Bio
my story
the making of a product designer
How it started
At its core, design is simply solving problems. And that’s exactly how I made my start in the industry, albeit much further down the project delivery pipeline as a Mechatronics & Robotics Engineering student in the city of Leeds.
But on my summer internships, I would accidentally develop an eye for product design building an analytics-driven dashboard prototype for Sky and an industrial agro-bot for a Leeds engineering start-up respectively…
LEARNING DESIGN THINKING AT THE COUNTRY’S FOREMOST MEDIA AND TELCO POWERHOUSE…
Pictured: Sky Campus at Osterley, London
AND APPLYING THESE DESIGN PRINCIPLES ON AND OFFLINE…
Pictured: art directing and producing designer Bukky Baldwin’s debut fashion show at the Whitworth Art Gallery
Fast forward to graduation, my disenfranchisement with Artificial Intelligence would spur me to apply for a mystery digital talent programme with a roulette-style twist: you couldn’t pick which role in Digital you would get to work in for six months.
As luck would have it, after learning the ropes working on projects like Top Boy for Netflix, I would land the single, highly-coveted spot in Sky’s Design Team reporting into their UX Director for what would eventually be the first three years of my career.
““It has been an absolute pleasure on a personal and professional level to work with a rare talent like Karina [researching] how customers want to interact with chat bots. With this real time customer feedback we have been able to construct effective language and bot journeys for sales and service using her guidance and knowledge which have in turn driven success.””
How It’s Going
Since that fated internship, I’ve started my own grassroots creative agency VAGUE, produced my first documentary, and founded an exclusive membership programme creating countless opportunities for over 500 creatives to connect, create and collaborate with leading brands - and that’s just in my spare time. From 9 to 5, I keep my finger on the pulse of industry in-house, having been headhunted by fast-fashion phenomenon Pretty Little Thing and retail powerhouse Frasers Group to lead their Product & Digital Design teams at the forefront of e-commerce.
Rebranding department store House of Fraser’s digital platforms for Frasers Group (2024)
““[Karina’s] knowledge and skillset in design systems and design thinking is incredible and has the unique ability to balance user and business goals creating products [that] are visually effective and marketable. She has played a pivotal role in creating exceptional experiences across our premium websites, pushing the boundaries of our elevation programme.””
Today, my passion for supporting and developing brands is still rooted in the same problem-solving philosophy I started with. Be it through product development, brand communications or audience development, I’m obsessed with launching and elevating high-value digital products with user-centric functionality and digital strategies, and leveraging that expertise with smaller businesses and charities to help close the digital skills gap and provide intuitive, data-driven experiences for users from all walks of life.
So, how can I help?
““One of Karina’s stand out skills is her collaborative spirit and her effective coaching techniques. She has successfully up-skilled and mentored her entire team creating a high performing team that is dedicated to achieving business goals.””