👩🏻‍💻 Brainly - Sr. Manager, Design Systems & Foundations Lead

March 2021 - April 2023


As a Senior Manager, I expanded the team to over 20 designers & developers with various and unique specializations working closely on developing Pencil - our Design System, which is a part of the Design Center of Excellence. We are working not only on designers' & developers' experience and shared language but also on amplifying user experience and making it more accessible. We collaboratively build a cohesive design language, including product, marketing, and brand design guidelines, standards, and processes.


My key achievements in this role:

  • Holistic Design Vision: Shaped a holistic vision that merged product design, ux motion, brand and motion for key product touchpoints, with outputs backed-up by Research, the CEO personally, and product and design stakeholders. Partially implemented with outcome in improved user experiences and impact on KPI’s (3,8% increase in CVR to subscriptions).

  • Design Leadership in introduction of new AI products, working directly with VP of Product (5% increase in CVR to subscriptions).

  • Innovation & Influence: Fully evolved into unique Multidimensional Design System recognized by industry leaders and influencers.

  • Team Leadership: Inspired and directed a diverse design team (managers, leads, product/brand/marketing/motion/ux motion designers, developers) fostering a culture of innovation, excellence, and empathy. Validated by recommendations.

  • Change management: Led the brand evolution and implementation in collaboration with one of the best brand agencies worldwide Red Antler, and company C-Level management.
    Relationships: Cultivated strong internal and external relationships with Directors, enhancing the influence of Design across Product, Brand, Marketing, and Engineering. Engaged in industry panels at international events such as Figma Schema and UXDX, Collaborated with external vendors.

  • Team Visibility: Presented our teams work internally (company-wide), and externally at prestigious international conferences, including Figma Schema (nominated as a top 2023 talk in the design system space by Zero-Height), UXDX, Into Design Systems, WaysConf, DesignWays


Key responsibilities:

  • Creating and evolving a strategy, vision, and mission for Brainly Design System & IxD Product Design and leading this area in The Design Team structure

  • Managing or leading specialist across System & Visual Design, IxD Product Design, UX Motion Design, Brand & Marketing Design and UI Engineering domains. Leading design system-related solution design, definition, scope assessment, estimation processes from loosely defined requirements to completion

  • Building strong relationships throughout the company to help unify and amplify the design system mission internally and externally and to improve design management processes and efforts


  • Collaborating with a broad set of internal partners to ensure that The Design System is responding to the org needs and goals

  • Navigating ambiguity, creating clarity, and driving design excellence throughout the entire organization

  • Streamlining and systematizing processes across teams to ensure handoff of designs, deliverables, and assets happen as efficiently as possible

 

Brainly is the biggest online learning community in the world. 250 million active users monthly, users from 35 countries, 11 language versions. Our motto: No one knows everything, but everyone knows something. With Brainly, students combine their strengths and talents to tackle problems together. +68% YoY growth in 2020 on the web and +860% YoY for the app.