01 Commercial work
Jolly Phonics
A full redesign of a phonics app used by millions of children, rebuilt around how kids actually process colour, shape and play.
Welcome
Hi, I'm Barbara. I turn complex human behaviour into interfaces that just feel right .
With a master's degree in Applied Psychology and 2+ years of commercial experience designing real-world products across learning and everyday work, I bring a rare mix of empathy and precision to every project.
Most recently: a full redesign of a children’s phonics app with 9M+ downloads, and a B2B scanning app designed end to end, from first wireframes to developer handoff.
01
Selected work
Case study · 2024–2026 · Mobile
Jolly Phonics,
reimagined.
Role Product Designer
Company Jolly Learning
Year 2024–2026
Platform iOS · Android
Watch it change
Before & after
All four screens start on the original design and redraw into the redesign as they scroll into view.
9M+ Downloads of the Jolly Phonics app worldwide
Problem
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The app hadn't been updated in over a decade: design patterns were obsolete
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Text dominated an interface designed for children who are still learning to read
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Muted colours, sparse imagery, no sense of play or reward
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Navigation flow through a lesson wasn't intuitive enough for young children
Process
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Workshops with the company owner, listening to his vision while questioning priorities and constraints
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Complex research on apps like Duolingo as a key reference for engagement patterns
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Workshops with a Senior UX Designer, debating features and colour direction together
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Ongoing collaboration with the dev team, consulting feasibility before committing to solutions
Psychology in practice
- Shape preference
maximally rounded, soft forms throughout. Research shows curved shapes are perceived as friendlier. In children this tendency is especially strong. Not an aesthetic choice: a UX decision.
- Stimulus hierarchy
children at this age process the world primarily through colour and imagery, not text. Iconography and colour always take centre stage.
- Multi-audience architecture
the app serves three user groups: child, parent, teacher. Each has different needs. The architecture balances all three without overwhelming any.
Impact
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Visual hierarchy now leads with imagery and colour, matching how children at this age actually process information
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Lesson navigation simplified: fewer steps and clearer signposting for young learners
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Architecture that genuinely serves three audiences (children, parents, teachers) without overwhelming any one of them
02 Commercial work
Business Card Scanner
A business card scanner that hides complex OCR behind an effortless scan, review and save flow, designed for a broad B2B audience.
Case study · 2023–2024 · Mobile
Business Card Scanner,
built around trust.
Role UX/UI Designer
Company Utopia Software
Year 2023–2024
Platform Mobile · B2B
Context & role
Utopia Software. A business card scanner built on OCR.
Users: professionals who leave every meeting with another stack of cards.
The job: scan a card, keep the contact, never lose it again.
My role: the full UI, for people of very different ages and technical confidence.
Challenge
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OCR technology is powerful but invisible: users don't see how it works, they only feel whether it does
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Making a technically complex process feel effortless: point, scan, done
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Contact management and navigation had to feel natural across a wide age range
My approach
- Friction reduction
every screen had one clear purpose. No unnecessary decisions, no dead ends at any step of the core flow: scan, review, save
- Trust design
the scanning moment had to communicate confidence. Users needed to feel the scan worked before committing to save
- Dev collaboration
close work with developers to ensure design accounted for the real behaviour of the OCR engine. Technical constraints shaped design decisions
Results
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Learned that mobile OCR is mostly feedback design: every uncertain moment (focus, parsing, save) needs its own visible confirmation before trust breaks
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Designing for an invisible technology built my ability to communicate trust through interface alone
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Strengthened ability to communicate design decisions clearly to both technical and business stakeholders
03 Concept project
Eventz
A concept app for discovering live music events and festivals, built around a bold, high-energy neon interface.
04 Concept project
BEMIND
A concept wellness app for tracking workouts and daily activity, wrapped in a calm, encouraging interface.
05 Concept project
Vincio
A concept web platform for exploring and learning about art: long-reads, videos, quizzes and a community, wrapped in a warm, gallery-dark interface.
02
Where I've worked
- 2024–2026
Jolly Learning
Product DesignerRedesigned the Jolly Phonics app (9M+ downloads) from wireframes to high-fidelity UI, applying child-development psychology and supporting QA with UX and app-flow reviews.
- 2023–2024
Utopia Software
UX/UI DesignerDesigned a B2B business-card scanning app built on OCR end to end: from first wireframes to developer handoff, covering the scanning, contact management and navigation flows. Also supported the company's visual identity across digital products and marketing assets.
- since 2023
Freelance
Graphic & Brand DesignerBrand, logo and graphic design projects, running alongside and after my product roles.
About me
Good design is mostly knowing what to leave out.
I am a UX/UI designer based in Kraków who focuses on the interface itself: its structure, its rhythm, and the choices that quietly make it work for the person on the other side. A master's in Applied Psychology sharpens that read, but stays in the background of the craft.
I care about clarity, hierarchy, and intention. Every spacing decision, every label, every transition has to earn its place. The best products feel inevitable, like they couldn't have been designed any other way. That's the bar I aim for, project after project.
Visual & UI Design
Crafting interfaces that are both beautiful and functional. Consistent design systems that scale.
Figma High-fidelity UI Design systems Claude Photoshop Colour theory
User research Wireframing User flows Prototyping Interaction design Usability testing
UX & Product Design
Turning ambiguous problems into clear, structured interfaces. From early discovery to polished interactions. Always designing for real people.
Collaboration & Process
Working closely with developers, testers and business stakeholders. Translating design decisions into clear handoffs that actually get built right.
Developer handoff Jira Stakeholder workshops QA collaboration Agile / Scrum
03
Design meets psychology
I'm a UX/UI designer from Kraków, and a graduate of Applied Psychology at Jagiellonian University. That combination is no coincidence. Understanding how people think, decide and feel shapes every interface decision I make.
Skills & tools
Cognitive psychologyBehavioural patternsMental modelsGestalt principlesCognitive load theoryHick's lawUser motivationEmotional design
Freelance practice
Brand designLogo designCarouselsPhoto editingGraphic design
Location Kraków, Poland
Education Applied Psychology, JU
Languages
PL Native
EN C1
FR A2
SV A1
Who am I?
- What I stand for
- Room to grow, teams that value empathy and respect, good communication.
- Outside of work
- Painting, sculpting, fashion design (as if I didn't have enough clothes already), music, analyzing people.
- Also me
- Always thinking of a better way something could be designed for a user, from design systems to a door handle.
04