Hello, I'm Konstantina

I build design teams
that build great products.

Product Design Director with 10+ years crafting user experiences and scaling design organizations. I believe the best products come from empowered teams, clear systems, and a genuine care for the humans behind every tap, swipe, and scroll.

Years in Design 10+
Team Built 5 → 17
In Just 18 months
Based In Germany
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Design Systems People Leadership AI-Powered Workflows Cross-Functional Strategy User-Centered Design Design Tokens Mentorship Product Launches Design Systems People Leadership AI-Powered Workflows Cross-Functional Strategy User-Centered Design Design Tokens Mentorship Product Launches

Design is a human story
first, a craft discipline second.

I didn't set out to become a design leader. I became one because I care deeply about people — the ones who use what we build, and the ones doing the building. Somewhere between mentoring a junior designer through their first crit and watching a product land in the hands of a real user, I found my purpose.

I'm drawn to work that carries real weight — products that touch people's everyday lives in meaningful ways. The complexity that others find daunting is exactly what energizes me, because that's where design can make the biggest difference.

I look for organizations that are ambitious about what they build and honest about how they build it. Places where a designer isn't just a seat at the table — they're a force that shapes the direction of the whole product.

Empathy-Led Leadership

I lead with curiosity and warmth. Teams I build are psychologically safe, high-output, and genuinely invested in the mission — not just the roadmap.

Systems Thinking at Scale

From design tokens to semantic architecture — I build the foundations that let teams move fast without losing coherence across every touchpoint.

AI-Forward Practice

I operationalize AI in real workflows — research synthesis, prototyping, org-wide standards. The future of design is augmented, and I'm building it now.

The best products come from teams that feel safe enough to challenge ideas, clear enough to move fast, and cared for enough to do their best work.

— My design leadership philosophy

Craft meets
consequence.

A handful of projects that represent how I think — and what I care about most when design meets real people.

Design System · Leadership 2021–2024

Betano Design System — Built to Scale Across 12 Markets

End-to-end design system architecture introducing semantic design tokens and a full dark/light theme framework. Now the shared foundation for all product work across Betano and Stoiximan, aligning 55+ designers across multiple verticals.

Design Tokens Dark Mode Multi-market Component Library
View on Behance
Research · Academic 2020

Self-Medication Assistant for Alzheimer's Patients

A full Design Thinking sprint addressing medication management for elderly patients with Alzheimer's. Includes primary research, user interviews, affinity mapping, journey maps, prototyping, and usability testing — developed during my Master's semester.

Design Thinking Healthcare UX User Research Prototyping
View in Figma
13.9k
free downloads
Community · Figma Open source

Figma Community Resource — Free for Everyone

A free Figma resource published for the design community — downloaded over 13,900 times. Giving back to the community that gave me so much is a non-negotiable part of how I practice design leadership.

Figma Community Free Resource 13.9k Downloads
Download free

More work available on Behance ↗

A decade of designing
and leading design.

Senior Product Design Manager 2024 — Present
Kaizen Gaming (Betano)
Braunschweig, Germany · Global digital product company, 2,000+ employees

Scaled the design team from 5 to 17 in 18 months — a multidisciplinary organization spanning product design, UX research, visual design, and design systems. Partnering with senior Product and Engineering leadership on strategy, team health, and long-range program planning. Offered the role of Design Chapter Lead for the entire 55-designer organization — a recognition of Director-level leadership.

5 → 17 in 18 Months Dark/Light Theme System AI Design Workflows Design Token Architecture
Product Design Lead 2021 — 2024
Kaizen Gaming (Betano)
Braunschweig, Germany · Promoted from Senior Product Designer

Promoted to Lead to architect a unified design system from the ground up and drive a full product rebranding. Directed high-profile product launches for FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro, and Copa América — complex, multi-market initiatives under tight timelines.

Design System from Zero Full Product Rebrand FIFA World Cup Launch Team Mentorship
Senior Product Designer 2020 — 2021
Kaizen Gaming (Betano)
Braunschweig, Germany

Designed scalable product experiences in close collaboration with product and engineering teams. Contributed to design system foundations and shared component libraries that would later become the backbone of the organization's design infrastructure.

Senior Product Designer 2018 — 2020
Blueground
Athens, Greece · PropTech / Furnished apartment platform

Led end-to-end product design across web and mobile, covering the full user journey from discovery to lease management. Conducted user testing and research to inform design decisions and contributed to the design hiring process.

Web & Mobile Full User Journey User Research
UX/UI Designer 2016 — 2018
Agile Actors
Athens, Greece · Software consultancy

Designed user experiences and interactive prototypes for client products across multiple verticals. Created micro-interactions and motion design in After Effects. Highlight: Redesigned the Illinois Lottery Experience, improving accessibility and conversion.

Communications Designer 2014 — 2016
Excite Holidays
Athens, Greece · Travel & hospitality

Designed tailored travel experience communications for Australian travel agents across digital channels — where the journey of designing for real people began.

Writing

Design thinking,
written down.

I write about design leadership, building teams, the future of AI in product design, and what it really means to create things that last. Honest, opinionated, and occasionally uncomfortable — because that's where the good conversations start.

Read on Medium
10+
Years of design practice to write from
Opinions on what makes good design culture
13.9k
Figma resource downloads — community first
4
Languages to think and write in

How I think about design.

01

People before pixels

Great design organizations start with healthy teams. I invest in psychological safety, career growth, and clear communication — because empowered people make better products.

02

Systems enable speed

Design tokens, semantic architecture, shared components. The upfront investment in systems pays dividends in consistency, speed, and the ability to scale without losing quality.

03

AI as a creative partner

I don't just follow AI trends — I operationalize them. From building AI-powered research synthesis tools to establishing org-wide AI standards, I'm shaping how design teams work with AI today.

What I bring to the table.

Leadership & Strategy

Design Leadership & Organizational Scaling
Large-Scale Program & Roadmap Management
People Management, Performance & Growth
Cross-Functional Alignment (Product, Eng, Data)
UX Strategy & User-Centered Design
Workshop Facilitation & Design Culture

Craft & Tools

Design Systems, Tokens & Semantic Architecture
AI Integration in Design & Research Workflows
Figma, FigJam & Figma Make
Google AI Studio, Gemini, Lovable, Freepik
Inclusive & Accessible Design
Entrepreneurial Mindset & Problem Solving

I enjoy solving complex
design challenges.

As a design leader I connect the dots between craft, culture, and strategy — because how a team works is just as important as what they produce. A few questions to help you understand how I think.

How do you work with product and engineering?

I believe the best work happens when designers, product managers, and engineers form a genuine trio — not a handoff chain. I embed myself in cross-functional teams, speak both product and engineering languages fluently, and push to be involved from problem framing through to post-launch iteration. A designer who only shows up at the wireframe stage is a designer who misses half the picture.

How do you use AI in your design practice?

Deliberately. I use Google AI Studio and Gemini for user research synthesis, Figma Make for rapid prototyping, and Lovable for building testable no-code demos. At Kaizen, I established org-wide AI standards — not just for my team, but for the entire 55-person design chapter. I care less about the tools themselves and more about building a culture of augmented creativity that doesn't sacrifice judgment for speed.

What's your approach to design systems?

A design system is never just a component library — it's an agreement between every team that touches the product. I architect systems semantically, starting with design tokens and working upward, so they can evolve without breaking. The dark/light theme system I led at Kaizen is now used across 12 markets. The most important thing is designing for the maintainers, not just the current sprint.

How do you build and scale a design team?

Slowly, then intentionally. I scaled our team from 5 to 17 in 18 months — but each hire was deliberate. I look for curiosity, communication, and craft in that order. Beyond hiring, I invest heavily in career frameworks, regular 1:1s, and creating space for designers to grow beyond their comfort zone. The goal is a team that can run brilliantly even when I'm not in the room.

What makes great design culture?

Safety and ambition in the same room. Psychological safety doesn't mean avoiding hard conversations — it means you can have them without fear. I build cultures where feedback is a gift, hierarchy flattens in design critiques, and every designer regardless of seniority feels genuinely heard. Ambition keeps us moving; safety keeps us honest.

Wired to lead,
built to grow others.

The Gallup CliftonStrengths® assessment surfaces the patterns through which you most naturally think, feel, and behave. These are my top five themes — the truest map I have of how I show up and what I bring to an organisation.

Gallup CliftonStrengths® — Top 5 Themes CliftonStrengths identifies patterns of thinking and behaviour that are most natural and most energising — your greatest areas of potential.
01
Strategic

Sees the whole board before others have found their first move. Quickly sorts through complexity, identifies what actually matters, and crystallises a clear path forward — even when the landscape is shifting. In a product organisation, this translates into a design leader who can be trusted with open questions and ambiguity.

Strategic Thinking
02
Developer

Genuinely invested in the growth of the people around her — not as a function of the role, but as a deep expression of who she is. Sees untapped potential as something almost magnetic, and finds real satisfaction in closing the gap between where someone is today and where they could go. The teams she builds don't just perform; they compound.

Relationship Building
03
Achiever

Operates with a quiet, relentless internal drive that doesn't need external permission to engage. The bar is always high because she sets it herself — and every milestone, however significant, becomes the new baseline for what comes next. It's a pace that's contagious in the right environment.

Executing
04
Learner

Thrives at the exact edge where the familiar ends and the new begins. Doesn't just keep pace with the field — actively seeks out the frontiers where tomorrow's design practice is still being invented. The process of moving from not knowing to knowing is itself energising, which makes her naturally at home in fast-moving environments.

Strategic Thinking
05
Activator

When others are still discussing, she's already moving. Believes that insight is born from action, not deliberation alone — and that the fastest way to understand what works is to begin. Turns alignment into momentum with remarkable speed, and has a gift for pulling teams from conversation into confident execution.

Influencing

Speaking across cultures.

GreekNative
EnglishC2 — Proficient
ItalianC1 — Advanced
GermanA1 — Beginner

Giving back to design.

Awards Jury Member

EBGE Awards — Digital Applications (2023)
Ermis Awards — Digital Craft (2022)

Design Advocate & Speaker

Representing product design at industry events and communities, sharing learnings from scaling design organizations.

Workshop Facilitator

Leading design workshops and Figma instruction sessions for emerging designers entering the field.

Global Mentor — ADPList

Providing 1:1 mentoring to designers around the world, helping them navigate career growth and design craft.

Let's make something
meaningful together.

If you're building something that matters and need a design leader who cares as much about people as pixels — let's talk.