Company: Tyk * Role: Product designer * Product: Saas, design system & branding.
Tyk is an API management platform used by developers and platform teams to securely connect and scale complex systems. When I joined, the product was powerful but fragmented: UI patterns were inconsistent, onboarding was lengthy and difficult to navigate, and teams lacked alignment on product experience. This created friction for new users trying to get started and slowed down internal delivery.
The core challenge was not just improving isolated flows, but bringing coherence to the overall experience. This meant aligning teams around shared user needs, simplifying key journeys, and introducing a scalable design foundation that could support the product’s continued growth.
I focused on three parallel tracks: driving product alignment, systemising design, and optimising onboarding. I led cross-functional workshops to align product, engineering, and design teams around user-centred goals, while mentoring junior designers to raise the overall quality and consistency of output. This helped shift the organisation toward a more cohesive, design-led approach.
In parallel, I led the creation of Tyk’s first design system, defining reusable components, interaction patterns, and accessibility standards. This established a shared language across teams and significantly improved consistency across the platform. Alongside this, I redesigned the onboarding experience by simplifying flows, improving hierarchy, and reducing cognitive load, enabling users to reach meaningful outcomes faster.
it’s all fun and games
These changes had a measurable impact. Onboarding time was reduced by approximately 60%, significantly improving activation and early user acquisition, while the overall journey became clearer and more intuitive. The design system accelerated delivery and ensured consistency across products, and stronger alignment between teams led to more effective decision-making and execution.
This work reinforced the importance of designing beyond individual screens — focusing instead on systems, alignment, and end-to-end journeys. By addressing both user experience and organisational structure, I helped transform Tyk into a more scalable, user-centred product, better equipped to support its technical complexity and future growth.
But the thing I’m most proud of is the launch of the very first Tyk “Space Invaders”, a mini videogame to entertain users while waiting for the (very long) onboarding deployment to finish. Because of this, engagement and retention increased, and overall satisfaction with our product improved with enthusiastic feedback.
