about

Vlada

Vlada

Vladlena Boltabaeva

Product Designer, Valencia

Download CV

I design the parts of a product nobody screenshots — the ones that decide whether a team can ship the next feature, or start over.

I started in research: competitor analysis, journey maps, wireframes, at Uprock Agency in Moscow, learning to defend a design decision with evidence before defending it with taste. That habit never left, it shows up now as the same instinct on every project on this site: build a working prototype first, let the team argue with something real, and only then let it become a polished design.

Since 2023 I've worked freelance across e-commerce, landing pages, and web platforms, and increasingly on the harder, less photogenic side of the craft: admin tools, dashboards, and the design systems that hold them together under real constraints, legacy code, parallel engineering work, priorities that don't always agree. Claude has become part of that practice too, alongside Figma, for the same reason the prototype-first habit exists: settle real questions fast, before investing in polish.

based

Valencia, ES · 39.47° N, 0.38° W

currently

Freelance, Affiliation Cloud (iGaming)

tools

Figma, Figma AI, Claude

How I Work

01

To do

Frame the task together with product and the analyst. Split the scenario with another designer when it's big enough to need one.

02

Discovery

Look at what's already been researched on this problem, often with Claude to work through it faster. Turn the insights into hypotheses, and get clear on the real constraints.

03

Design

Generate possible directions and map the target scenario as a user flow, often with Claude to get a working prototype in front of the team fast. Align on the strongest ideas, then build them out against the design system and existing UX patterns.

04

Review

Get feedback from the lead and feed it back into the next pass.

05

UX test

Choose the research method, define who it's for, and put together the tasks and hypotheses to test.

06

Documentation

Finalize the flow and document it for the team, plus a written spec of how the interface should behave for engineering, drafted with Claude and checked against the real flow before it goes out.

07

Front check

QA the real build against the Figma flow before it ships, catching drift while it's still cheap to fix.

Experience

2023 – Present

Freelancing

Product Designer

Worked with startups and small businesses on conversion-focused e-commerce, landing pages, and web platforms, then shifted toward the harder, less photogenic side of the craft: admin tools, dashboards, and design systems. Since 2025, under contract with an iGaming affiliate company designing Affiliation Cloud.

2022

Career break

Family leave

2021

Uprock Agency

Junior UX/UI Designer

Invited to join the agency's design team after completing its UX/UI school. Conducted UX research including competitor analysis and user journey mapping. Developed information architecture, wireframes, and high-fidelity UI designs in Figma. Collaborated with developers and stakeholders to support smooth implementation.

Capabilities

User research & discovery

Problem framing

Usability testing

Design systems

Prototyping

Interaction design

Collaboration with engineers & PMs