# Aleksei M. > Senior UX Designer | Automotive, Enterprise, Robotics, AI | ex-SAP, HARMAN, Samsung | Neurodivergent Advocate Location: San Jose, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/alekseim Senior UX Designer with 12+ years of experience leading end-to-end UX and product design across Enterprise, Automotive, AI, Robotics, Web, Mobile, Health, Education, and Entertainment domains. Worked with premier technology companies such as HARMAN, Samsung, SAP, Mozilla, Ford, Fiat, Nissan, Audi, Subaru, Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon. Skilled in simplifying complex workflows through data-driven and human-centered design processes to solve user problems and deliver measurable business outcomes. Advanced expertise in Gen AI tools, architecting and maintaining scalable design systems, building platform-specific component libraries, designing information architecture, wireframing, and creating high-fidelity interactive prototypes in Figma Make, Figma and Axure RP. 5+ years of experience leading and mentoring distributed design teams. Test Engineer with over 4 years of combined experience in hardware, software, and firmware testing, product development, and engineering. Extensive experience in working with electromechanical systems, mobile devices, robotics, consumer electronics, autonomous vehicles, and IoT systems. Hands-on background in R&D, manufacturing, soldering, scripting, firmware flashing, sensor integration, robotics hardware, PCBA assembly, actuator systems, rapid prototyping, and quality validation methodologies including PFMEA, End-of-Line Testing, FEA, DOE, and Gage R&R. 4+ years of experience in FDM 3D Printing, CAD. Expanding expertise in product development and engineering, rapid prototyping, and small-scale manufacturing optimization. UX Achievements: ✦ Led end-to-end product design and successfully shipped the SAP SuccessFactors Learning (LMS) platform, used by millions of people globally. ✦ Designed digital and physical user experiences for autonomous electric vehicles, showcased at CES Las Vegas, Geneva International Motor Show, Shanghai Auto Show, and Detroit Auto Show. ✦ Created a patented UX design for the Fiat 500X in-vehicle infotainment platform, unveiled at CES Las Vegas. ✦ Designed an award-winning AI-powered animal recognition feature’s UX for the Georgia Aquarium mobile app. ✦ Created the UX for a digital pill mobile companion app, achieved 96% satisfaction for patients and caregivers. Product Engineering Achievements: ✦ Co-led product design and development, engineered components, designed, tested and validated an optimized small-scale manufacturing workflow using FDM 3D printing, and shipped a water dispensing system for Elequatico. ✦ Published functional design models on Printables.com with over 400 downloads.​​​​​​​ ## Work Experience ### Co-Founder / Lead UX Designer @ Unknown Jan 2023 – Present | San Jose, CA • Co-founded cross-platform, multi-user, AI-powered storytelling and educational apps for Pre-K children and their parents. • Co-led competitor analysis, product management, planning, positioning, and roadmap. • Led end-to-end product design, UX, information architecture, wireframes, illustrations, user flows, animations, and brand identity. Delivered interactive Figma and Swift prototypes. Collaborated on UX and visual design with other co-founding designers. • Architected design system in Figma: design tokens, component library, scalable across mobile, tablet, and web. • Designed UX around multi-modal generative AI models. Architected, tested and built reliable AI workflow: prompt engineering, Python scripts for automated assets (image, text, voice) generation via APIs, multi-layered safety architecture for children's content. • Co-led data architecture, data base design, and backend setup on Google Firebase and Functions. • Built key screens in Swift for iOS. Gained the knowledge and expertise in Xcode, Swift, and the iOS app development lifecycle. MVP ready app launched in Apple TestFlight. Customized Squarespace template for the marketing website with custom HTML/CSS. ### Product Development Engineer @ Unknown Jan 2021 – Present | San Jose, CA • Co-led product design, engineered components, tested, validated and shipped final water dispensing system for Elequatico, commercial product now available on Etsy, Amazon, Shopify storefronts. • Designed, tested and validated small-scale manufacturing workflow using FDM 3D printing technology. • Performed structural testing, stress testing, and quality validation of 3D-printed parts to ensure manufacturing reliability. Identified potential failure modes in design and manufacturing process, documented risks, and implemented corrective actions to improve product reliability. • Performed Gage R&R studies to verify measurement system consistency and dimensional tolerances. • Hands-on experience with 3D printing, CNC machining, woodworking, resin casting, injection molding tooling and other fabrication methods for small-scale production and rapid prototyping. • Created production-ready models using CAD software (Autodesk Fusion 360, Shapr3D). • Designed and manufactured 3D-printable educational board games, and functional products. • Published functional design models on Printables.com with 380+ downloads. • Designed 3D printable art models using 3D modeling tools (Blender, Nomad Sculpt). ### Senior User Experience Design Specialist @ SAP SuccessFactors Jan 2022 – Jan 2024 | Palo Alto, CA • Led end-to-end design and shipped large-scale, multi-user, cross-platform enterprise products, employee compliance tools, developer and admin tools, improved user task completion by 80%, and achieved 95% CSAT with the new SAP SuccessFactors Learning platform post-launch. • Architected design systems, built component and style libraries, created design tokens, maintained and documented Fiori design libraries, improved internal design processes, reduced design delivery time by 45%. • Delivered interactive, high-fidelity Figma prototypes, secured $12M+ in new business with 3 major US-based enterprise clients in 1 month. • Led accessibility-first design approach, followed WCAG standards, delivered A11y annotations, created inclusive and accessible UX design. • Designed a scalable UX for Gen AI tools integration into forms' text fields, increased HR tool users’ productivity by 60%. • Led user research, design testing, and validation initiatives, leveraged data-driven design process, achieved 98% customer adoption rates across new features of the Learning platform in 2 months post-launch. • Mentored junior designers and facilitated cross-functional team collaboration. ### Senior UX Designer @ Neato Robotics Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 | San Jose, CA • Designed AI-powered notifications feature for a consumer robotics app, increased user engagement by 55% and boosted new robot accessories sales by 25% in 3 months. • Established design processes, architected design systems, built component libraries, reduced design cycle time by 80%, developer hand-off time by 40%, and improved cross-team collaboration in 6 months. • Co-directed production of the user education content, reduced support tickets by 38% and increased user satisfaction by 70% in 6 months. • Designed robot behavior patterns and human-robot interaction UX patterns. • Led a remote cross-functional team of 3 people. ### Senior UX Designer @ Unknown Jan 2021 – Jan 2021 | San Jose, California, United States • Collaborated with Twitch and YouTube creators to develop streaming overlays, intro, alerts, scene transition animations, and emotes. • Produced digital VFX, procedural VFX, practical VFX, original music compositions, and animations. ### Senior Designer @ HARMAN International Jan 2015 – Jan 2020 | Mountain View, CA • Led end-to-end design, built design systems, and created interactive prototypes for HARMAN Ignite connected car and vehicle fleet management platform with successful deployments with Sprint, AT&T, Audi, Nissan, achieved 4.8/4.7 app ratings in 3 months post-launch for Sprint Drive. • Created a patented UX design for the Fiat's 500X in-vehicle infotainment system, showcased at CES Las Vegas 2017. ​​• Designed digital and physical UX for autonomous electric vehicles, in-vehicle infotainment and digital instrument cluster systems, and companion apps showcased at CES Las Vegas, Geneva Motor Show, Shanghai Auto Show, Detroit Auto Show in 2016-2019. • Created UX design for the Proteus Digital Health digital pill mobile companion app, achieved 96% new features satisfaction for patients, caregivers, and clinicians. • Designed an award-winning AI animal recognition feature for Georgia Aquarium mobile app, reduced visitors’ reliance on paper-based guides by 90%, and reduced visitors' reliance on staff to answer questions. • Created UX and visual designs for in-vehicle infotainment and digital instrument cluster systems, connected car platforms, vehicles fleet management platforms, interactive prototypes, and car companion apps for Audi, Honda, Fiat, Toyota, Nissan, Ford, Subaru, Genesis, and others. • Designed physical UX interaction patterns for in-vehicle controls and portable Bluetooth speakers. • Architected scalable UX design solutions and design systems, interactive prototypes, simplified user workflows for complex, multi-user, data-heavy, large- and small-scale platforms for Entrust, RedBend, Conviva, HARMAN, and others. • Developed semi-automated workflows, reduced UI assets and design specs delivery time by 50%. • Led a Mozilla Firefox OS platform UX redesign, built design systems, adapted touch-based navigation to keyboard-based navigation for US-based cellular carriers’ accessible feature phones product line. • Led and mentored a remote team of 2 junior designers. ### Senior Designer @ HARMAN International Jan 2015 – Jan 2015 | Nizhny Novgorod, Russia • Led a Mozilla Firefox OS platform UX redesign, built design systems, adapted touch-based navigation to keyboard-based navigation for US-based cellular carriers’ accessible feature phones product line. • Designed digital user experiences for Android-based custom mobile operating systems and digital platforms, produced UI assets, and architected design systems for Alcatel, Micromax, TCL, Verizon, Vodafone, Vertu, Nokia and others. • Implemented design processes, improved developer specifications delivery methods, improved collaboration efficiency between global design and development teams. • Delivered a robust UX design solution for a cross-platform mobile-to-desktop connectivity app. • Designed UX for in-vehicle infotainment systems and vehicle companion apps for Subaru and others. ### Senior Test Engineer @ HARMAN International Jan 2013 – Jan 2015 | Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia • Tested mobile device connectivity, software, firmware, and hardware for Android-based mobile devices including Vertu, Nokia, HTC, and other OEM devices. • Performed DFU (Device Firmware Update) and FOTA (Firmware Over-The-Air) testing and validation. • Developed comprehensive test cases, test plans, and testing procedures for software, hardware, and firmware validation. Managed version control using Perforce (P4). • Performed smoke, system, feature, regression, compatibility, ad-hoc, and performance testing for mobile applications and hardware. • Executed test cases in compliance with requirements and documented defects. • Conducted failure mode analysis on mobile device hardware issues, identified patterns in defect data. • Performed root cause analysis and documented defects with detailed technical reports in JIRA. • Developed testing process documentation and organized training for other employees. • Reviewed design specifications and requirements from customers. • Worked with development teams and customers to clarify design questions and ensure application functionality met requirements. • Delivered a robust UX design solution for a cross-platform mobile-to-desktop connectivity app. • Designed digital user experiences for Android-based custom mobile operating systems and digital platforms, produced UI assets, and architected design systems for Alcatel, Micromax, TCL, Verizon, Vodafone, Vertu, Nokia and others. • Produced platform-specific UX and visual design assets, wireframes, animations, sketches, mockups, redlines, design specifications, and style guides for software applications. ### Test Engineer @ MERA Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 | Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia • Performed firmware and hardware testing for stationary IP telephony devices, USB headsets, and DFU Tools for Avaya, Cisco and Jabra. • Developed comprehensive test cases, test plans, and testing procedures for software, hardware, and firmware validation. Managed version control using Perforce (P4). • Performed smoke, system, feature, regression, compatibility, ad-hoc, and performance testing for mobile applications and hardware. • Performed root cause analysis and documented defects with detailed technical reports in JIRA. • Analyzed test data and metrics to identify failure patterns and improve product quality. • Collaborated with software, firmware and hardware engineering teams to resolve defects and implement corrective actions. • Delivered UX and Visual designs, concepts, animations, mockups, assets, ideas and UX improvements for Mobile apps for various mobile platforms: iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, BREW. ### Information Technology Engineer @ MERA Jan 2011 – Jan 2013 | Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia • Tested software and hardware for GPS navigation systems for TCS, Telefonica O2, Verizon. • Used testing tools including SecureCRT, PUTTY, SQLdeveloper, software emulators (Android, RIM BlackBerry, QNX, BREW), hardware emulators (CDMA box, Faraday cage), SDK (Android, Samsung, QNX, BREW). • Optimized server-side testing procedures for VZ Navigator's 3D Cities feature, reducing testing lead times by 55%, improving accuracy through systematic variation of test parameters and statistical validation of results. • Developed comprehensive test cases, test plans, and testing procedures for software, hardware, and firmware validation. Managed version control using Perforce (P4). • Performed smoke, system, feature, regression, compatibility, ad-hoc, and performance testing for mobile applications and hardware. • Performed root cause analysis and documented defects with detailed technical reports in JIRA. • Designed and executed experiments to validate test procedures and establish pass/fail thresholds for hardware validation, improving test reliability and reducing false failures. • Analyzed test data and metrics to identify failure patterns and improve product quality. • Developed testing process documentation and organized training for other employees. • Collaborated with software, firmware and hardware engineering teams to resolve defects and implement corrective actions. • Delivered UX and Visual designs, concepts, animations, mockups, assets, ideas and UX improvements for Mobile apps for various mobile platforms: iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, BREW. ### Designer @ Unknown Jan 2010 – Jan 2013 | Nizhny Novgorod • Delivered UX and Visual designs for websites, smart devices, iOS and Android mobile apps, concepts, HTML prototypes, animations, custom iconography, mockups, and design specs for diverse international and local B2C, B2B, and NGO companies. • Designed and curated brand identity, delivered high-impact marketing materials, including custom business cards, product labels, business forms, flyers, and booklets for local and international customers. • Architected the UX design for an Android-based Smart TV entertainment platform, pioneered a new entertainment platform design and intuitive remote-based navigation patterns for TV interfaces. • Demonstrated exceptional project management capabilities and successfully delivered multiple high-priority projects with 100% client satisfaction rate and zero deadline misses. ### Technical Support Specialist @ CMIKI Garant Jan 2011 – Jan 2011 | Nizhny Novgorod • Delivered technical support for cryptographic infrastructure, including digital signature management, security tokens, and encryption keys administration for electronic marketplace operations. • Maintained legal, technical, and support documentation to ensure regulatory compliance and operational continuity. • Deployed and administered cryptographic security systems, managing the full lifecycle of digital signatures and authentication tokens across electronic marketplace platforms. • Partnered with C-suite executives, directors, and managers to resolve technical issues, coordinate software implementations, and streamline marketplace registration processes. • Created persuasive marketing materials for cryptographic token sales that drove measurable revenue growth for the sales department. • Developed professional graphic design assets, including business card layouts and corporate identity materials. ## Education ### Master's degree in Computer Graphics State University of Nizhni Novgorod named after N.I. Lobachevsky (UNN) ### Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology State University of Nizhni Novgorod named after N.I. Lobachevsky (UNN) ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/lexmikhailov - Portfolio: https://alex-mikhailov.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/alekseim JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/alekseim/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13