CV

Senior Product Designer

With 7+ years of experience in product design and management, I thrive in agile work environments where the user is prioritized and collaboration is key. I have a track record of elevating user experiences through visual consistency, user advocacy and stakeholder involvement.

Portrait of Octavia Sirbu

Design Education in Scandinavia

As a big lover of Scandinavian Design at 18 years old I moved abroadto pursue design studies in Denmark

Octavia Sirbu at Syddansk Universitet graduation, holding an SDU folder
Graduation at the University of Southern Denmark in June 2022
  • MSc in IT Product Design

    University of Southern Denmark

    Denmark

    UX and Graphic Designer (Part-time)

    Universal Robots A/S

    Student job during my studies

  • Digital Design

    University College Lillebælt

    Denmark

    Digital Designer (Part-time)

    Monsenso

    Student job during my studies

Work Experience

  • Lead Product Designer

    Nabogo ApS · carpooling, web / iOS / Android

    Full-time · Scale-up

    Nabogo is a carpooling app used in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands. I led product design across web and mobile.

    • Set UX strategy against user needs and business goals, and owned the work from concept to launch.
    • Kept decisions user-centred through research and testing, working closely with product, engineering, and stakeholders.
    • Measured impact, then improved the product with design reviews, usability checks, and QA.
    • Designed scalable UI in Figma and maintained shared libraries and the design system.
    • 1.5x Activation, DK
    • ~2x Fewer components
    • −50% Journey complexity
  • UX / UI Designer

    University of Southern Denmark · employee intranet

    Full-time · University

    Designed and coordinated a new staff intranet through stakeholder workshops, interviews, usability testing, Figma prototyping, and close collaboration with development.

    • −50% Fewer pages
    • 300+ Stakeholders

Entrepreneurship Experience

Co-founded Rotoy ApS, an EdTech startup that helps children start STEM learning early through coding missions woven into storytelling.

Octavia Sirbu presenting on stage at a Rotoy entrepreneurship event

€70,000

Raised

  • Co-founder and Lead Designer

    Rotoy ApS, EdTech startup

    Led design and process ownership, secured 500,000 DKK (~70,000 EUR) funding, and guided student and part-time contributors across design, development, and events.

    • Directed end-to-end UX and product design, working with the CTO to supervise cross-functional teams.
    • Launched a new brand website with a bolder visual identity, Stripe-integrated shop, and SEO-ready content to support growth.
    • Supported funding applications and business development by turning product vision and user impact into clear strategic roadmaps.
    • Ran interviews, workshops, and usability tests with children, parents, and educators to keep decisions user-centred.
    • Built high-fidelity Figma prototypes and React components for consistent design and smoother developer handoff.
    • Designed physical packaging and robot casing, and evolved the brand's visual identity.

Freelance Experience in Scandinavia ⚓

Octavia Sirbu on the Nyhavn quay in Copenhagen at sunset
Afterwork in Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Digital Designer and Web Dev

    Freelance

    2 years 5 months

    Designed websites, brand guides and visual identity for small businesses, as well as social media templates, ads, infographics, illustrations, product shot photography, promotional materials (flyers, posters, etc.) and Power Point presentations.

    • Woomio ApS (SaaS scale-up in influencer marketing in Copenhagen, Denmark)
    • Student House (Danish Student Organisation)
    • Walk With Path (MedTech startup in Copenhagen, Denmark)
    • O'Town Garage (Makerspace organization in Denmark)
    • Sundt Vælg (Event organized by InspireU Events in Odense, Denmark)
    • Other local businesses in Denmark

Erasmus Internship in Stuttgart, Germany

Team at Hackathon Stuttgart 2017 holding the Best Pitch Clean Car award certificate
Hackathon Stuttgart Competition, 2017
  • Graphic Design and Communication Student (Erasmus)

    Bosch · Internship

    Stuttgart Region · 6 months

    • Creating visual content (PPT presentations and infographics) for the Automotive Electronics department.
    • Coordinating company events for different company stakeholders (OEMs and other business collaborators).
    • Competed at Hackathon Stuttgart 2017 and won the Best Pitch Award (1.000 €) for Clean Car by creating a working prototype of an AI voice app for the car dashboard. The project was a use case from Car2Go, a startup later purchased by Daimler GmbH.

What I've worked with along the way

Design process

  • User research
  • Competitive audit
  • Behavioral analytics
  • JTBD
  • Workshops
  • Surveys
  • Personas
  • User journeys
  • Prototyping
  • Usability testing

Design production

  • Figma
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Design systems
  • Component libraries
  • UX writing
  • Motion

Engineering

  • React
  • Vue
  • TypeScript
  • HTML / CSS
  • Implementing translations
  • POEditor
  • QA testing
  • Hosting
  • CICD

AI & automation

  • Claude
  • MCP
  • Perplexity
  • Midjourney
  • Cursor

Data & analytics

  • SQL
  • Amplitude
  • PostHog
  • Hotjar
  • Google Analytics
  • Power BI
  • A/B testing

Languages

  • English

    Cambridge Advanced English (C1) Examination

    British Council · Jun 2012

    Fluent
  • French

    Intermediate
  • Danish

    Upper Intermediate
  • Romanian

    Native

Certifications

  • Customer Journey Management

    Nielsen Norman Group

    Credential ID 1089743

  • Project Management - Leading and facilitating project processes in big organisations (2 ECTS)

    Syddansk Universitet - University of Southern Denmark

    Skills: Conflict Resolution, Project Management

  • Conducting Usability Testing

    IxDF - Interaction Design Foundation

    Credential ID 144226-2023-949950

  • Data-Driven Design: Quantitative Research for UX

    IxDF - Interaction Design Foundation

    Credential ID 144226 · Skills: A/B Testing, Quantitative Research

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