Hi! I’m Zahira,

Senior Product Designer

Hi! I’m Zahira,

Senior Product Designer

I love designing solutions to address business and user needs

by blending research, strategy, and technology through cross-collaboration

I love designing solutions to address business and user needs

by blending research, strategy, and technology through cross-collaboration

HOW I DO IT

👩🏻‍🏫

From Start to Finish

Knowing business goals, mapping user’s needs, planning how to get to the best solution… I travel the journey from start to finish, from discovering insights to delivering real outcomes

🤝

Better Together

Collaboration is the key, and communication is the driver. Building products is a cross-collaboration effort. As designer, I connect tech, business and people’s worlds.

🤓

Curious Mind

Research is my foundation, a base camp to come back to. Understand people, business, data, technical possibilities and constraints, and test assumptions, hypothesis, and solutions.

🎉

Fun at Heart

Enjoying the ride while being professional is how I roll, the cornerstone for my practice. Learn from each other and have a good time is the best stimulus to build successful products.

WORK

LATEST EXPERIENCES

2023 -2024

→ Lead Product Designer @Vista

→ Lead Product Designer @Vista

Design lead for the recommendations team, with over $90M annual bookings.

Design lead for the recommendations team, with over $90M annual bookings.

  • Built a holistic recommendations framework.

  • Led a multi-disciplinary design sprint.

  • Established the team’s design principles and vision.

  • Increased 500% user engagement (from 3% to 18%) in one week.

  • Contributed to the global design language.

2021 -2023

→ Senior Product Designer & Manager @Empathy.co

→ Senior Product Designer & Manager @Empathy.co

Led design innovation and a team of designers for a privacy-first B2B SaaS e-commerce search engine.

Led design innovation and a team of designers for a privacy-first B2B SaaS e-commerce search engine.

  • Founded the Futures innovation team with user-centered frameworks.

  • Reduced catalog onboarding from 6 months to 9 minutes.

  • Designed AI tools such as a recommendations configurator and synonym generator.

  • Led and mentored a team of 6 designers.

2018 -2021

→ Senior Product Designer @Telefónica Global Video

→ Senior Product Designer @Telefónica Global Video

Designed B2C multi-device Pay TV services for millions of daily users across international markets.

Designed B2C multi-device Pay TV services for millions of daily users across international markets.

  • Led AI-powered voice search in Telefónica’s mobile TV app.

  • Redesigned global menu architecture for the web service.

  • Developed a dual TV design system aligned with Telefónica’s global standards.

  • Covered full service lifecycle, from discovery to delivery, coordinating with multidisciplinar international teams.

ABOUT ME

I'm Zahira, a seasoned Product Designer with 12+ years of experience.

I've worked with multinationals, startups, and design consultancies, solving B2B and B2C complex problems across industries like telecom, insurance, e-commerce, and video platforms through user research, usability testing, and scalable visual and interaction designs.


With a focus on strategic thinking, I align product vision with cross-functional teams, fostering collaboration and communicating through storytelling. Guided by honesty, respect, and sustainability, my goal is to deliver impactful, responsible design solutions for any problem.


Outside work, you can find me digging for vinyl in a local record store, on a live music gig, talking about movies and books with friends, or maybe cooking a tasty recipe. Don’t be shy and say hello!

Zahira truly empathises with customers, understanding their needs, desires and challenges, while also understanding our complex product and business needs. An incredible collaborator, excelling in research, finding solutions to complex UX problems, and presenting complex concepts to a broad audience. Besides her outstanding design skills and ability to connect deeply with customers, I very much enjoyed the positive energy and creativity that Zahira brought to the team, making a long-lasting impact.


– Pauline Fransen, Senior Product Manager at Vistaprint

I truly enjoyed working with Zahira and seeing her grow with great energy. She's a people-oriented designer, very focused on research and acquiring a deep understanding of the customer problem, that thrives on challenging her team members until finding the right solution. Above all, her constant curiosity and positive attitude are her two most remarkable personal qualities.


– Borja Santaolalla, Co-founder and CXO at Empathy.co