About me
About me
Hi, I'm Nika, a Lead Product Designer from Slovenia, a mom of two kids who recently moved after a decade in Germany back home to Ljubljana.
As humans, we spend a lot of time in digital spaces and what motivates me to be a better designer every day is to make sure those spaces are as comfortable and understanding as possible. Sometimes you're stuck with a tool, which doesn't mean it shouldn't be enjoyable. I also love combining illustration skills with anything I do to add a custom touch to the experience.
I'm currently looking for new opportunities to take my talent and help build, expand and push the product to its highest potential. Read more about me, my background and how I got to where I am today.
Resume
My desk at IBM's Watson IoT tower, modelling a smart piggy bank for Consors Bank
How I got here
I studied graphic design, typography and illustration in Ljubljana, and spent a semester in Lisbon studying visual communication. UX/UI wasn't really a thing in Slovenia yet, and I had no idea that one day I'd end up working in product design.
IBM saw potential in my visual background and brought me on as an intern. They shaped me into a product designer, and that changed everything.
After my internship ended, a boutique agency in Stuttgart gave me the fundamentals, with mentors who taught me how to think about craft. Then came consulting, a unicorn-stage scale-up at Personio where I learned what it means to design at speed and complexity. And finally, Intruder, a cybersecurity SaaS where I took full ownership of design, from research and strategy to shipped product.
Complexity is personal
I found out I'm dyslexic when I was 12. School and I had our disagreements about spelling, but the wiring came with an unexpected bonus: a different eye for what works and what doesn't.
I notice when something is 2px off. I can tell when a layout isn't breathing or when content is fighting for attention. Nobody trained me to do that, it's just how my brain works. The same thing that made dictation tests miserable makes design reviews easy.
It also means accessibility is never a checkbox for me. I'm a heavy user of reading tools myself (the Kindle deserves a thank-you card), so when I push for clear interfaces and readable content, I'm partly just building the internet I want to use.
We were always close to water, one of my favourite things about those years
Stuttgart, Munich, Berlin and back
When I was 21, I moved to Germany to explore what design could be beyond print and illustration.
Ten years, three cities and two kids later, my husband and I decided to come home to Ljubljana. Slovenia is a small country with a lot to love. Mountains, coast, a culture built around nature, folklore and bees. My parents spend half their time in Istria, so we're there a lot too. Great wine, great food, the coast right there. Life just feels easier here.
We love travelling with the campervan
Sleeper train to Copenhagen
When I'm not designing
We love a good adventure. We cycle everywhere, take the kids on trips by bike when we can, by sleeper train or campervan when we can't.
But we equally love a quiet evening at home. I bake a lot, we play board games as a family, and I own the entire Agatha Christie collection. I've made it through about 70% of them, usually on the couch with a cup of tea.
Self-built Raspberry Pi robot dog
Self-built home media server
Building my own game with character creation and a built-in level editor — Phaser 3, Next.js & Supabase
Always building, always learning
Design doesn't stop at Figma for me. I build things. This portfolio was made with Claude Code and Antigravity. I use PostHog to understand how people actually interact with my work. I prototype in code when a static mockup isn't enough.
At home, I built a home server so my family can watch old German and Slovenian TV series without the noise of ads and algorithms. It's a cleaner, more focused way to consume content, and honestly, it's the same instinct that drives my design work: cut the clutter, keep what matters.
I'm comfortable with software, hardware and AI tools. Not because it's trendy, but because I'm genuinely curious about how things work and how to make them better.