Sam is available for hire
Hire SamSam Nissinen
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Location
Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, Romania
Toptal Member Since
July 26, 2019
Sam is a full-stack designer who's spent the past nine years in production and executive design roles. With extensive experience, he takes full ownership of design projects. Focusing on UX, research, UI, and interactions, he's also very comfortable with copywriting and branding. Having worked with startups and enterprise clients during his career, Sam always keeps the bigger picture in mind when working on a project.
Portfolio
Work Experience
Founder
2017 - 2019
Foundium
- Created a rapid idea validation program designed to generate real market feedback.
- Helped tens of founders to test and validate their ideas.
- Analyzed data gathered from website usage, advertisements, and general feedback.
- Handled all of the design, branding, and marketing for the business.
- Worked on both digital products and physical retail ideas.
Technologies: Webflow, Mobile Payments, Sitemaps, Mobile, Web, Prototyping, Branding, UX Architecture, Mobile Design, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Figma, Sketch, ProtoPie, UXPin, Principle, InVision, User Flows, Wireframing, Web App Design, UX Design, UI Design, Design Systems, Data Visualization, Information Visualization, Brand Design, Brand Logos, Visual Design, Web UX, Product Design, UX Strategy, Social Media, LinkedIn Marketing, B2B, Dashboard Design, Product Roadmaps, Design Thinking Facilitation, Design Leadership, B2C, UX Research
Co-founder | Chief Design Officer
2015 - 2017
Hyper
- Worked as part of a founding team that bootstrapped the company from 0 to $1.5 million in revenue in 18 months.
- Hired and managed a team of 20 onsite individuals and 40+ remote designers; also set up an offshore office. Reviewed over 500 candidates and interviewed over 100.
- Designed Kubo and did all the UX, branding, and design concepts for Shebah; both projects won Gold in the World Tech Design Awards.
- Prototyped over 25 ideas end-to-end including the management of the project and client relationship.
- Worked with over 50 founders to validate their ideas.
- Conceptualized, created workflows for, and managed the strategy and execution of a pre-revenue prototyping and capital raising program.
Technologies: Mobile Payments, Sitemaps, Webflow, Mobile, Web, Prototyping, Branding, UX Architecture, Mobile Design, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Figma, Sketch, ProtoPie, Principle, InVision, User Flows, Wireframing, Web App Design, UX Design, UI Design, Design Systems, User Research, Data Visualization, Information Visualization, Brand Design, Brand Logos, Visual Design, Web UX, Product Design, UX Strategy, Social Media, LinkedIn Marketing, B2B, Dashboard Design, Product Roadmaps, Design Thinking Facilitation, Design Leadership, B2C, UX Research
Lead UX Designer
2015 - 2015
Metaverse Makeovers
- Worked on UX, UI, and interactions for a beauty app in the augmented reality space.
- Created interactive prototypes to test out various UX solutions.
- Worked with the Chinese market in mind as this was the intended target market.
- Produced full designs for a MVP.
- Continued consulting after the initial MVP designs were delivered.
Technologies: Sitemaps, Webflow, Mobile, Web, Prototyping, Branding, UX Architecture, Mobile Design, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Sketch, Pixate, InVision, User Flows, Wireframing, Web App Design, UI Design, Design Systems, Data Visualization, Information Visualization, Brand Design, Brand Logos, Visual Design, Web UX, Product Design, UX Strategy, Social Media, B2B, Dashboard Design, Product Roadmaps, Design Thinking Facilitation, Design Leadership, B2C, UX Research
Lead UX Designer
2015 - 2015
Versent | MyBudget
- Led the UX for the creation of MyBudgets internal digital tools.
- Traveled onsite to conduct research and perform user interviews.
- Observed the organizations current processes in order to create new tools for them to adopt.
- Attended meetings directly with stakeholders to understand requirements and current problems.
- Prototyped solutions and tested prototypes with real users.
- Documented progress and insights.
Technologies: Sitemaps, Webflow, Mobile, Web, Prototyping, Branding, UX Architecture, Mobile Design, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Sketch, UXPin, InVision, User Flows, Wireframing, Web App Design, UI Design, Design Systems, Data Visualization, Information Visualization, Brand Design, Brand Logos, Visual Design, Web UX, Product Design, UX Strategy, Social Media, B2B, Dashboard Design, Product Roadmaps, Design Thinking Facilitation, Design Leadership, B2C, UX Research
Creative Director
2014 - 2014
LOKE's
- Managed all of the product design and brand-related work for all of LOKE's organizations and products including Boogiespot and Aston Club.
- Led a small design team and remote team members while being an individual contributor as well.
- Collaborated with CTO to build LOKE's next-generation mobile payment and loyalty products.
- Created the Aston Club branding from scratch for the initial launch.
- Redesigned the Aston Club mobile app and POS solution for merchants.
Technologies: Mobile Payments, Sitemaps, Webflow, Mobile, Web, Prototyping, Branding, UX Architecture, Mobile Design, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Sketch, UXPin, InVision, Pixate, User Flows, Wireframing, Web App Design, UI Design, Design Systems, Data Visualization, Information Visualization, Brand Design, Brand Logos, Visual Design, Web UX, Product Design, UX Strategy, Social Media, B2B, Dashboard Design, Product Roadmaps, Design Thinking Facilitation, Design Leadership, B2C, UX Research
Head of Product
2012 - 2014
LOKE's
- Managed all of the product design and branding within the organization.
- Directly managed a small design team while being an individual contributor.
- Worked with CTO to build LOKE Digital's next-generation payment gateway.
- Conceptualized and designed LOKE's new white-labeled payments and loyalty app solution.
- Designed LOKE Digital's new standalone mobile payments app, Aston Club.
Technologies: Adobe Photoshop, Mobile Payments, Sitemaps, Webflow, Mobile, Web, Prototyping, Branding, UX Architecture, Mobile Design, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Sketch, Pixate, InVision, User Flows, Wireframing, Web App Design, UI Design, Design Systems, Data Visualization, Information Visualization, Brand Design, Brand Logos, Visual Design, Web UX, Product Design, UX Strategy, Social Media, B2B, Dashboard Design, Product Roadmaps, Design Thinking Facilitation, Design Leadership, B2C, UX Research
Lead Designer
2012 - 2012
LOKE Digital
- Oversaw all of the design-related work for LOKE's marketing CRM, Boogiespot.
- Led all of the brand work for all of LOKE's products.
- Managed two developers working on Boogiespot.
- Implemented all of the UX and UI work for Boogiespots white-labeled mobile app product.
- Conducted research and user testing.
Technologies: Adobe Photoshop, Sitemaps, Mobile, Web, Prototyping, Branding, UX Architecture, Mobile Design, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Photoshop CC, InVision, User Flows, Wireframing, Web App Design, UI Design, Design Systems, Data Visualization, Information Visualization, Brand Design, Brand Logos, Visual Design, Web UX, Product Design, UX Strategy, Social Media, B2B, Dashboard Design, Product Roadmaps, Design Thinking Facilitation, Design Leadership, B2C, UX Research