Ilia Popov

End-to-end ownership from discovery to delivery — strategy, flows, high-fidelity screens, and handoff. I don't just make screens look good; I shape the whole experience around real user needs and business goals.

User interviews, usability testing, and journey mapping — always triangulated with behavioral data from Mixpanel, Datadog, and Hotjar. Qualitative insight backed by real numbers, not gut feeling.

Motion, micro-interactions, and high-fidelity prototypes that de-risk decisions before a single line of code. Figma, Principle — and real code via Claude, v0, Lovable when the prototype needs to be indistinguishable from the product.

Scalable component libraries and token-based systems that keep design and engineering in sync across teams. Built to grow without breaking — clear naming, documented states, and real adoption, not just a Figma file nobody uses.

Brand-aligned, typographically considered, pixel-precise interfaces. I care about the 1px gap, the half-second animation curve, and the exact weight of a label — because users feel quality even when they can't name it.

Translating business goals into a design direction teams can execute. I speak PM, engineer, and designer fluently — and know when to push back on a requirement because the user experience is telling a different story.

Bridging design, product, and engineering from kickoff to launch. Running workshops, writing rationale that earns stakeholder trust, mentoring junior designers, and building a team culture where shipping and craft aren't in conflict.

Using AI daily to move faster without cutting corners — LLM-assisted research synthesis, rapid concept generation, automated documentation, and smarter QA passes. Staying ahead of the tools so the team can focus on what machines still can't do.