Chelyabinsk, Russia
15:41 GMT+5

Mitya Yakushov
Head of Design at MAX
About Me
7 years in design. I’ve gone from “move some pixels around” to managing teams of 20+ people.
My superpower: I translate from “business” to “design” and back without losing meaning (or nerve cells).
My philosophy: A beautiful picture is art; a beautiful picture that makes money is design. I do the latter.
Experience

Head of Design & Production
MAX
·
2025-2026
Led all production
Team: 22 people (4 PMs, 18 designers)
Increased team utilization from 77% to 106%
Reduced time-to-delivery by 35% through process optimization
Provided art direction for strategically important clients
Developed two art directors
Calculated and controlled project utilization and profitability
Implemented guides/templates: sped up production and reduced instances of “reinventing the button”
Worked with X5, Korzinka, ATON, AM, Samokat, and others

Lead Product Designer
vk.com
·
2025
Worked on the PROSTOR product
Managed a team of 5 designers (Middle–Senior)
Was responsible for PROSTOR’s visual design. Made it not only useful for users, but also enjoyable (which is rare in B2C)
Reviews, systematization, optimization, and work planning
Established a Design Review process. The number of “let’s redo everything” revisions dropped to a statistical margin of error

Staff Product Designer
capital.com
·
2023-2025
Participated in launching internal products, improved business metrics
Was one of the key people responsible for the brand refresh
Worked with British C-Level executives.
Developed concepts, created, and improved investment platform patterns
Participated in global rebranding. Made investments visually understandable even for those who are afraid of charts

Senior Product Designer
MTS Fintech
·
2022-2023
I was the product manager’s right hand (sometimes left). Together, we built new features at the bank. We maintained and improved existing products and updated legacy systems.
I systematized layouts and scaled them for the team.
I was the product manager’s best friend. Together, we came up with features that made the bank money, not support headaches.
I performed “exorcisms” on old interfaces. I updated ancient flows, making them modern and user-friendly.

Lead Product Designer
Freedom Holding
·
2021-2022
Built and led a team of 4 designers. Ensured the mockups were not only visually appealing but also functional
Implemented HADI cycles. We stopped guessing “what works better” and started testing hypotheses. Design became a predictable business tool.
Skillfully defended design decisions to senior management. Learned to explain the value of UX to those who think only in EBITDA terms
Boosted loan conversion rate by +24%
Senior Product Designer
Freedom Holding
·
2021
Designed and launched a website for a bank.
Designed information architecture, CJM/Blueprint
Created the product design concept
Education
Skills
Figma
Adobe CC
Prompt engineering
Cinema4D
Management
AI tools
Languages
Russian
Native
English
B2
Contacts
Chelyabinsk, Russia
15:41 GMT+5