Case studies coming soon

Hey, George Yakovlev here,
design & product leader, keen on
digital content products,
In love with culturally diverse teams
that make an impact

Connect on LinkedIn Download CV

Skillset & culture

System-driven, business, design- or content, I make impact by building digital and editorial systems end-to-end and shipping at scale.
Inventor, fond of making new things, or old things, but anew — design systems, content frameworks, AI-powered pipelines.
Mindful about people, in search of the win-win where the company and its people grow together — in skills and careers.
Experimenter, making quick checks to prove myself wrong, all to go quick & cheap until it's working.
Process-builder. Through definition, control & automations, I excel at driving efficiency up — agile pipelines, OKRs, autonomy-focused org building.
AI enthusiast, integrating agents in business pipelines, strategic, UI/UX & content design & systems.

Recent Work Experience

2025 — 2026
Mercuryo.io
Global crypto B2B platform.
12M+ users
Head of Product Design
  • Built a new visual language for the apps family — outperformed the original by ≥10pp uplift in user preference;
  • Released AI-powered design system combining Figma, Storybook & stage;
  • Led the family-wide redesign across the apps.
2022 — 2025
UULA
EdTech · Kuwait & KSA
Head of Design
  • Rebuilt the design team & introduced agile design pipelines, ×2 velocity;
  • Developed a design system for desktop & mobile web, iOS, & Android;
  • Scaled UX research, ~×2 velocity, exploratory and JTBD methods added;
  • Built a visual assets production pipeline, ×3 peak assets production.
2018 — 2022
Yandex Schoolbook
Learning product for schoolchildren inside Yandex family.
90M+ MAU product family
Design Director & Product Manager
  • Flagship Content Product for Junior School: concept, business model, pilot, execution, launch & scaling, → student MAU ×2 (300K+);
  • Coding Gamified Curriculum for Middle School: concept, piloting, execution, launch & scaling, → Reached 500K+ MAU.
  • Integrated Experience Design System: marketing, product & content.
2015 — 2017
State Postal & Delivery Service
18M+ MAU
Product Manager
  • Owned enterprise & B2C postal/logistics products;
  • Launched monetization postcard-sending product, 750k USD per year;
  • Launched print subscriptions service, pricing, documentation & tracking, 20M MAU, ~400M deliveries yearly.
2013 — 2015
YotaPhone
Dual-screen smartphone with secondary e-ink display.
MWC 2014 Best Gadget
Design Director & Head of UX
  • Led end-to-end UX for world’s first dual-screen (EPD) smartphone;
  • Released 40+ apps for front/back screen experiences in 9 months;
  • Produced full visual asset and marketing kits with more than 50 creatives worldwide.

Earlier Projects

Languages

Russian: native, English: fluent, Serbian: conversational

Don't be shy, just say 'hi'!

I'm available for Head of Design roles in global, remote teams, and ready to relocate for great projects.

If you have more questions about me, my skills and experience, or want to talk about an advisory engagement, drop me a line.

Connect on LinkedIn