Staff Product Designer
Christopher Koziol, Staff Product Designer. Structure. Logic.Craft.
From first principles to production. No design theatre.
Selected work
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Designing Schema-First
A schema-first database with a complex core model. My job was to make it legible.
View project -
Rebuilding Product Architecture
Series C startup - the team scaled, the product didn't. My job was to bring it back together.
View project -
Crafting the Mindfulness Browser
A mindfulness browser for Windows and macOS. My job was to design its foundations.
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About
I’m Christopher. Over 20 years in product design, I’ve worked across early startups, scaleups, and enterprise teams - usually where product complexity, unclear systems, and high craft standards meet.
I own design end-to-end - from structure and product logic to systems, interaction, and polish. I’ve been doing this long enough to move quickly through ambiguity and focus on what works.
I’ve built and fixed products backed by investors like Techstars and SoftBank. I’m also part of A.Team, where I help evaluate product builders.
When direction is unclear, I define it. That’s usually why I’m hired.
FAQ
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What kind of work are you open to?
High-ownership product design roles, Staff or Principal IC tracks, design lead roles, and serious independent engagements.
The format matters less than the work. I care about complex product problems, sharp execution, and real influence on what ships.
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How do you work?
I work across the full path from product idea to shipped interface - structure, UX, UI, systems, prototypes, specs, and implementation detail.
I’m a designer with enough engineering fluency to improve the way product work actually moves: design tokens, Storybook, component logic, AI-assisted workflows, and the handoff layer between design and build.
Async by default. I keep decisions visible through written updates, annotated frames, short recordings, and working artifacts instead of turning progress into process.
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What about visual design?
Visual craft is part of the job. I work across product structure, interaction, systems, UI quality, brand expression, marketing surfaces, and motion when needed. My focus is making products feel clear, coherent, precise, and ready to ship.
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How do you use AI in your work?
As leverage. Not as a substitute for taste.
I use it to speed up copy, exploration, synthesis, documentation, prototypes, and code. It removes drag from the work, but it does not decide what is good, what matters, or what should ship.
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What kind of problems do you like?
Complex domains where the model is not obvious yet. Products that need structure. Interfaces that need to become simpler, sharper, and more coherent. Fuzzy problems that need to become buildable.
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What are you not a fit for?
Cosmetic-only design work, pitch decks with no path to shipping, and environments where process matters more than product quality.
I’m best suited to work where clear thinking, strong craft, and forward motion matter.
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Where are you based?
Poland, CET. I work comfortably with companies across Europe and the US.