About
I am a product designer. I find the real problem behind a brief, then lead the design that solves it.
I have led design on most of the products I have shipped, so I am used to owning the whole arc: research, scope, interaction design, the design system and the measurement afterwards. I am based in Tallinn and hold an MSc in Human-Computer Interaction.
How I work
I test the brief before I decorate it
At Hub88 the brief said “add an AI assistant.” I spent three weeks trying to disprove it first, because if the documentation genuinely lacked the answers it should have been a content programme and not a product. At HumanManager the brief was five redesigned screens; I argued for the design system instead and got the three weeks.
Evidence: Hub AI · HumanManager
I write the constraints down before anyone falls in love with a layout
In a payments product the fixed rules decide the interface, so compliance, technical limits, security expectations and time went on paper first. The same instinct produced a spec for how money is formatted rather than a per-screen decision.
Evidence: Pay.io
I name what we are not building, out loud
The hardest column in any prioritisation matrix is “not now”, because everything in it has an advocate in the room. Social sharing was cut from a cessation app because people wanted privacy, not broadcast — building the share button would have signalled we had misread them.
Evidence: Quit App
I would rather be corrected than right
Engineering overruled my live-balance design at Pay.io and they were right; the interface got more honest than my version would have been. At HumanManager I shipped a sequential rollout that made the problem worse, then stopped it and said so.
Evidence: Pay.io · HumanManager
I do my best work alongside other designers
At Yolo Group I report to the Director of Product and lead design on Hub AI and Pay.io. I contribute to the Yolo design system and built Pay.io’s on top of it, give feedback and direction to the designers I work with, and know their products well enough to support developers with feedback and design updates when a colleague is away. My Hub AI research also redirected the content roadmap, a plan that sits outside design. At SystemSpecs I was one of three designers, with regular design reviews, and I mentored a design intern who went on to become an associate product designer there. At Kenvue I spent eighteen months inside a global UX design team. Outside my day job I mentor designers through ADPList, Designlab and HNG, and I founded the ACM SIGCHI Lagos chapter, which grew past 100 members.
Evidence: Hub AI · HumanManager · Quit App
Experience
April 2025 — Present
Yolo Group
Product Designer
February 2023 — October 2025
Meaningful Gigs
UX Creative Partner · Contract, placed with Kenvue
March 2022 — August 2022
CoinHaven
UX/UI Designer · Contract
May 2021 — February 2023
SystemSpecs Group
User Experience Designer
Education
Tallinn University
MSc, Human-Computer Interaction · 2023 — 2025
Also: Product School (How to Build Digital Products), Udacity (User Experience Nanodegree) and IBM (Enterprise Design Thinking Practitioner).
Community and speaking
Chair at ACM SIGCHI Lagos
Design Competition Co-chair at AfriCHI 2025
Local Organising Committee Co-chair at AfriCHI 2027
Associated Professional Member at Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Speaker at Innovate MTM '23
Speaker at Abia Tech Flock 2024
Founder and Convener at World Usability Day Africa
Mentor at DesignLab, ADPList and HNG Internship
Testimonials
“Joseph was a member of my global UX design team for 18 months. During that time, I was grateful for the thoughtfulness he brought to every design challenge and his positive attitude which continuously elevated the results of the cross-functional team he worked with. He brought both a consumer and business-savvy mindset to his design decisions, and is committed to leveraging design systems to drive consistent and efficient digital experiences.”
“Joseph is indeed a leader. He had a way of perfectly organizing stakeholders and also fellow teammates. Above all, he has amazing UI/UX skills! I highly recommend working with Joseph — he is an amazing designer.”
“Joseph remains a great asset to any team. He is dedicated, result-oriented and a goal-getter. Multidimensional too: a pro digital strategist, UI/UX guru and overall tech enthusiast. Collaborating with Joseph was easy on several projects. He is undoubtedly one of the best hires any business can have.”
Outside work
Away from work I read thrillers and mysteries, take road trips, and rarely miss a new film at the cinema.