My story
From Architect to Product Designer
Beginning
Since childhood, I’ve loved drawing and had many creative hobbies, I was also good at math and science. When it was time to choose a career, I decided on Architecture — it felt like the perfect mix of technical thinking and creativity.
Getting into my dream university wasn’t easy. My family couldn’t afford to pay for my studies, so I had to earn a scholarship.
A week before the main exam, I joined a preparatory course at the university — and they told me my chances of getting in were almost zero. My parents took out a loan to hire a tutor for just one week. I spent 14 hours every day drawing and preparing for exam — and in the end, I passed it.
Architecture and Dreams
My dream university was a 1000 kilometers away from my hometown. At 16, I moved to Lviv on my own, without friends or family. The studies were challenging but really interesting, and I quickly fell in love with architecture and design.
In my third year, during COVID, I randomly found out about the Erasmus exchange program and decided to give it a try. That’s how I ended up spending a month studying in Germany. I was amazed by the lifestyle and the way education worked there. That experience inspired a new dream — to one day complete my master’s degree in Europe.
Escape
The next year, I worked hard: learning languages, taking exams, and writing my thesis. But one morning, everything changed. On February 24, my roommate burst into my room shouting, “Alina, the war has started!” I packed a small backpack with the essentials and, within a few hours, was at the border. The next day, I was in Berlin.
A month later, I started working at Fourrichon bureau while finishing my diploma. I took part in many stages of architectural design, working on everything from furniture pieces to large villa projects. Our team even presented a furniture collection at Salone del Mobile.
It seemed like my dream had come true — I became an architect. But over time, I realized the work was more technical than creative, and true creativity wasn’t valued. To grow, I’d have to open my own studio — a long and bureaucratic path.
The Risk of Changing Careers
After my contract ended, my boyfriend invited me to go to Bali. I agreed, hoping to find a remote job there, but it turned out to be harder than I expected. In most cases, architects are required to work on-site.
While sending out dozens of job applications every day, I started learning HTML and CSS. Then I decided to design my own portfolio website — and that’s when it hit me: maybe I could try something new. I began studying UX/UI design, taking online courses, and building my portfolio.
At first, I worked as a freelancer. The start was tough — I struggled to find clients, took on any project I could, and sometimes worked for free just to gain experience.
Over time, real projects began to appear.
Later, I started joining hackathons and became interested in crypto. In the summer of 2024, I joined a project called FIVA, where our team won 2nd place at a bootcamp in Warsaw and later reached the finals of the Global TON Hackathon with more than 1000 teams! The design I created helped attract over $500,000 in investments.
NOW
Remote work lets me travel, explore, and meet inspiring people around the world.
Now I help startups and growing products create intuitive, easy-to-use interfaces. Design is about solving real problems and making complex things simple. I always start with the user, because human-centred design is at the core of everything I do.
I keep learning, experimenting with new ideas, and staying curious about the latest trends.
My next step is to build my own design agency.
This journey taught me a lot, but the main thing — never give up and keep learning every day.
Let’s stay in touch!
