Kiryl Zhukouski

Design leader & builder

I’m a design leader who builds design systems, the teams and rituals around them, and, lately, products with AI. Design System Lead at Vonage; before that I led the design system team at GSK behind Omni, one system for 10+ product teams.

Available for work · Poznań, Poland

Experience2012 — Now
VonageCloud communications2025 — Now
GSKPharmaceuticals2021 — 2025
OkteinTechnology2020 — 2023
YouniSocial app2022
HiQo SolutionsSoftware development2017 — 2021
FreelanceIndependent2016 — 2021
69pixelsDesign studio2017
Grevtsov Publishing HousePublishing2015 — 2017
Lazer GraphicsPrint & graphics2015
DLC TanatosCreative studio2012 — 2014
How I lead04 — Principles

People

Led the design system team at GSK — up to five designers: set priorities, assigned work, mentored, while their line management sat elsewhere. I interview and recommend hires, and mentor at work and as a volunteer.

Process

Design System Weekly and quarterly planning at GSK, design QA built into Jira and Scrum, a design-request process at Vonage, and governance that gives teams room without losing consistency.

Knowledge

Created and host Eat.Sleep.Design.Repeat, a talk series for designers at Vonage. Organised learning sessions, meetups and workshops at HiQo Solutions, GSK and Vonage — and handed the mic to other designers.

Strategy

Align design-system roadmaps with business goals and present them to directors and VPs. Took Omni through compliance, brand and legal in a regulated pharmaceutical company.

What people say03 — Managers, peers, clients

“He’s been leading the Design System team for the last year or more and is an all round star. His knowledge of design system management is second to none.”

Jon WardenGlobal Director, UX, Design, Research & Product ManagementManaged Kiryl directly at GSK · Dec 2024

“His work is not only visually strong, but it’s rooted in the latest research and best practices, ensuring that every design decision is intentional and effective.”

Devon RoseGlobal Director, Commercial AI Product Portfolio, GSKWorked with Kiryl on the HCP portal and the design system · Feb 2025

“As our design lead [Kiryl] led, supported and delivered on ThinkTank’s intelligent stakeholder engagement software vision.”

Brianna FeeneyVP of Product, ThinkTankReference letter, on Kiryl as ThinkTank’s design lead, 2018 — 2020 · Feb 2021
Talks04 — Eat.Sleep.Design.Repeat

A regular session I created and host for designers at Vonage — design, AI and what we’re learning, with other designers invited to present their own work.

AI, in practice04 — Patterns, rules, products

I design AI experiences for real products, set the rules they follow, and build my own products with AI end to end.

Shipping05 — Live & in flight
DesignSystems.one ↗Design systems gallery & toolsWeb · 2024 — now Lottieto ↗Lottie → SVG / GIF converterWeb · 2025 — now FocusDropiOS focus app for ADHDiOS · 2026 ASOon ↗App Store Optimization trackerWeb · 2026 BriefiOS app for caregiversiOS · 2026
Skills12 — Core
Design LeadershipDesign SystemsAI Product DesignTeam LeadershipMentoringTalks & WorkshopsStakeholder AlignmentDesign StrategyDesign OpsInterviewingFigma & TokensAI-assisted Building

14+ years shipping products across healthcare, IoT, SaaS and e‑commerce. I bridge design strategy with hands-on craft — mentoring designers, aligning stakeholders, running the rituals a design system needs, and shaping how teams work together. Hands-on with AI-assisted development tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex) every day: my own products are designed with AI and built by AI.

Building a design team? Let’s talk.