Petra is available for hire
Hire PetraPetra Smolcic
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Split, Croatia
Toptal member since November 11, 2021
Bio
Petra helps founders turn messy ideas and legacy products into clear, scalable digital systems. She plans and designs with intention before anything is built, so teams don’t waste time, budget, or energy on the wrong things. With her 8+ years of experience working in agencies, freelancing, and as an in-house product designer, Petra can handle any project you send her way. If you want modern and clean designs and results, she’s the partner you’re looking for!
Experience
- Figma - 7 years
- Web UI - 6 years
- B2B2C - 5 years
- Web App Design - 5 years
- Product Discovery - 5 years
- B2B - 4 years
- Product Design - 4 years
- Software as a Service (SaaS) - 3 years
Portfolio
ByChance | iOS Mobile App – Dating with Real Connections
App DesigniOSDesign SystemsMobile AppsApp UX
Work Experience
UX/UI Designer
2023 - PRESENT
Petra Designs
- Redesigned custom software into a B2B SaaS solution, building the style guide and components in Figma.
- Helped a client rebuild their branding visibility online, with the website getting 14% more users and increasing revenue by 64%.
- Created user stories and journeys to help identify customer pain points, resulting in an 80% reduced development scope.
Technologies: Figma, Framer, Webflow, Brand Guidelines, Component Libraries, Design Systems, Web Design, Web UI, Web UI Design, MVP Design, Design Leadership, User Research, Customer Journey, Business Strategy, Personas, SaaS, B2C, B2B2C, Strategy, UX Flows, Functional Design, Interaction Design (IxD), User-centered Design (UCD), Usability Testing, Scrum, UI Design, Workshop Facilitation, Digital Product Design, Hospitality, Workshops, User Journey Maps, Websites, Wix, Charts, Responsive Design, User Journeys, Shopify, Social Media, React, Journey Mapping, Sitemaps, Retail & Wholesale, User Testing, Web UX Design, Finance, Website Design, Service Design, Usability, Framer Prototyping, iOS, Responsive Web Apps, App Design, Interactive UI, No-code Development, Design Thinking, Retail Design, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), UI Testing, UX Testing, Logo Design, Marketing Design, Graphic Design, Fintech, Fintech Design, Business to Consumer (B2C), Android, High-fidelity Prototypes, Interactive Prototypes, Payment Gateways, Stripe, Mobile Design, Web App UX
Product Designer
2024 - 2024
Philipp Hoffrichter
- Gathered insights from previous customers to craft the storytelling flow of the website. Took testimonials to understand what problems they had before taking the course, what they learned, and how they liked it.
- Designed on-brand high quality landing page that resulted in 60% of conversion rate.
- Developed the site in no-code Wix Studio, making sure the responsive version was impeccable.
- Conducted usability testing with five users and gathered insights for improvement of the site before launch to ensure all is understandable to everyone on all devices.
Technologies: Web Design, Responsive Web Design (RWD), User Interface (UI), UX Design, UI Design, Visual Design, Webflow, UI Testing, Marketing Design, Graphic Design, Business to Consumer (B2C), Web App UX
Product Designer
2024 - 2024
WVE Media LLC
- Worked closely with cross-functional team to translate complex data into intuitive, user-friendly designs and add some life to the designs by the usage of animation and micro-interactions.
- Collaborated with developers to implement Radix (React library) for quick and customizable UI.
- Designed design tokens for multi-themed options and optimizing it (together with the developer) to fit Radix Library and user needs.
- Designed two landing pages and their corporate website along the way.
Technologies: UI Design, Product Design, Animation, UX Research, User Flows, User Journeys, Figma, React, UX Design, Responsive Design, Design Systems, Charts, Adobe After Effects, Design Thinking, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), UX Testing, Marketing Design, Graphic Design, AI Tools, Business to Consumer (B2C), Android, Mobile Design, Web App UX
Product Designer (via Toptal)
2024 - 2024
Tropical Place LLC - DBA HyTier Energy
- Conducted a discovery phase to map user journeys and create personas and sitemaps to ensure a seamless user experience for the targeted audience.
- Consulted the client to ensure we were using the right technology for their needs, switching from Shopify to WordPress. Based on the needs, a custom theme was more accurate.
- Created wireframes based on the sitemap and concentrated on cross-device responsive design to ensure.
- Helped expand the branding visuals by expanding the font family they used with a slanted font.
Technologies: eCommerce, Web, Responsive Design, Journey Mapping, UX Wireframes, Mockups, Illustration, Visual Design, Branding, Shopify, Food & Beverage, Product Design, Sitemaps, Retail & Wholesale, Web UX Design, Website Design, Usability, Interactive UI, No-code Development, Design Thinking, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Marketing Design, Graphic Design, Business to Consumer (B2C)
Product Designer
2022 - 2023
K15t
- Improved UI/UX and designed new features for a product with exponential growth that was cloud-fortified in the Atlassian Marketplace.
- Built a structured UX process to align multifunctional teams, including writing detailed briefs for new features, quarterly plannings, and future iterations in an Agile and Waterfall development environment.
- Defined user needs and personas to find solutions to their problems.
Technologies: Figma, Confluence, Jira, Atlassian, Prototyping, B2B, Rapid Prototyping, Web App Design, Dashboard Design, Lean UX, Software as a Service (SaaS), Web, Mobile, Data Collection, Responsive Web Design (RWD), User Interface (UI), Mockups, Component Libraries, Design Systems, Web Design, Web UI, Web UI Design, MVP Design, Design Leadership, User Stories, User Research, Customer Journey, Business Strategy, Personas, SaaS, Strategy, UX Flows, Functional Design, Interaction Design (IxD), User-centered Design (UCD), Usability Testing, Scrum, UI Design, Digital Product Design, Marketplaces, Workshops, Leadership, User Journey Maps, Charts, Responsive Design, User Journeys, React, Journey Mapping, Sitemaps, User Testing, Web UX Design, Website Design, Usability, App Design, Interactive UI, Design Thinking, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), UI Testing, UX Testing, Marketing Design, Graphic Design, Business to Consumer (B2C), High-fidelity Prototypes, Interactive Prototypes, Web App UX
Brand and Webshop UX/UI Designer
2021 - 2023
Toptal
- Served as a UX/UI expert and art-directed the brand image of an innovative cosmetics company. My work included webshop banners, social media, and newsletters.
- Monitored and analyzed user behavior on the webshop and educated the client about the importance of usability and UX. Brought a systematic approach to webshop redesign with each new campaign.
- Planned and prioritized with the marketing team, CEO, and developers how to approach the redesign efficiently.
Technologies: Visual Design, WooCommerce, eCommerce Design, Social Media Design, Banner Design, eCommerce, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Web App Design, Discovery Workshops, Web, Mobile, Data Collection, User Interface (UI), Mockups, Brand Guidelines, Web Design, Web UI, Web UI Design, MVP Design, Figma, User Research, Customer Journey, Business Strategy, Personas, Mobile UI, B2C, Strategy, UX Flows, Functional Design, Interaction Design (IxD), User-centered Design (UCD), Usability Testing, UI Design, Digital Product Design, Workshops, User Journey Maps, Brand Design, Landing Page Design, Websites, Responsive Design, User Journeys, Social Media, Journey Mapping, Sitemaps, Retail & Wholesale, Email Design, Web UX Design, Website Design, Usability, Interactive UI, No-code Development, Design Thinking, Retail Design, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Logo Design, Marketing Design, Graphic Design, Business to Consumer (B2C), High-fidelity Prototypes, Mobile Design
Lead UX/UI Designer
2022 - 2022
Deepr
- Designed a website and branding for an established lawyer from Munich. Conducted a discovery workshop, created a style guide, and built the UI blocks for WordPress's Guttenberg.
- Mentored an intern in building a website from concept to design and, finally, HTML/CSS.
- Consulted the team and CEO about UX processes and how to handle a UI/UX project. Worked independently with the clients to understand their and users' needs.
Technologies: Figma, Prototyping, Web App Design, Discovery Workshops, Web, Mobile, Responsive Web Design (RWD), User Interface (UI), Mockups, Design Systems, Web Design, Web UI, Web UI Design, MVP Design, Design Leadership, User Stories, User Research, Customer Journey, Business Strategy, Personas, Mobile UI, B2C, Strategy, UX Flows, Functional Design, Interaction Design (IxD), User-centered Design (UCD), Usability Testing, UI Design, Workshop Facilitation, Digital Product Design, Hospitality, Workshops, Leadership, User Journey Maps, Brand Design, Landing Page Design, Websites, Responsive Design, User Journeys, Social Media, React, Journey Mapping, Sitemaps, Web UX Design, Website Design, Usability, Interactive UI, Design Thinking, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), UI Testing, UX Testing, Logo Design, Marketing Design, Graphic Design, Business to Consumer (B2C), High-fidelity Prototypes, Interactive Prototypes, Mobile Design
UX Designer
2020 - 2022
Locastic
- Worked as a lead UX designer on a bus transfer app for over 10,000 users and over 300 bus lines in the second-largest city in Croatia. Designed a high-fidelity wireframe and functional prototype and conducted moderated usability testing.
- Managed a team as a lead UX consultant on an HR management system. Collaborated for three months with an outside UI/UX team to improve their system's usability and functionality, following the rules of UX and usability.
- Worked as a lead designer on a check-in feature and QR-code scan app for the world's biggest amateur cycling races. Reduced 60% of the development time due to my wireframing. Made over 30 usability improvements after completing user data analysis.
- Developed the project for the largest grocery shop contest working as a co-lead art director and visual strategist. Our presentation brought us two international awards.
Technologies: Figma, Jira, Accessibility, UX Design, Mobile Apps, Expert Reviews, UX Consulting, User Experience (UX), Information Architecture (IA), Wireframing, Web App UI, Prototyping, B2B, Web App Design, Dashboard Design, Discovery Workshops, Software as a Service (SaaS), Web, Mobile, Data Collection, Responsive Web Design (RWD), User Interface (UI), Mockups, Component Libraries, Design Systems, Web Design, Web UI, Web UI Design, MVP Design, User Stories, User Research, Customer Journey, Business Strategy, Personas, Mobile UI, SaaS, B2C, B2B2C, Strategy, UX Flows, Functional Design, Interaction Design (IxD), User-centered Design (UCD), Usability Testing, iOS, Scrum, UI Design, Workshop Facilitation, Digital Product Design, Hospitality, Workshops, Leadership, User Journey Maps, Brand Design, Landing Page Design, Websites, Charts, Responsive Design, User Journeys, Social Media, React, Journey Mapping, Sitemaps, Retail & Wholesale, Food & Beverage, User Testing, Web UX Design, Website Design, Service Design, Usability, App Design, Interactive UI, Design Thinking, Retail Design, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), UX Testing, Logo Design, Marketing Design, Graphic Design, Fintech, Fintech Design, Business to Consumer (B2C), Android, High-fidelity Prototypes, Interactive Prototypes, Payment Gateways, Mobile Design, Web App UX
UX/UI Designer
2019 - 2020
Freelance
- Built and set up WordPress and Wix pages for various clients, including everything from custom designing to installing and adjusting themes.
- Designed UI/UX for a progressive web application that allows users to browse local shops and restaurants and save personal preferences. The most significant focus was on inclusive design, usability, and accessibility.
- Delivered UI/UX for different UI types, including admin dashboards, webshops, and landing pages in Adobe XD and Figma.
Technologies: Figma, WordPress, UX Design, Mobile Apps, Expert Reviews, UX Consulting, User Experience (UX), Information Architecture (IA), Wireframing, Web App UI, WooCommerce, Prototyping, Web App Design, Dashboard Design, Web, Mobile, Responsive Web Design (RWD), User Interface (UI), Mockups, Web Design, Web UI, Web UI Design, MVP Design, User Stories, User Research, Business Strategy, Personas, Mobile UI, B2C, B2B2C, Strategy, UX Flows, Functional Design, Interaction Design (IxD), User-centered Design (UCD), Usability Testing, UI Design, Hospitality, User Journey Maps, Brand Design, Websites, Wix, Responsive Design, React, Journey Mapping, Sitemaps, Food & Beverage, Web UX Design, Website Design, Usability, App Design, Interactive UI, No-code Development, Design Thinking, Retail Design, UX Testing, Logo Design, Graphic Design, Business to Consumer (B2C), Android, High-fidelity Prototypes, Interactive Prototypes, Mobile Design
Project Manager
2018 - 2020
Academy of Fine Arts | Student Association
- Organized and participated in exhibitions of student design work in local and international galleries.
- Organized and ran the first two student visual communication festivals in Croatia. Gathered and invited professional designers from various universities from all over Europe to teach and participate in the festival.
- Wrote projects. Managed the association's funding and paperwork.
Technologies: Atlassian, Web UI, MVP Design, User Stories, Figma, Graphic Design
Visual Communication Designer
2017 - 2018
Self-employed
- Designed and built over 15 branding identities for startups and well-established firms and companies. The branding included logo guidelines, color palettes, typography, the tone of communication, multimedia materials, etc.
- Created promo materials for smaller businesses to inform and draw the audience's attention.
- Designed packaging for an Australian company that sells premium dog food.
Technologies: Figma, Photoshop CC, Illustration, User Experience (UX), Responsive Web Design (RWD), User Interface (UI), Brand Guidelines, Web Design, Web UI, Web UI Design, Personas, Brand Design, Websites, Web UX Design, Website Design, No-code Development, Design Thinking, Logo Design, Graphic Design
Education
2017 - 2020
Bachelor's Degree in Visual Communication Design
Academy of Fine Arts - Split, Croatia
2013 - 2017
High School Diploma in Multimedia Design
School of Design, Graphics, and Sustainable Construction - Split, Croatia
Certifications
DECEMBER 2025 - PRESENT
Prioritization and Roadmapping
Uxcel
DECEMBER 2023 - PRESENT
Top Mentor Recognition (December 2023, January 2024, February 2024, and April 2024)
The ADPList
Skills
Tools
Photoshop CC, Jira, Confluence, Wix, Adobe After Effects, Framer Prototyping, AI Tools, Atlassian, FigJam, Mailchimp
Platforms
Figma, Web, Mobile, iOS, WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, Android, Webflow
Industry Expertise
Hospitality, Retail & Wholesale, Food & Beverage
Other
UX Design, Mobile Apps, Expert Reviews, UX Consulting, Design, Information Architecture (IA), Flowcharts, User Flows, Task Flows, Task Analysis, UX Strategy, User Personas, Customer Journey, eCommerce, eCommerce UI, Mobile App UI, Product Design, Mobile App Design, Responsive UI, User Experience (UX), Strategy, UX Flows, Personas, Applications, UX Research, Web UI, Mobile UI, User Interface (UI), Wireframing, Web App UI, Visual Design, Social Media Design, Responsive Web Design (RWD), UX Wireframes, Low-fidelity Prototypes, Prototyping, Rapid Prototyping, Web App Design, Dashboard Design, Branding, Discovery Workshops, Software as a Service (SaaS), SaaS, Mockups, Style Guides, Admin Panels, Dashboards, Product Discovery, Component Libraries, Web Design, Web UI Design, MVP Design, Design Leadership, SaaS Design, User Stories, B2C, B2B2C, Functional Design, Interaction Design (IxD), User-centered Design (UCD), UI Design, Workshop Facilitation, Digital Product Design, Brand Design, Landing Page Design, Websites, Responsive Design, User Journeys, Journey Mapping, Web UX Design, Website Design, Usability, Responsive Web Apps, App Design, Interactive UI, Design Thinking, Retail Design, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), UI Testing, UX Testing, Logo Design, Marketing Design, Graphic Design, Business to Consumer (B2C), High-fidelity Prototypes, Interactive Prototypes, Mobile Design, Web App UX, Illustration, Motion Graphics, Web Accessibility, Business Strategy, User Research, Mobile UX, Visual Storytelling, Photography, Presentations, Motion Interaction, Accessibility, Startups, Web Shops, UX Scenarios, Banner Design, B2B, Notion, Lean UX, Data Collection, Questionnaires, Brand Guidelines, Design Systems, Usability Testing, Scrum, Workshops, Leadership, User Journey Maps, User Testing, Animation, Charts, Social Media, React, Email Design, Finance, Service Design, No-code Development, Fintech, Fintech Design, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Sales Pages, Payment Gateways, Project Management, eCommerce Design, Framer, Mentorship, Marketplaces, Sitemaps, App UX, Squarespace, Radix UI, Feature Prioritization, UX Roadmaps, Product Roadmaps, Stripe, CMS, Product Pages, Use Cases, Webinars, Last Mile Logistics
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