CV
Yar Seazov
Design leader with 10 YoE in managing UX/UI and cross-functional teams. Red Dot Design Award winner. Lecturer & mentor.
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Over the past decade, I’ve led efforts across fintech, e-comm and AI-driven products — building systems, teams, and experiences that scale.
I led product design at one of the largest banks in Eastern Europe — managing a 40+ person design dept., defining UX strategy for a mobile app with 80M+ MAU, launching features used by 10M+ users, and building a design system used by 250+ product teams. Here are a few highlights from recent projects:
Oxygen • Bank & Medtech
2024
Group Design Manager in US-based banking. Directed and redesigned main banking website, shaped media for immigrants and Oxygen Health service.
As the design lead for a marketing team, I led the redesign of a key acquisition channel from narrative development to design, supervision, and implementation resulting in a 37% boost in organic user growth. I also developed social media guidelines, set up a triggered email system, and oversaw social media management activities.
Aiuta • Ai-stylist
2023
Head of Design in AI-based fashion-tech startup with B2C, B2B, and hardware-development stream. I led the design of a mobile app, and browser extension, designed a website, developed visual identity, pitch decks etc.
With a small team, we built everything from the ground up to support a tech startup’s MLP launch and fundraising including brand identity, website, pitch deck, product videos, marketing assets, and more.
Sber • Banking App
2017–2022
I led a design and product vision of the mobile banking app with 80M+ MAU developed simultaneously by 250+ teams, an investment app, and web banking. Worked as a leader of the UX/UI community with 350+ people.
I was the Head of the Design Department with 40+ employees, including 5 teams: Core Design, Design System, UX Research, User Emotions, and Communication Design. I was in charge of product design in the Retail Unit and reported directly to the First Deputy of the biggest nationwide bank.
Product Vision →
Promoted the idea of a design system and founded a team of designers and developers who meticulously implemented it for Sber iOS and Android apps and a year later for web services.
Imagined and executed design system used by 250+ product teams used it in 7 digital products. Accomplished it with icon-pack, UX-writing guidelines, and visual assets. Launched a website, which played an essential role in promoting it for inner B2C teams and raising the value of the HR brand on the nationwide design market.
Design System →
Brought to life an emotional banking approach, consisting of a few independent client products, which my User Emotions team launched: intro greetings (2M+ MAU), avatar creator (1,4M+ MAU), custom backgrounds (5M+ users).
Emotional Design →
Created brand characters with Petrick studio, developed guidelines on using illustrations and writing explicit and human-oriented texts for the design and UX-writing community.
Won the Red Dot Design Award in 2020 for Edutainment UX, showcased in the Sber App across three features. Created a product vision video for the Goals feature
I was proud to contribute by shaping the vision, planning the strategy, and driving execution—helping my colleagues create the best possible experience for millions of users, even if it was scary sometimes. My role was to enable them to do their best work. Without them, none of it would have been possible.
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The good old days
2007–2017
Earlier, I worked in Otkritie bank as a digital unit's design director, art director at a robotics company, and art director at MosUrbanForum. In 2007 I co-founded Greencow Studio, which brought to life a lot of great projects.
As a communication design graduate, I started out passionate about branding, identity, brand books, and websites. But along the way, I took a turn toward UX/UI—eventually diving into product design, which I admire most for its complexity and versatility.
Blast from the past →
I enjoy exchanging insights on product design, strategic vision, and design leadership. It was a pleasure to give an interview to BBE and serving as a lecturer and tutor at BHSAD, British Higher School of Art and Design, Moscow.
I have spoken at multiple events and locations, such as the largest nationwide design conference, Dribble Meetup by Mail.ru, the UX-marathon, 404fest in Samara, and others. I have also participated in a few podcasts and written a few articles about design. Mentor designers at Duo Sapiens and ADPlist.
I also led the UX/UI design community in Sber, organized 80+ design meetups, planned and curated 8 design-related educational video courses, and grew the community to 600+ people.
Once, I had the opportunity to host Dylan Field, the CEO of Figma, for an event. He was in Moscow for the first time, so it was a pleasure to meet him in person. Here is the video of the meetup.
I launched the design competency model in Sber and persuaded the holistic approach considering the designers' demand to grow as specialists rather than only conforming to company needs.
Enjoying the process of forming and supporting a team's well-being by nurturing healthy relationships, where each member accomplishes each other and is open to constructive criticism, is worth more than any awards or recognition.
More about me →
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