Anton Kalinin Start a project

London • Self-employed in the UK • Freelance / Contract / Fractional

Product design for fintech and AI teams that need clarity, conversion and calm delivery.

I help founders and product teams untangle complex journeys, align stakeholders and ship interfaces people can actually complete. My background spans Candosa, Silverbird, Vivid Money and Alfa-Bank, with a strong mix of product thinking, research and hands-on delivery.

  • 9+ years in product design
  • London-based, available across the UK and Europe
  • Research-led approach for complex B2B and regulated products

Background across

Candosa Silverbird Vivid Money Alfa-Bank Fintech AI E-commerce

Independent offer

Built for teams that need a senior designer without the overhead of a full-time hire.

What I help with

High-friction onboarding, complex B2B dashboards, feature discovery, design systems, research-backed iteration and founder-level product thinking.

How I work

I plug into existing product and engineering teams quickly, work visibly, test early and stay pragmatic about scope, delivery and metrics.

Engagement options

Project-based delivery, fractional design support, short product sprints, design QA and workshops for teams that need momentum fast.

Services

Where I’m most useful.

My portfolio leans heavily into fintech and product complexity, but the underlying value is the same: make important flows easier to understand, easier to ship and easier to improve.

01

Product design for complex journeys

Onboarding, KYC/KYB, dashboard flows, account states, permissions and other areas where users, compliance and delivery constraints collide.

02

Research and experimentation

Usability testing, discovery, qualitative interviews and structured iteration to reduce guesswork and improve decision confidence.

03

Design systems and handoff

UI libraries, reusable components, delivery-ready flows and design QA that helps teams ship cleaner work without endless rework.

04

Workshops, mentoring and advisory

Team workshops, portfolio reviews, growth coaching for designers and practical advisory for product teams that want sharper process and better product judgment.

Selected work

Recent portfolio stories with measurable outcomes.

Open full Notion portfolio
Vivid Money • Investments 15% adoption

Shaped stop orders for Vivid Invest based on research and demand.

Turned direct user feedback into a high-impact investment feature that now accounts for 15% of all stock and crypto transactions on the platform.

Feature strategy Competitive review UX design
Read the case
Alfa-Bank • Enterprise UX Traffic uplift

Reframed a crowded navigation system around real behaviour and business priorities.

Combined quantitative analysis, qualitative interviews and product logic to simplify menu structure, improve findability and increase traffic to commercially important services.

Research Information architecture Stakeholder alignment
Read the case

Approach

A practical design process for messy real-world product work.

01

Frame the real problem

Align on user friction, business pressure, technical realities and success metrics.

02

Prototype and test early

Use lean flows and focused research before committing expensive engineering effort.

03

Design for shipping

Work closely with engineers so the solution is strong in practice, not only in Figma.

04

Measure and refine

Launch, inspect outcomes, simplify again and keep improving what matters.

Speaking and mentoring

Not just product work. I also teach, mentor and run workshops.

The public portfolio also includes talks, jury work, portfolio reviews and hands-on teaching sessions for designers and product teams.

Public speaking

Includes a public lecture at the University of Central Lancashire, conference talks and research-focused discussions.

View speaking examples

Mentoring and workshops

From full-day product metrics workshops to design reviews and practical coaching for designers who want to level up their portfolio and product thinking.

View side projects

Working model

Available as a self-employed product designer in the UK.

A good fit for founders, product leads and growing teams that want senior execution without a long hiring cycle.

  • London-based and remote-first, with UK-friendly collaboration hours.
  • Open to freelance projects, contract work, fractional support and short advisory sprints.
  • Comfortable stepping into fintech, AI, e-commerce and other product-heavy environments.
  • Can support discovery, execution, design QA, workshops or a mix of all four.

Contact

If you need a senior designer who can make complex product work feel calmer, let’s talk.

Best for founders, product teams and scale-ups that need stronger flows, sharper research and a designer who can work closely with delivery.