Greetings! I’m Yana Barysheva, a design director who excels at solving complex challenges with clarity and pragmatism (ask me about designing products for the rat’s nest that is retail energy!). For me, design is about finding solutions that work in practice—balancing creativity, strategy, and execution to move projects forward.
I approach design and strategy by channeling my creativity through a pragmatic framework of user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility. My process starts with understanding the problem—collecting information, analyzing it, and forming a mental map of the challenge ahead. I work collaboratively, with minimal process, bringing initial ideas to a cross-disciplinary team, where they can blossom, ensuring that the final outcome is greater than the sum of its parts.
I begin every relationship with a report or mentee by asking three questions: Where are you now? Where do you want to be? How can I help you get there? Recognizing that everyone’s values, feedback styles, and goals differ, I prefer to support them in the style they’re comfortable with, and to clear the path for their growth, guiding them when necessary. With compassionate curiosity and attentive listening, I want to help others define the path that works for them.
In my next role, I’m eager to drive strategy, mentor other designers, and shape impactful products, in a field where we're at least trying to make things better for regular people. I value smart, kind, and trusting leadership that encourages bold ideas and thoughtful collaboration. Learning is important to me and I’m looking for an environment where knowledge is eagerly shared by all.
I believe having hobbies that are unrelated to work is important. I studied creative writing and have several half-started short stories that I hope to finish one day (I also co-wrote a cookbook with my mom!). I like to draw, paint, and generally "do art". I'm currently learning to play bass. I love people watching, and talking to them, too (people skills come in handy for user interviews). I also love cats.
This is a book of Russian & Ukrainian recipes, culinary history, foodie literature, and other tidbits that I co-authored and co-designed with my mom, Ellen (who also taught me design!). Check it out
This portfolio was handcoded by me (with a little help from ChatGPT).