Vlad Balan, Designer in Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, Romania
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Vlad Balan

Verified Expert  in Design

Bio

With several years of experience under his belt, Vlad is a seasoned product strategist specializing in UX/UI design. In the past year alone, he's worked with over 45 startups to bring their ideas to life and transform them into digital prototypes. Due to a passion for entrepreneurship, Vlad enjoys creating products that people love but even more importantly, that are products that solve a real problem.

Portfolio

Work Experience

Freelance Product Designer

2006 - PRESENT
Vladesign
  • Ran design sprints with a Brazilian B&B guest house to remodel their customer base.
  • Embarked on a UX-oriented path with a focus on mobile app design while working with 45 startups.
  • Established a few ongoing key client relationships (completed over 100 projects): Evoluxis, Yazamo, Ursus Breweries, Farmec, and so on.
  • Worked as a freelance web designer with clients from Romania and the US, specializing in eCommerce sites.
  • Developed user interfaces for small businesses in the US market through different contractors.
Technologies: Design Sprints, Business Model Canvas, Toggl, InVision, Sketch, Photoshop

Product Design | Team Lead

2016 - 2018
Hyper
  • Onboarded the client and workshopped the initial idea in order to create a happy flow for the prototype.
  • Developing the UX wireframes while incorporating design patterns.
  • Created UI screens that followed established moodboard directions and finally prototyped the mobile app.
  • Made presentation calls with the founders and ironed out any uncertainties or questions that showed up during our process.
  • Worked as a team lead and built and nurtured a design team; also ensured the company’s objectives were fulfilled.
  • Created internal design processes to ensure unity and projects flow.
  • Attended weekly team lead meetings that allowed collaboration on internal projects within the departments of executive, marketing, sales, and operations.
Technologies: Slack Development, InVision, Sketch

Co-founder | UX/UI and Front-end Developer

2014 - 2015
MyLift
  • Joined as a co-founder, MyLift which aimed to build the leading ride-sharing platform in Romania and Eastern Europe.
  • Wore many different hats such as newbie entrepreneur, product designer, project manager, and marketing strategist.
  • Built, in the span of a few months, a fully responsive website which we launched to actual customers.
  • Designed the UX and UI, developed the front end, implemented QA testing, and gathered feedback.
  • Closed down the startup in March 2015, after a strategic expansionist move by the leading worldwide car-sharing entity, BlaBlaCar.
Technologies: JavaScript, CSS3, HTML, InVision, Photoshop

UI Designer

2012 - 2013
MindMagnet
  • Worked as an in-house designer, creating several Magento-based eCommerce web interfaces for US clients.
  • Developed a strong understanding of user psychology and UX guidelines in the eCommerce platforms, especially concerning the buying process.
  • Worked in cross-disciplinary team collaboration.
  • Was very involved in the workflow with developers and understood their needs from an implementation point of view.
  • Learned project management principles and how to work with Basecamp and Jira.
Technologies: Jira, Basecamp, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop
2004 - 2009

Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree in Computers and Automation

Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Tools

Photoshop, InVision, Sketch, Sketch, Basecamp, Jira, Slack Development, Toggl, Chef, Adobe Illustrator, Figma

Languages

HTML5, CSS3, HTML, JavaScript

Platforms

iOS Design, Android Design, MacOS, Desktop Design, Mobile App Design

Industry Expertise

Luxury Goods, Hospitality, Music, Restaurants & Dining

Other

App UX, Responsive Design, UX Design, User Flow Design, Product Management, Design Strategy, Research, Customer Development, App UI, UI Design, Stacks, Business Model Canvas, Design Sprints, Mobile UX Design, Wireframing, UX Design, Elegant Themes, Minimal UI, 3D Printing, Mobile Apps, Prototyping, Product Design, Responsive Web Design, UI Style Guides, Cross-Platform, Eyesight, Customer Journeys, UI Design, UI Design, Azure Application Insights, Motorcycles, APIs, eLearning Design, Online Course Design, UX Design, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Marketplace Design, Mobile App Design, Collaboration, Australia, Sound, CreativeJS, Creativity, UX Design, Two-sided Marketplaces, On-demand Services

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