, aligning closely with the client's business objectives and setting the foundation for enhanced operational efficiency.
Lead UX/UI Designer
Brandon Miles
- Served as the lead UX designer in the MVP discovery sessions and 1st stages of app development.
- Built a brand identity guide, including logo design, typography, and colors.
- Created wireframes, UI screens, and high-fidelity prototypes of the 1st version of the app.
Lead UX/UI Designer
Boyd Info Group, Inc.
- Created a style guide and was responsible for the UX/UI direction.
- Created the information architecture and customer journey map for the website.
- Designed a responsive homepage for desktop, tablet, and mobile.
Lead UI/UX Designer
SIG Complete Crewing, Inc.
- Participated in the discovery phase, which produced a problem statement with a description of the problem supported by evidence detailing its importance and scale.
- Designed a web application and an integrated CRM on an extremely tight deadline.
- Approached the web app design with a holistic UX approach and delivered it on an extremely tight deadline.
Lead UX/UI Designer
Oyova Software LLC
- Participated in the discovery phase that produced a finalized problem statement, a description backed up with evidence that details how big it is and why it's important.
- Led the discovery phase and produced user-needs statements and personas.
- Designed high-level concepts or wireframes (for exploring in the next phase).
Design Lead | Mobile App
Skygo Marketing Corporation
- Designed an app (and a dealership dashboard web application) used by millions of users to rent a bike easily, accumulate loyalty points, and eventually exchange these points for a brand-new bike.
- Designed and developed a launch website for the applications.
- Worked with the client on the discovery and implementation phase, creating user stories, user flows, wireframes, UI design, and interactive prototypes.
Product Designer
Harvard Kennedy School of Government - Main
- Conducted discovery sessions (UX workshops, user journeys, personas, user stories) for web-based data visualization product.
- Designed visualization examples and a prototype of a homepage.
- Drafted a budget estimation, product roadmap, and delivery timeline and risks.
Infographics Designer
Rewriting the Code
- Designed a PowerPoint infographics presentation that will be presented at various conferences and pitches.
- Translated data into meaningful, simple-to-understand infographics.
- Created editable PowerPoint presentations via Excel files.
UX Design Manager
Munich Re
- Coached all UX and UI designers, ensuring they developed their design capability and increased their effectiveness in the workplace.
- Framed the right problems to solve and ideated design solutions in close collaboration with the product, engineering, and marketing teams.
- Designed the experience for the company's digital products: MedNext 10 and SHIELD.
- Facilitated design critiques, design reviews, and other formats strongly focused on efficient decision-making and design system alignment.
- Owned and led the discovery and strategized phases of a project. Created a new UX design vision, proactively pitched the north star UX design vision, and influenced product strategy.
- Used system-level design thinking to drive scalable design solutions.
- Championed user-centered design culture and best practices in the design and cross-functional teams.
Senior Interaction Designer
Linakis Digital
- Designed the website of the biggest energy company in Southeast Europe–dei.gr/en.
- Created the AEGEAN Airlines mobile app design–10 times considered the best regional airline company in Europe.
- Attended and participated in user workshops to be familiar and informed with a project’s ongoing research.
- Produced and implemented design systems for three websites.
- Undertook the optimization and maintenance of previously implemented solutions.
- Presented, communicated, and documented design proposals I’ve developed.
- Mentored and coached mid-level and junior team members.
- Supported the head of interaction design and took the initiative to support design logic and specifications.
- Conducted research on customer competition in the wider market and monitored best practices.
UX/UI Director
Another Circus
- Designed a vessel monitoring and decision-making assistant that utilizes state-of-the-art AI algorithms and helped bring the company 50 high-profile clients in just two years.
- Directed the UX/UI design of the Revstar Suite of Apps for WeWork to cut wasted time and resources and reduce loss of profits.
- Redesigned the Redlink's (Atypon) dashboard application and helped their clients make more data-driven decisions, go deeper for more robust analysis, save time, use facts to allocate their budget, and quickly compare usage data by source.
- Led and mentored 10 UX/UI designers. Helped in the development of their career paths and fostered their career growth.
- Conducted and analyzed user research and customer insight.
- Oversaw the production of sitemaps, app and user flows, wireframes, and visual design deliverables.
- Built and presented impactful presentations to pitch existing clients and new business opportunities.
- Participated in stakeholders' meetings and took strategic decisions.
- Conducted usability testing to collect user feedback to make design changes.
Director of UX
Healthcare Marketing
- Led, conducted, and analyzed user research and customer insight.
- Translated business strategy into effective design work.
- Oversaw the production of sitemaps, app and user flows, wireframes, and visual design deliverables.
- Built and presented impactful presentations to pitch to existing clients and new business opportunities.
- Participated in stakeholders' meetings and took strategic decisions.
- Took stakeholders' feedback and made necessary changes in the design.
- Conducted usability testing and focus groups to collect user feedback to make design changes.
Full-stack Designer
w3
- Produced the design of a multitude of online marketing campaigns.
- Handled multimedia presentations for pharmaceutical companies.
- Developed brand strategy for health industry companies.
- Designed and developed websites, banner campaigns, and online marketing campaigns for the cinema industry.
- Completed a highly successful and effective Google AdWords campaign that boosted the number of visits for Stories of Greek Origins brand by 395.27%, unique visitors by 411.02%, and pageviews by 120.81%.
- Launched Stories of Greek Origins eShop, initiated the SEO campaign, and co-designed and developed the branded newsletter.
Digital Project Manager
Str8fwd
- Tracked budgets and schedules, managed scope, created project plans, scrubbed ticket queues, called out risks and managed a development team to successful project completion.
- Served as the digital strategist and web product manager; Occasionally hand-hold the client through the discovery and design process to arrive at a business and technical specification that developers could execute upon.
- Owned the client's vision for the end deliverable. As a quality specialist, I was the one who made the last call on when a site was ready for client demos and client reviews.
Lead Product Designer and Co-founder
The Paced - EduTech Platform
- Conducted workshops in the discovery phase to help identify and understand the project’s strategic goals, user needs, and technical constraints that defined the design space.
- Participated in user interviews to better understand what each user role was trying to accomplish and the problems they were trying to solve.
- Collaborated with internal team members to brainstorm solutions or ways of approaching the design challenge.
- Delivered conceptual designs to socialize initial ideas internally and externally and incorporate design feedback.
- Created, presented, and reviewed high-resolution designs with internal team members and client personnel and incorporated design feedback.
- Prepared design artifacts for user testing and participated in the sessions by capturing users' feedback.
- Produced prototypes that helped evaluate the overall flow and experience of the product.
- Built simple and complex components to ensure product consistency and scalability.
Senior UI Designer and Front-end Developer
IMO S.A.
- Designed and developed the websites of the Quantum of Solace movie for Sony Pictures.
- Worked on the design and development of the website of the Hancock movie for Sony Pictures.
- Created the design and developed the website of Made of Honor for Sony Pictures.
Senior Web Designer
Gloman
- Created the design of the Unilever Hellas website–unilever.gr.
- Worked on the design and development of websites for clients from a multitude of sectors.
- Designed and developed online marketing campaigns and banner campaigns.
Senior UI Designer and Front-end Developer
Thorough Interactive S.A.
- Handled design and development for eCommerce and pharmaceutical companies.
- Designed and developed online marketing campaigns.
- Created the design and developed the banner campaigns for a major political party at the time.
Web Designer and Front-end Developer
e-On Integration
- Created the UI design for clients from the automotive, banking, eCommerce, and government sectors.
- Handled the front-end development for clients from the automotive, banking, eCommerce, and government sectors.
- Trained employees on online applications and intranet software.
Education
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Computer Graphics and Visualization
Parsers School of Computer Animation and Visualization - Athens, Greece
Certifications
Certified Artificial Intelligence Consultant (CAIC)
United States Artificial Intelligence Institute
Building AI
University of Helsinki
Elements of AI
University of Helsinki
Blockchain and Business: Applications and Implications
Insead | via Coursera
Dieter Rams: Principles of Good Design
Scrum Master Accredited Certification
International Scrum Institute
Project Management Professional (PMP) – Exam Preparation
Critical Path Consulting & Training
Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ)
Google AdWords Certification – Video Advertising
Google AdWords Certification – Shopping Advertising
Google AdWords Certification – Mobile Advertising
Google AdWords Certification – Display Advertising
Google AdWords Certification – Search Advertising
Introduction to Psychology as a Science
Georgia Institute of Technology | via Coursera
Skills
Tools
Figma, Adobe CC, Slack, UX Tools, Miro, Adobe Illustrator, Zeplin, Photoshop CC, Jira, Adobe Experience Design (XD), Usertesting.com, Tableau, Adobe After Effects, Confluence, Google Sheets, Microsoft Power BI, Unreal Engine
Languages
HTML5, HTML, CSS, JavaScript
Platforms
Web, Mobile, Android, iOS, Adobe Suite, Axure, WordPress, Webflow, Google Sites, Shopify, AIX, Telerik
Industry Expertise
Retail & Wholesale, Information Technology, Professional Services, Casinos & Gaming, Psychology & Mental Health, Real Estate, Cybersecurity, Health & Wellness
Other
UX Design, UI Design, Design Systems, App UI, Web UI, Web UI Design, Web UX, App UX, Holistic UX Design, Web UX Design, Interaction Design (IxD), iOS UI Design, App Design, Web Project Management, Business, Apps, Desktop App Design, SaaS, Enterprise SaaS, SaaS Design, Product Design, Software as a Service (SaaS), Mobile Design, Mobile UI, Mobile UI Design, Web Design, Fintech, eCommerce, Web Dashboards, UX Review, UX Audits, Web App UI, Mobile Applications, User Flows, MVP Design, Web App UX, Wireframing, User Research, Quantitative User Research, User Personas, Rapid Prototyping, Rapid Interactive Prototyping, Mood Board Design, UX Flows, Web Applications, UX Research, UX Prototyping, UI Prototyping, Paper Prototyping, Web App Design, Responsive UI, Responsive Layout, eCommerce UX, eCommerce UI, eCommerce Web Design, Web Usability, Usability, Usability Analysis, Usability Testing, Mobile Web, UI Audits, Best Practices in Design, UI Design Standards & Best Practices, Android UI Design, Presentations, Sales Presentations, Design Thinking, Responsive Design, Responsive UX Design, Design Reviews, Flowcharts, Prototyping, Screen Flows, Web Speed, SEO Audits, Rapid Sketching, UX Workshops, UX Direction, E-learning, Dashboards, Dashboard Design, Charts, Wireframe to Product, Stakeholder Interviews, User Stories, Ideation Workshops, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, Data Visualization, User Journeys, Component Libraries, Mobile-first Design, Design Leadership, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Storytelling, Visual Storytelling, Interactive Design, Presentation Design, Visual Design, User Interviews, User Onboarding, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Mobile App Design, Discovery Workshops, B2C, UX Strategy, B2B, Landing Page Design, Email Design, User Testing, Validated User Research, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Creative Design, CRM Design, Mobile Apps, Marketplace Design, Mobile First, Brainstorming, UX Documentation, Responsive Web Apps, Information Architecture (IA), UI Animation, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), Data Architecture, Cross-platform UX, Process Optimization, Design Consultation, Consulting, Customer Journeys, Motion Graphics, Animation, Landing Pages, Journey Mapping, Content Management Systems (CMS), UI Components, Customer Portals, Style Guides, Mockups, UX Wireframes, Complex Data Analysis, Communication, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Heuristics, White Label Design, eCommerce Design, Design Thinking Facilitation, Design Workshops, Layout Design, User Experience Design, Website Audits, Audits, Checkout, Heuristic Analysis, Interviews, Workshops, Feature Prioritization, Annotated Wireframes, Scenarios, B2B2C, Admin Panels, Email Template Design, User-centered Design (UCD), Image Processing, Layout, Game Design, Midjourney, Complex Web Systems, Qualitative Research, Quantitative Research, Research Reports, Animated Explainer Videos, Research Synthesis, Whiteboard Animation, Data Synthesis, Interface Design, Edtech Design, Data-heavy Design, User Journey Maps, Enterprise Application Design, Cloud, Discovery, Product Discovery, Requirements, Roadmaps, Platforms, Web Application Design, Office 365, Graphics, 2D Graphics, IT Projects, Holistic Design, Mobile UX, Healthcare IT, Software Prototyping, Web Accessibility, Accessible Design, Online Marketing, Niche Email Marketing, Organic SEO, Brand Design, Branding, Lean UX, iOS UX Design, Mobile/Web Project Management, Early-stage Startups, Startups, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Brand Development, Front-end, Chart Design, Applications, Concepting, Competitive Intelligence, Leadership, Marketplaces, Networking, Conversion, Conversion Rate, Analytics, Infographics, Workshop Facilitation, Product Benchmarking, Workflow, Innovation, Art Direction, Material Design, White Labeling, Automation, Document Management Systems (DMS), Design Ops, Service Design, Team Leadership, Research, Competitive Analysis, Market Research, Market Research & Analysis, Digital Payments, Mobile Payments, Money Transfers, Mobile Wallet, Fraud Prevention, Anti-money Laundering (AML), SaaS Product Management, Product Strategy Consultant, 3D Design, Progressive Web Applications (PWAs), Machine Learning, Gambling, Cryptocurrency, Finance, Product Roadmaps, User Validation, Lean Startups, Product Strategy, System Design, UI Motion, Motion Design, Strategy, Design Strategy, Agile, Communication Design, Accessibility, AI Design, Generative Design, Generative Research, Health IT, Educational Games, Recruiting, Mixed Method Research, Business Intelligence (BI), Legal Technology (Legaltech), Video Editing, Learning Solutions, Predictive Analytics, Web3, 3D Animation, Special Effects, 3D Graphics, Psychology, Design, Blockchain, Digital Product Design, Mobile UX Design, P&C Insurance, Interactive UX, Interactive Prototypes, Atomic Design, Interactive UI, Responsive, Paid Search, Lead Generation, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Startup Funding, UX Wireflows, Analysis, PowerPoint Design, Sustainability, Cognitive Psychology, Crypto, Chatbots, Product Ownership, Commercial Real Estate, Residential Real Estate, Web Platforms, MLP Design, Natural Language Processing (NLP), AI Programming, Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI), Machine Learning Automation, Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3 (GPT-3), Deep Learning, Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), TensorFlow, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), Reinforcement Detailing, Sentiment Analysis, Robotics, Mobile Game UI, Unity, Instructional Design, Document Management, Illustration, Curriculum Development
Experience
- UI Design - 20 years
- Enterprise SaaS - 12 years
- Web UX - 10 years
- Web UX Design - 10 years
- UX Design - 10 years
- Fintech - 5 years
- App UX - 5 years
- Design Systems - 5 years
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