Slava Derzhaev

Slava Derzhaev

Product Designer in US, He/him

About

I'm a US-based product designer who can code. I work across different platforms, including web, mobile, and VR. I've launched an educational app as a solo founder and co-founded a fintech startup. I have a strong background in data analysis and business strategy, developed during my time as a management consultant at Bain.

Contact

Website
LinkedIn
Behance
Instagram

Projects

2024

Optimized the web purchase flow for the VR tech startup, resulting in a 20% increase in conversion rate, 17% increase in annual mix, and a 24% upsell rate for the new premium plan.

2023

Creating an app for teaching logic and problem-solving skills in a fun and interactive way

2023

I've conducted some serious research and came up with a concept for an AI-powered software that creates surveys people would actually want to answer. No more boring, mundane surveys that make you want to pull your hair out.

2023

Redesigning onboarding, sign-up and subscription screens to improve end-to-end conversion rate from install to paid subscription.

2021

Launching an automated stock analysis tool for 50M amateur investors

2018

Developing a multimillion-dollar customer experience improvement program for a major airline

Work Experience

2022 — Now
Founder Fellow (ODF15) at OnDeck

On Deck Founders (ODF) is a community that brings together founders of early-stage startups. ODF offers access to world-class speakers, networking with other founders, and customized support from staff members and advisors.

2023 — 2024
Austin, TX, US

WIN Reality is a VR sports tech startup that uses virtual reality to train baseball and softball hitters, simulating real-life pitching speeds on Meta Quest headsets. I joined WIN Reality as its first product design hire.

- Optimized the web purchase flow, leading to a 20% increase in conversion rate, 17% increase in annual mix, and a 24% upsell rate for the new premium plan.
- Created a concept and launched a trial experience in the VR channel (purchases through Meta Store), boosting purchase conversion by 25% compared to the baseline.
- Established a new design system aligned with the updated brand and logo.
- Revamped the website, integrating the rebrand, improving information architecture, and optimizing the checkout process.
- Designed an internal tool for efficient enterprise users management, streamlining operational processes.

2021 — 2023
Austin, TX, US

Led a team to create, build and launch a mobile app that helps casual investors make smarter stock picks. The product is now live and is generating revenue.

  • Led all UX/UI work on the app, including UX research, UX writing and information architecture.
  • Boosted sign-up conversion rate by 19% through redesign of onboarding and sign-up flow.
  • Boosted trial conversions by 59% after revamping paywall strategy.
  • Conducted 35 customer interviews and a survey on 700 respondents to determine key needs and problems in the space.
  • Devised product concept, product roadmap, product specs and oversaw product development from concept to final product.
2015 — 2021

Developed marketing, business, and product strategy for major clients, working closely with C-level management.

  • Led the research and development of a roadmap for 100+ customer experience improvement initiatives with an annual budget of $75M. Supported its implementation managing internal employees and external client teams.
  • Developed a 5-year strategy (including product strategy, product benchmarking, and customer segmentation) for one of the leading European airline groups.
  • Was responsible for operational improvement, customer experience enhancement and ancillary revenue growth of one of the major European airlines with potential effect of ~$60M.
  • Developed a go-to-market strategy for the US market for a European FMCG company.
2013 — 2015

Led teams in conducting customer research, identifying key insights and developing integrated marketing and communications strategies for major brands in Retail, FMCG, and Automotive industries.

  • Independently managed one of the agency’s most important clients, which resulted in improvement of client’s revenue by 19% comparing to PY on a declining market.
  • Created a communication campaign for a retail client which resulted in a 97% increase in revenue from online channel and allowed to outpace the market leader.
  • Was responsible for the successful completion of a cross-functional project that required collaboration of local and global media, digital, strategic and research teams. Developed business processes for teams that have never worked together before and provided coordination to deliver joint result under pressing time constraints.

Side Projects

2024
Yes You Can

I'm using this summary of modern art to explore different shapes, colors, and typefaces.

2023
Posters With Attitude

Created a series of posters featuring some of the powerful lines from my favorite hip-hop tracks for my home office space.

Writing

2023

UX/UI principles for creating intuitive data-driven products for non-experts. Based on my experience building a mobile-first tool that helps amateur investors analyze stocks and trade based on facts and data, rather than hype or FOMO.

2023

UX/UI lessons from building a Duolingo for logic and problem-solving skills.