(About)
I’m Velia, an independent product designer based in Lisbon. For ten years I have helped fintech, health and SaaS teams turn complicated ideas into products people understand at first glance.
I work with a small number of teams at a time, from the first workshop to the last pixel, and I stay close to the developers who build what I design.
10 yrs
Designing digital products
40+
Products shipped
3
Design awards
(Principles)
Clarity over cleverness
If a screen needs a tooltip to explain itself, the screen is wrong. I cut until the obvious path is the only path.
Ship, then polish
Real use beats a perfect prototype. I design for the first release, measure it and refine with real data.
Design alongside developers
Developers join from day one. Fewer handoff surprises, better ideas, and nothing designed that can’t ship.
(Experience)
2025–Now
Independent product designer
Product and design system work for early-stage teams in Europe and the US.
2022–2025
Lead product designer
Led a team of four through the analytics dashboard redesign and a new design system.
2020–2022
Senior product designer
Designed the iOS and Android apps from first prototype to two million downloads.
2018–2020
UI designer
Interfaces and launch sites for consumer brands, from fashion to home goods.
2016–2018
Junior designer
Learned the craft on banking and insurance websites, one careful page at a time.
(Toolkit)
Figma
Design and prototypes
Notion
Research and notes
Linear
Planning with devs
Jitter
Motion studies
Maze
Usability tests
(Kind words)
“Velia found the three questions our customers actually ask every morning, and built the product around them.”
DB
Daniel Brooks
CEO, Northwind
“She rewrote every notification with us. People stopped muting the app and started recommending it.”
ML
Mara Lindqvist
Head of Product, Pulse Health
“Our field teams finally write things down where it happens. Velia designed for muddy boots, not the office.”
JP
Jonah Pierce
Research Lead, Atlas
(Contact)