Okan Yikmis
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Istanbul, Turkey
Toptal member since March 27, 2021
Okan is a senior product designer with over a decade of experience in both agency and corporate settings. His expertise includes web, responsive design, application technologies, design principles, and prototyping. Okan's designs for a television and radio company saw 5,000,000 downloads within a year and reached 250,000 users in a highly competitive space. He has expert-level knowledge of the fintech, telecommunication, retail, entertainment, technology, education, and airline industries.
Experience
- Web Design - 14 years
- Responsive Web Design (RWD) - 14 years
- Product Design - 14 years
- User Interface (UI) - 12 years
- User Experience (UX) - 12 years
- Mobile App Design - 10 years
- Branding - 7 years
- Figma - 6 years
Portfolio
Work Experience
Senior Product Designer and Design Lead
Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) — TRT Dinle
- Led the design and whiteboard sessions. Created visual designs and specifications, sketches, wireframes, and interactive prototypes. Ensured every piece of work met Pulselive standards for visual and usability quality.
- Defined product direction and focus, worked collaboratively with product managers and leadership to make crucial decisions about what to prioritize.
- Oversaw all design aspects and led the digital brand identity and related content typography, colors, guideline rules, and service design materials.
- Collaborated with Agile, multi-disciplinary teams to evaluate the feasibility of proposed features and created phased approaches to development.
- Designed user-friendly screens for mobile, web, TVs, and car screens while employing the user researchers to ensure the UX quality of every design decision was vetted by user feedback.
- Achieved 5,000,000 downloads within a year and reached 250,000 users during the beta launch phase within a few months in a highly competitive space with global rivals.
- Collaborated with internal, external, and C-level stakeholders to stay focused on the product design updates, define the strategic objectives for upcoming design decisions, and ensure the product roadmap and updates were communicated regularly.
- Led the product's digital marketing strategy and design to become successful on digital platforms. Collaborated with other teams to ensure we were using solutions and consistent patterns that sparked engagement.
- Created production-ready design assets and worked with engineers to ensure a high-quality experience was shipped.
Senior Product Designer
TRT (Multiple Projects) TRT Belgesel—TRT İzle—TRT Çocuk
- Led the design for the Kids Entertainment Platform redesign, video streaming service redesign, and a brand new documentary channel platform for TRT (Turkish radio and television), including video and audio processing.
- Supported the design concepts, functional specifications, and interactive design guidelines on your projects by creating motion, grid, and UI guides, as needed.
- Communicated design ideas and concepts to internal stakeholders as well as client teams.
- Created and presented UX ideas, wireframes, and user flows, using human-centric design practices that include rationale based on customer research and best practices.
- Participated in design research, user research, and usability testing.
- Liaised with other product owners, leads, and managers to make sure consistency across products and platforms.
- Collaborated with clients on digital and branding projects.
Senior Product Designer
TRT World
- Owned the idea from the initial phase to the final product.
- Evaluated and interpreted user research findings to wireframe or prototype solutions.
- Performed audits on your designs once they were built. Created sketches, wireframes, and interactive prototypes.
- Ran design workshops, brainstorming, and design sessions that bring stakeholders and others along the product development journey.
- Partnered with key individuals across the business from the product, editorial, marketing, and data team to achieve shared goals.
- Communicated progress and design rationale to key partners by designing and delivering presentations.
- Tested and iterated on concepts and designs that explored ideal future ideas. Identified new interaction solutions and patterns that met customer needs in a better way.
UI/UX Design Lead
Arox Informations System
- Led UI/UX projects using a creative design thinking methodology, which provides web design and software solutions for well-known companies. I guided the design of all our productions.
- Crafted interactive stories and engaging brand experiences.
- Created rich website and mobile app designs using the new generation interaction trends.
UX/UI Design Lead
Mobi Wan Digital Agency
- Spearheaded the creative direction of all UX/UI design at the agency for the main brand, Turkcell. Oversaw art direction for Turkcell.com.tr. Delivered web and app design for Turkcell.com.tr and Turkcell mobile interfaces.
- Created a good customer experience by understanding expectations and delivering accordingly.
- Put the user at the heart of an innovative, unique, and rewarding experience.
Senior UX/UI Designer
Wise Agency
- Led UX strategies, conducted research, crafted wireframes through user-centered designs, concepted prototyping for both interfaces and interactions.
- Created UI interfaces according to user research. Developed style sheets for those custom interfaces.
- Designed websites and mobile applications for companies such as Vodafone, Akbank, Pointapp, FırsatbuFırsat, and Mekan.com.
Digital Art Director and UX Designer
Happy People Project Agency
- Spearheaded the UX and UI design for Garanti BBVA Bank.
- Created iconography assets and 3D Icons for specific flows.
- Designed and directed the art direction of the website and promotional brand Items.
- Received the Garanti BBVA bank website award for best interaction design website 2012-2015.
Art Director and Interaction Designer
MediaCom Agency
- Designed and curated the exhibition design for the Museum of Modern Art Istanbul.
- Created 50+ designs for press according to client brand identity, including business cards, flyers, brochures, and magazines for the exhibitions.
- Designed the kiosk interface for selected exhibitions.
Education
Master's Degree (90% Scholarship) in User Experience Design
Istanbul Bilgi University - Istanbul, Turkey
Bachelor's Degree, (100% Scholarship) in Visual Communication Design
Istanbul Bilgi University - Istanbul, Turkey
Bachelor's Degree in International Business
Vienna Economy University - Vienna, Austria
Certifications
Custom Typography and Font Design
ISType
Interaction Design
Istanbul Bilgi University
Skills
Tools
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, KeyShot, Jira, Adobe After Effects, Maxon Cinema 4D, Sketch, Principle, InVision, Apple Keynote, InVision Studio, Zeplin, Cinema 4D
Platforms
Figma, iOS, Music Streaming, Android, Mobile, Web
Industry Expertise
Games, Food & Beverage, Education, Banking & Finance, Retail & Wholesale, Healthcare, Entertainment & Leisure, Health & Wellness, Insurance
Other
Typography, Digital Kiosks, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Creative Problem Solving, Branding, Information Architecture (IA), Product Design, Service Design, Web Design, Mobile App Design, Wireframing, User Research, Visual Assets, Building Services Design, Responsive Design, Rapid Sketching, Type Design, Design Leadership, Interaction Design (IxD), Digital Branding, 3D, Art Direction, Creative Direction, Design Production, UX Audits, UI Audits, UX Strategy, Product Strategy, Scrum Master, Agile UX, Agile Sprints, Kanban, User-centered Design (UCD), Motion Interaction, Design Systems, Virtual Reality App Design, Immersive Experiences, User Flows, Usability Testing, Video Streaming, Responsive UI, Material Design, Prototyping, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Software as a Service (SaaS), Dashboard Design, Web App UX, Web App UI, High-fidelity Prototypes, Web App Design, Website Redesign, Mobile-first Design, eCommerce, UX Design, UI Design, Mobile App UI, Mobile UI Design, Mobile Design, Audio Streaming, Mobile UX, Mobile UI, Gamification, Leadership, Ideation Workshops, White Labeling, Fintech, Brand Guidelines, High-fidelity Mockups, Finance, Financial Design, Social Networks, Social Media Apps, Mobile UX Design, Mixed Reality (MR), Experience Design, Interactive Design, Customer Journey, Mobile Apps, Ideation, User Retention, Graphic Design, Visual Design, Content Management Systems (CMS), UX Research, Design Sprints, eCommerce UI, eCommerce UX, User Journeys, Human-centered Design (HCD), Atomic Design, Agile, Iconography, Responsive Web Apps, UI Animation, Live Entertainment, Video on Demand (VOD), Audio Services, High-end Design, Mockups, UX Wireframes, UX Architecture, Interactive Prototypes, Card Sorting, UX Wireflows, System Design, B2C, Web & Mobile Applications, Rewards Programs, Product Roadmaps, App Design, Loyalty Schemes, UX Assessment, Feature Prioritization, UI Components, Style Guides, Design Thinking, Low-fidelity Mockups, Web Applications, Interface Design, Podcasting, Audio, User Testing, Design Strategy, Journey Mapping, Mobile First, Social Media, Direct to Consumer (D2C), Complex Web Systems, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), Dashboards, User Journey Maps, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Fintech Design, iOS App Design, iOS UI Design, iOS UX Design, Usability, Android App Design, Rapid Interactive Prototyping, Android UI Design, Framer, Human-machine Interface (HMI), Immersive Design, Touch Interactions, Artificial Intelligence as a Service (AIaaS), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), B2B, Microinteraction Design, Microinteractions, Font Design, FontLab, TV UI, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Unity3D, eCommerce Web Design, Animation, Edtech Design, Motion Graphics, GUI Design, Customer Experience, UI Branding, News, App UX, App UI, Web UI, Web UX, Experience Strategy, Content Strategy, Audits, Videos, Marketing Materials, Cover Design, Digital Brand Identity, Kids, Kids & Families, Task Flows, Gaming Platforms, Community, Game Design, Museums & Exhibits, User Interviews, Design Principles, UX Prototyping, Print Design, Startups, SaaS Design, Channels, Over-the-top Content (OTT), CarPlay, Logo Design, SaaS, Enterprise SaaS, CMS Made Simple (CMSMS), Video & Audio Processing
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