Poland

UX Design

UI/ Visual Design

Service Design

Product Design

UX writing

Interaction Design

UX Testing

UX Research

Service Design Research

UX Engineering

Postgraduate Studies

Business

Master's degree

Diana Sarlinska

Director of UX and Research

Usability Testing

Quantitative research

Prototyping

Qualitative research

Communication

Collaboration

Problem-solving

Time management

Critical-thinking

Team player

Organisation skills

Conflict resolution

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Design systems

Human computer interaction

Information architecture

User research

Optimal Workshop

Figma

GitHub

Mural

Relationship management

Making remote and globally distributed teams work for you and your needs.

Working remotely

Learn essential burnout prevention techniques and replenish physical and emotional energy.

Managing burnout

Talk to people who have learned to manage their imposter syndrome.

Dealing with imposter syndrome

Navigating micro-aggression, getting paid what you are worth and finding a community.

Being a woman in tech

Strategies for maximizing your design internship or co-op program.

Getting the most out of my internship

Tips for transitioning into a new role or company.

Changing roles

How to successfully prepare and position yourself for a job promotion?

How to get promoted

How to ask for a promotion and negotiate for salary raise?

Negotiating a job offer

How to think about design career paths and what progression looks like for designers?

Design career path

Get actionable feedback on your resume or portfolio.

Resume and portfolio review

How to create a positive workplace culture that drives collaboration and productivity?

Fostering a good team culture

Steps to building and maintaining a strong, cohesive and effective team.

Building an effective team

Learn the tips to successfully manage a team in a remote environment.

Managing a remote team

Best practices for running productive design critiques.

Running effective design critiques

How to define and execute a successful launch and managing stakeholders expectations. (eg. MVP)

Launching new products or features

Manage team expectations and get the most out of your meetings.

Running effective meetings

Identify and define potential product problems and generating possible solutions.

Identifying problems vs solutions

Learn how to properly present your work and share ideas and opinions.

Presenting your work with impact

Tips on how to work and collaborate with designers.

Working with designers

How to work with team members with different skill sets but towards a common goal?

Working cross-functionally

Methods and models of exploring, deciding and delivering design.

Building a design process

Managing being the only designer at your company and working with non-designers.

Being the only designer

Explore different generative and evaluative research techniques. User research synthesis and presentation.

Conducting good user research

Ways and resources to improve your design skills.

Improving design skills

Navigating the working relationship with PM's and engineers as a designer.

Working with product and engineering

Ways to provide constructive feedback to team members.

Giving effective feedback

Running “Customer Journey Mapping” workshops for post-graduate students of User Experience / Product Design programme in Warsaw. 

Mentoring 3 project teams for each cohort (Warsaw) during the program: from the project definition, through UX research, strategy, modelling, prototyping and usability testing, up to the final presentation of products.

Built and led a high-performing UX&R team from the ground up, expanding it from a team of 3 to a robust team of 30 designers, researchers, and managers. Led product design teams across the entire product suite and product categories, overseeing team members ranging from Junior to Principal designers, and managers. Provided mentoring and guidance to both designers, developers and managers.

Developed whole Design and Research practice, operations, and processes vital for scaling the team, work, and impact, including team structure, rituals, hiring and onboarding, career development, and principles for operational and project support.

Advocated for and educated on the value of UX&R, moving it from a siloed function to a core part of the product development process, and moving it from a tactical to a strategic function within the company. Established teams related to product specialization (Design System) and competence specialization (UX Research). 

Advocated, helped developing, and overseen implementation of UX&R strategic initiatives and frameworks (such as Critical User Journeys or UX–Lite).

Successfully navigated a hyper growth period, ensuring that the UX&R team was able to scale to meet the needs of the business which minimal disruption while maintaining a high level of performance and quality. This included managing multiple reorganizations and restructuring processes, such as relocating the UX&R team from Engineering to Product and placing it under a new VP.

Prepared and conducted QBR presentations for GTM Teams and Senior Leadership Team. Worked collaboratively and engaged with various stakeholders, including designers, developers, product managers, and executives.

Member of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Working Group (Inclusivity Workgroup) and co-founder of Grafana Pride ERG.

UX Manager responsible for building the UX Team and UX operations at Grafana Labs from the ground up. Member of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Advisory Group and Grafana Pride ERG.

Hired as one of the first Product Designers and Researchers at Grafana Labs with a long-term objective of building a Product Design team. During the initial year focused on designing complex, data-intensive applications for clients while engaging with Grafana's OSS community (GitHub, interviews, Community calls, UX community sessions, etc.).

As an Innovation Consultant and Service Designer, played a pivotal role in guiding our clients through the process of identifying, developing, and implementing innovative solutions that drive business growth and change to create a desirable future. Facilitated strategic exploration, service and space design and implemented digital tools and rituals that promote employee engagement in these transformations.

• Leveraged design thinking methodologies to facilitate strategic exploration, service and space design, and digital tools that promote employee engagement in organisational transformations.
• Led clients in developing a comprehensive understanding of their users and their needs, ensuring that innovative solutions are human-centered and aligned with user aspirations.
• Championed a culture of design and innovation within client organisations, fostering collaboration and cross-functional integration.
• Employed design-based experimentation and prototyping techniques to test and refine innovative concepts, ensuring that solutions are effective, feasible, and desirable.
• Articulated the value of design and innovation to senior management, advocating for its integration into all aspects of the organization.

Clients: Royal Canin, Credit Agricole, Tatrzański Park Narodowy, RATP (the world's 3rd largest urban transport operator, partner of cities and regions in France and all over the world)

Google for Startups Accelerator mentor in areas of UX and Product Design. I’ve been sharing my knowledge with early stage start-ups during events around Europe:
• World Food Programme Innovation Bootcamp – Remote | Mar 2021  
• WellStreet Early Stage Nordic Tech InvestorStockholm | Oct 2020 
• TechMinsk (Belarus GfS Partner) – Minsk, Belarus | Jul 2020
• GFS Accelerator Warsaw, Poland | May 2020
• World Food Programme Innovation Bootcamp – Munich, Germany | Feb 2020 [UX/HCD Plenary session and mentor]
• GFS Tallinn, Estonia | Dec 2019 
• GFS Belgrade, Serbia | Nov 2018 
• GFS Novi Sad, Serbia | Apr 2018 [UX Lead Mentor]
• GFS Warsaw, Poland | Nov 2017

Since 2014 Member of Making Waves Design Management and Making Waves Polska Management Group, Leader of UX Competence Group and Lead Designer in projects. 

Responsibilities:
• Building design competency and capabilities 
• Strategic development of Design & UX related capabilities and offerings (services and way of working)
• Collaboration with Client Directors to emphasize design offering by active participation in sales process (digital strategy, concepts & proposals, client meetings & workshops)
• Fostering cross-competency collaboration
• Participation in projects as a designer/advisor
• Building reputation and design awareness through thought leadership, speaking engagements, and networking
• Ambassador of human-centric approach and design philosophy
• Working closely with Design Directors in other countries to align strategy efforts and design processes
• Recruitment and competence development
• Facilitation of sharing work and better communication practices across all Design teams in all countries
• Design Department budgetary control 
• Organisation of Design events


// Clients: FIFA, Wilh. Wilhelmsen, Nordic Choice Hotels, EC English, DeLaval, Norges Gruppen, Visit Norway

Teaching courses for post-graduate students of Faculty of Humanities: 
• Workshop Design and Facilitation 
• Collaborative Design Methodologies (Design Studio)

Skills: Zarządzanie zespołem · Stakeholder Management · Cross-functional Team Leadership

Skills: Stakeholder Management · Cross-functional Team Leadership

• Led the design of digital products and services for a variety of clients.
• Worked closely with project managers and engineers to ensure that designs are feasible and meet business requirements.
• Conducted user research and analysis to understand user needs and pain points, and to test and iterate on designs.
• Created high-fidelity mockups and prototypes to communicate design ideas to clients and stakeholders.
• Contributed to the creative vision and strategy of the agency by collaborating with other designers, creatives, and strategists.
• Worked on mobile applications, enterprise intranets, social networks, e-commerce, websites, digital campaigns.

Clients: mBank, BRE Bank, Vision Express, Nutricia, Danone, Allegro, Tesco, Grupa Żywiec

Educating and mentoring, teams and companies on UX, Service Design, Research, Design Management, and Leadership. Sometimes also occasional project work. Clients (among others): Capgemini, Ocado Technology, Tatra National Park.

Diana Sarlinska🇵🇱

About Diana Sarlinska

Expertise

What mentees say