Maria is available for hire
Hire MariaMaria Mukha
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Location
Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
Toptal Member Since
January 25, 2017
Now focused on startup consulting in UX and UI design, Maria has over ten years of experience creating brands and user interfaces. She's worked for globally known companies and startups, taught a theory of design course for beginner designers, and provided services for clients from Europe and the US as a freelancer. She has a degree in graphic design and illustration and used to run her own design agency in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Work Experience
Senior Product Designer
2022 - PRESENT
Localize
- Worked closely with project managers and developers on the B2B2C product as a lead product designer.
- Conducted interviews with end users and gathered feedback a few times during the design and development process of brand-new features, constantly improving their experience with the product while monitoring KPIs.
- Applied and implemented new technologies, such as generative AI, for better user experience and product relevance.
Technologies: Figma, Jira, Miro, Asana, Confluence, Trello, Zoom
Product Designer for a Fintech Startup
2021 - 2022
Fintern / Abound
- Contributed to the UX audit, research, and complete UI redesign of the mobile product.
- Collaborated closely with the client and led the UI redesign process: at the same time, the client worked with the branding agency, so I participated in the brainstorming sessions, which helped build and deliver UX solutions.
- Handled the whole process face-to-face with the client: we had a great connection and understanding of the brand vision.
Technologies: Mobile UI, Figma, User Interface (UI), Responsive Web Design (RWD), User Experience (UX), UX Design, Web Design, UI Design, Product Design, B2C
Lead Product Designer
2018 - 2022
Self-employed
- Consulted for companies and startups. Worked as a design lead with three designers that I managed.
- Built information architecture in terms of visual and user experience design, mostly focused on mobile apps and mobile view websites.
- Created ads and campaigns for big companies, enterprises, and individual entrepreneurs.
Technologies: Adobe Creative Suite, InVision, Sketch, Visual Design, UX Design, Figma, Adobe, Miro
Product Designer
2021 - 2021
Clay
- Helped the client frame and visualized the idea of the product from the very first stages.
- Conducted deep market research, competitive analysis, potential users discovery.
- Created four types of user personas, iterated a couple of times with the help of industry experts and the client to get the most accurate results.
Technologies: Figma, Sketching, Prototyping, User Experience (UX), Research, User Research, Market Research
Design Theory Teacher and Freelance Designer
2016 - 2021
Self-employed
- Taught beginners the theory and practice of design as a part of my own freelance career.
- Created applications—from logo and multi-platform apps to landing pages—for a variety of clients around the globe.
- Led a design course for beginners.
Technologies: Adobe Acrobat Pro, MacOS, Sketch, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, iOS
Lead UX Designer and Art Director
2020 - 2020
Logz.io
- Worked closely with a marketing team for website improvements. My role included research, leading two other designers, preparing the pages for A/B testing, and collecting results for analytics and improvements.
- Designed brand-new concepts, such as branding for daughter companies, online/offline events, or any standalone brands connected to the company.
- Curated the concept creation, branding finalization, and development of a mobile and desktop website for an event with 12,000 registered users and about 8,000 attendees.
- Proved a visual strategy and design management for marketing purposes (A/B tests, research, and more); then, based on the test results, I improved visuals and some of the UX scenarios of the product.
- Created the design system (the unified library for designers and developers) for better convenience of usage and product consistency.
Technologies: ClickUp, Hotjar, Figma, Adobe Illustrator
UX/UI Consultant
2018 - 2020
K Health
- Maintained the app and improved the UX and UI with a healthcare AI product.
- Explored problems and solved them with better design solutions.
- Designed a new visual language and design system together with design team members.
- Worked closely with researchers, developers, and the product team.
- Ideated with a design team, testing ideas and providing the best solutions for the current app.
- Created the design and helped maintain mobile startup apps in the healthcare industry.
- Provided prototypes, wireframes, and UX flows, gathered user feedback, and iterated on the improvements.
- Provided a new UI design based on brand philosophy and guidelines.
- Led my project of the illustration and color coding within the product, transferred all the graphics from Adobe Illustrator to Figma and provided the system of the color codes that works with the main product Design Library.
Technologies: Notion, InVision, Figma, Visual Design, UX Design, Sketch, Adobe Illustrator
Founder and Lead Designer
2018 - 2020
Mukha.Agency
- Designed and directed mobile, web, and desktop apps from scratch.
- Handled branding, logo, print, and digital products.
- Designed the UX and UI for startups at every stage, both individual entrepreneurs and businesses.
- Built user scenarios, user stories, and user flows for digital product improvements based on qualitative user research.
- Strategized for eCommerce product GUIs, design systems, and interfaces.
- Worked with clients from all over the world, including Vocativ, Playtika, and dozens of startups.
Technologies: Google Webmaster Tools, Zoom, Slack, InVision, Adobe, Sketch
UX and UI Designer
2018 - 2018
Wanderfy (via Toptal)
- Designed an iOS application that connects professionals from all over the world.
- Improved an existing UX and adopted it for iOS users.
- Redesigned an old UI with an updated, modern, and better UX design.
- Created 100+ screens with all the assets and edge-case descriptions.
- Provided detailed documentation, prototype, and structured source file for further implementation.
Technologies: Miro, Adobe Illustrator, InVision, Sketch
Mobile UX/UI Designer
2017 - 2018
BETR Technologies (via Toptal)
- Designed UX and UI for an iOS app from scratch. The product is a big platform for dating, socializing, and content popularization, with friendly interactions with users created for busy people.
- Helped with work on logo creation, consulted about landing pages, and guided a client through the workflow.
- Tested different user flows for every scenario of the app and found the best solutions out of all the ideas that were brainstormed with a client.
- Developed a few versions of the app, including the very first stage with a limited number of features. Also suggested the "perfect" product vision—the maximum that could be developed for the users in a short period of time.
- Created presentation, prototype, and UI for the app with working flow in InVision, UIkit, and guidelines.
Technologies: Adobe Illustrator, InVision, Sketch
Senior UX Designer
2017 - 2017
Connectik
- Worked on a platform featuring social media, messaging, communities, and collaborations.
- Maintained up to five projects based on this platform.
- Improved the UX and flows for web, Android, and iOS applications.
- Maintained the prototypes and provided assets and descriptions for developers.
- Researched user needs and problems and helped ideate the right solutions.
Technologies: Adobe Experience Design (XD), Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, InVision, Sketch, Visual Design
Graphic and User Interface Designer
2016 - 2017
Playtika
- Made an impact on the improvements in a game with five million users.
- Worked on promotion materials, email, and other marketing materials and popups within the app for desktop, iOS, and Android.
- Designed the UI for campaigns within the app and took responsibility for all types of materials, from emails to in-app purchases.
Technologies: Adobe Animate, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Visual Design, UX Design
UI/UX and Product Designer
2014 - 2016
Neema
- Owned the product design for a startup company building a cross-platform mobile app.
- Made a website, UI for Android and iOS apps, and a landing page, and worked on UX improvements.
- Led graphic design processes and worked on posters, digital marketing design materials, brand elements design, etc.
Technologies: Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, InVision App, Sketch, Adobe Photoshop
Graphic and Web Designer
2007 - 2011
Freelance Graphic Designer and Photographer
- Designed CD covers, brochures, books, magazines, and printing products.
- Successfully worked with local companies in Ukraine and abroad.
- Designed illustrations, layouts, and print materials. Created logos and branding.
- Shot photos for magazines and newspapers that I was designing for. Worked with professional photo studios and provided services as a reportage photographer for a few magazines.
Technologies: CorelDRAW, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
Education
2017 - 2017
Product Management Course in Research and Development
Udemy - Online
2014 - 2015
Adobe Certified Expert in Graphic Design
Adobe - Tel Aviv, Israel
2011 - 2013
Master of Arts Degree in Graphic Design and Illustration
National Technical University of Ukraine: Kyiv Polytechnic Institute - Kiev, Ukraine
2007 - 2011
Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design and Illustration
National Technical University of Ukraine: Kyiv Polytechnic Institute - Kiev, Ukraine
Certifications
OCTOBER 2017 - PRESENT
Product Management Course Completion
Udemy
JUNE 2015 - PRESENT
Certificate of Completion a Year Course in Web and Graphic Design
MASA Israel Journey
JUNE 2015 - PRESENT
Adobe Course Completion
Adobe Systems