I design products, then ship them.

Designer at Mastercard and former co-founder of Swayze. I work across product, brand and strategy. I also like building things of my own.

ProductBrandStrategy

Selected work

01 / 05

Swayze

Co-founder & design · Marketplace · Closed

A marketplace connecting nano-influencers with brands. We grew it to 40K+ users and 300+ brand partners, reached Top 3 in the Polish App Store and raised a pre-seed round. Then we closed it. Still the project that taught me the most.

40K+ users · 300+ brands · Top 3 App Store PL · pre-seed

Case study ↗

Mastercard

Product, brand & strategy · CEE / DACH / BeNeLux

I work across design systems, campaigns and AI enablement for CEE, DACH and BeNeLux. I also help with AI adoption inside the team, with a focus on getting people to actually use the tools.

Design systems · campaigns · AI enablement

Chá

Designer & builder · iOS · Live

A flashcard app for learning Mandarin with HSK 1 to 6, spaced repetition, pinyin audio and a lock screen widget. I built it while learning Mandarin myself because I couldn't find one that felt right.

Live on the App Store · cha.cards

cha.cards ↗

In Bloom

Designer & builder · iOS · In development

A cycle tracker without the clinical dashboard. A flower opens and closes with each phase and the gradients shift with the cycle. Calm, visual and human by design.

In development

Huawei

Team lead · Innovation · 2022

I led an 8-person team developing a technology for good concept as part of Huawei's Seeds for the Future programme. Our project made the Top 6 in Europe and took us to Athens for the final showcase.

Top 6 Europe · Team lead · Athens

Travel Notes

Selected insights

I collect the small design and business decisions I notice while travelling. These are the ones I keep thinking about.

New York

USA · 40.7°N 74.0°W

A bigger market isn't just a bigger WarsawLaunching Swayze in New York meant dealing with a much larger area, more fragmented audiences and stronger competition. Scaling required a different marketing playbook, not just more budget.
Local traction doesn't equal global validationA product can work well in one city and still struggle elsewhere. New York forced us to separate what was truly scalable from what worked because we understood our home market particularly well.
Competition forces clarityIn a crowded market, being new is not enough. Strong competition made us think much harder about what was genuinely different about the product and why someone should choose us.

London

UK · 51.5°N 0.1°W

Trademark before tractionWhile building Swayze, we received a cease-and-desist letter related to our brand name. It taught me to treat trademark research as an early business decision, not something to deal with later.
A brand name becomes an asset quicklyNaming feels creative at first, but once reputation, customers and money become attached to it, the name becomes something worth protecting.
Old interfaces can outlive their original functionLondon's red phone booths are still instantly recognisable even though their original purpose has largely disappeared. Some have been repurposed, which made me think about how strong symbols can survive even when the function changes.

Dubai

UAE · 25.2°N 55.3°E

Speed is designed upstreamFive-minute grocery delivery looks like a delivery feature, but the real speed comes from inventory and logistics being positioned close to demand before an order is placed.
The environment shapes innovationDubai made me notice how much regulation, infrastructure and access to resources influence what companies are able to build. Innovation speed is not only about founders or technology.
Strong systems support themselvesI learned about groups of plants designed to help each other survive in difficult environments. It reminded me that resilient systems often work because individual components make the others stronger.

Tokyo

Japan · 35.7°N 139.7°E

The best design answers the question before you ask itInstructions and contextual guidance often appeared exactly where confusion could happen. Good design reduced the need to stop and search for help.
Warnings don't have to threatenPublic instructions often used friendly characters and softer communication instead of aggressive warning language. Compliance does not always require anxiety.
Navigation can exist beyond the screenDifferent sounds at pedestrian crossings communicate direction without requiring visual attention. Accessibility becomes part of the environment itself.

About

Who's writing

I like the startup mindset and I like working inside a global company. I've stopped thinking I have to choose.

I'm a product designer based in Warsaw. I co-founded Swayze, grew it and eventually closed it. Now I work across CEE, DACH and BeNeLux on Mastercard's creative desk. I still build my own products on the side.

I'm learning Mandarin, which is how Chá started. I care about friction, dark patterns and the tiny decisions people usually don't notice. Those details often end up shaping the whole experience.

Get in touch

Let's make something together.

I work 1:1 with founders and teams on product audits, UX, product strategy, positioning and design direction. A focused outside perspective when you need clarity, challenge or a second pair of eyes.

hi@wiktoriaw.com