OLGA IVAKHNINA
Developer → Designer → Design Team Lead
Hello! With 16 years of experience, I’ve evolved from a full-stack developer to a experienced Product Designer and Design Team Lead overseeing 15 designers in an international setting (remote & on site). My expertise spans the entire web development process, showcasing a blend of technical and design skills.
8 years in Gambling design.
Design Team Lead
since 2020 / 4 years / Gambling
Digital marketing campaigns Web design Printed materials Branding
I currently work as a Design Team Lead at a leading marketing agency that specializes in serving the gambling industry. Our agency provides comprehensive services, including brand management, promotional campaigns, email marketing, landing pages, digital campaigns, website design. We pride ourselves on working with top-tier companies that adhere to Responsible Gaming standards and collaborate with leading game providers. Worklow: English.
Duties:
– Manage the design team department with 15 remote & on site designers (graphics, ux/ui) and illustrators. My role involves optimizinmg and managinbg designers tasks, design reviews, insightful feedback, and strategic guidance, fostering a collaborative environment that enhances the skills and performance of each team member.
– Establish and maintain design standards to ensure consistency and quality across all products, conducting design reviews to provide constructive feedback ensuring high-quality results.
– Guide, mentoring and inspire the team.
– Partner with other departments and stakeholders to ensure alignment with overall business goals, collaborate across discovery and delivery.
Сontribution:
Comprehensive design guides
I developed a system where I collected all the instructions for creating materials from technical to creative guides, which have significantly reduced the number of mistakes, saved time and improved the quality of our work, ensuring that our deliverables are both accurate and efficient.The innovation was to include video instructions in the guides, which have never been used in the company before.
Impact on brands growth
During my time as team lead we successfully redesigned one of brands. This brand became the number one gambling site in South Africa in 2024 by users voting. Certainly this achievement was thanks to the hard work of many teams, like Product, SEO, Marketing but the contribution of the Design team was also crucial: our designs (ui/promo) created a welcoming and trustworthy experience for users through effective visual language, which played an important role in building the brand’s success. While this was a standout achievement, it was not the only one. During my tenure, we also modernized several other brands and/or some their parts or campaigns, continuously improving their visual identity and user experience. I’m proud to have been part of these successes, showcasing how design can significantly impact a brand’s growth.
Optimization
Another significant contribution I made was optimizing methods for some campaigns or processes, for example on our email campaigns. I initiated the conducting of various split tests to find the best ways to reach new customers: improve email structure, optimize images and content, find balance between performance and visual communication. As a result, the response rate from new customers increased by one and a half times.
Designer Senior
2010-2016 / 6 years / Graphic, UX/UI, Product | 2016-2020 / 4 years / Graphic, UX/UI, Product / Gambling
Before I was promoted to design team lead four years before I’e been working as a Web Designer at the same company (marketing agency that serves gambling companies), where I have continued to grow and excel in my craft. Prior to this, I worked at a web agency in the Czech Republic, creating designs for small and medium-sized businesses across various industries.
During my time at the web agency, I gained experience in a wide range of sectors, including healthcare, real estate, and technology. I was involved in creating diverse designs: web design, digital campaigns, landing pages. This broad experience allowed me to develop a versatile skill set and a deep understanding of different design needs and strategies.
Сontribution:
Initiative and creativity (both)
Whenever I received a specific task from a client or marketing team, if I saw opportunities to implement better solutions I provided the requested design along with an alternative that I believed could be more effective, and in 9 out of 10 cases, my suggestions were adopted.
Improve landing page effectiveness (marketing agency)
Noticing that landing pages often mimicked the style of the main website, I suggested adopting a more gaming-centric design approach. This style, which featured more dynamic and engaging elements similar to games, resonated well with users who were not yet familiar with the brand. This strategy proved successful, and for several years, we have been creating landing pages for new clients with a focus on gaming aesthetics, while still adhering to core brand guidelines.
Modern trending (marketing agency)
When I started to work at marketing agency I started to implement more modern approach to designs, incorporate contemporary trends while maintaining the specific requirements of gambling design. This shift significantly enhanced our design outcomes and kept our work relevant in a rapidly evolving industry.
Client interactions (web studio)
I effectively managed meetings and presentations with clients. I developed and refined an ideal client brief that streamlined initial meetings. Additionally, I worked on various documentation, including technical specifications, ensuring clear and precise communication with clients and team members.
Product design (web studio)
Noboby named this “product desig” at that times, but I managed website projects from inception to completion, including initial client meetings, researches, concept development, site structure development, UI design, and final presentations. I collaborated closely with developers and SEO specialists to fine-tune and perfect each project, integrating my creative insights to enhance the overall product.
Designs with coding in mind (both)
My strong background in programming and coding proved invaluable, as it allowed me to create designs with a clear understanding of their practical implementation. I was well-versed in JavaScript and CMS capabilities, which helped ensure that my designs were not only visually appealing but also technically feasible and efficient.
Full Stack PHP Developer
2008-2010 / 2 years
I worked as a Full-Stack PHP Developer for a company which won a tender to develop a large internal portal for a reginal regional education administration. This system allowed employees across districts and cities to upload work reports, generate new reports, analyze data, and create charts. It also served as a repository for educational documents, guidelines, and plans. In my role, I was responsible for both backend and frontend development using PHP frameworks.
Сontribution:
Mentoring
Despite only working there for two years, I quickly established myself by mentoring junior PHP developers.
Training seminars
I also conducted training seminars for educational staff and support teams on how to use the portal effectively, ensuring smooth adoption and operation – it just happened somehow by itself, probably because I was good at writing documentation.
Initiative
I was proactive in taking initiative, particularly in a time when processes were less structured than today. I designed and developed some user interfaces, pages, and components without a dedicated designer, leveraging my understanding of the end-users and the product. My ability to self-manage and deliver practical solutions was key in creating a user-friendly and effective system.
No preview – internal system
Education
2001-2006 / 5 years
Bachelor’s degree: Computer Systems Engineer / Programmer
Faculty of Information Technologies
Zaporizhzhya National Technical University (UA)
Honours degree