Kit Oliynyk
Kit Oliynyk

I design for humans and machines.

Over the past 20 years I’ve delivered multi-million enterprise projects, coached, managed and mentored over 100 designers, helping them grow into leaders themselves. I’ve worked across industries, from financial institutions to government agencies, shaping work that’s good for users and good for the business. I’ve been a design leader, a mentor, public speaker and writer, a product designer, an inventor, a consultant, a non-profit founder, a karate black belt and a loving father of three.

Product and Agentic Design Leadership

I’ve consistently delivered results that matter. At PadSplit, I rebuilt the home page on a new brand for +15% conversion. At OneMain Financial, I led the loan application redesign for a 50% increase in conversion and a 15-point NPS gain. At Fannie Mae, I drove $5–10M+ applications with 3x savings in development costs through an enterprise design system. At the Department of Veterans Affairs, a workflow and form builder saved $18M.

AI & Design Innovation

I build with AI, I don’t just talk about it. At PadSplit I built an AI-native design system that AI agents read to generate on-brand UI, shipped straight to code (cutting one build from a month to under a week). I also lead design at Answersfrom.me, an AI-native knowledge platform. Black belt in Figma and design systems (not just karate).

Building & Leading Teams

I’ve hired, managed, and coached 100+ designers, many now leading teams of their own. I’m an ADPList Top 100 UX Design Mentor (2026) with 1,000+ pro-bono mentoring minutes. At Fannie Mae I launched a division-wide UX Community of Practice, training 200+ employees to 35% adoption of UX methods.

Brand & Org Impact

At PadSplit I led a company rebrand from concept to production in 3 months and grew the design team to six, with one promotion to senior and eight planned by year-end. I drove brand adoption across sales, marketing, CX, and leadership. Earlier I built the enterprise design brand for a 450+ designer org at Capital One.

Case studies

PadSplit homepage hero with a rotating headline

AI-first Design Strategy

AI-native design system that agents read to generate on-brand UI, shipped to code (cutting build time from a month to a week).

  • +15% conversion on the rebuilt home page
  • 4× faster component builds
  • 3 months to redesign brand
ACheck loan verification app for Fannie Mae, scrolling the nomination detail screen

Commercial Lending SaaS

Loan verification B2B app for risk and compliance.

  • 3× dev-cost savings
  • 9.3 avg. stakeholder rating

Also check out OneMain Financial’s highly successful acquisitions flow, Fannie Mae applications for commercial lenders and the Department of Veterans Affairs $18M-saving workflow/form builder.

As a leader, I’m happily sharing my experiences with other designers and technologists. I’ve mentored over 100 designers, I speak at design and tech conferences, and I write articles about product design, management, philosophy and ethics.

  • I really enjoyed my session with Kit. I especially loved the metaphors he used to approach complex problems from new perspectives. He was quick, insightful, and very supportive with every topic I brought up. His experience really shows, and at the same time, he’s incredibly approachable and enjoyable to talk to. A very valuable session!

    Vanina A.UX & Product Design Lead, Banco SupervielleSep 2026
  • Kit has an immense amount of industry knowledge that would be valuable to any designer at any level. His feedback is packed with lots of evidences and examples to learn from and apply to so many areas of product design and job search.

    Paloma NingthoujamProduct Designer, TeachFXSep 2026
  • I had an outstanding experience with my mentor. Their amazing communication and deep subject knowledge made complex concepts easy to understand. They provided incredible motivation and effective problem-solving strategies that truly inspired me. I highly recommend booking a session with this mentor if you're looking for guidance that exceeds expectations. Their support has been invaluable

    Deny SeptianFreelancerSep 2026
  • My mentoring call with Kit was very insightful and I came away from very clear understanding on how to tailor my portfolio and how to market myself as a competitor in the industry. He help me understand how the design market is like now, and how to better proposition myself and areas to improve. I am very glad that I had the opportunity to get his advice and looking forward to getting more mentorship from him the future!

    Liana RegoProduct Designer, CencoraSep 2026
  • Kit is an excellent mentor. Thank you so much for such a detailed and thoughtful session. He paid close attention to how I think, asked very precise questions, and then showed me how he would approach the same problem himself. The session really changed my perspective on how experienced designers approach product problems. I learned a very useful technique for designing user experience: how to understand the product more deeply, think from the user’s perspective, immerse yourself in the context

    YevheniiStudent, It stapSep 2026
  • Kit is personable, encouraging, and has a great sense of humor. Drawing from more than 20 years of professional experience, he shared valuable insights that gave me the confidence to recognize my strengths and move forward in my career. He gave me perspectives that shifted the way I approach my relationship with jobs completelyy and made me feel not alone.

    Connie WongContent Designer, Alaska AirlinesSep 2026
  • Big thanks to Kit for an insightful mentorship session! He completely reframed how I view my transition into a UX Manager, shifting my focus from design execution to mitigating risk, shielding my team, and being their biggest support system. His advice on building trust through generosity: giving help first without expecting anything in return, and fostering strong partnerships with PMs and tech leads resonated deeply with me. I'm truly grateful for his wisdom, clarity, and warm encouragement!

    Remi YauLead UX Designer, GovTechSep 2026
  • Kit pointed me to the core of the problem that I have brought to the session. I walked out with both fresh insights, valuable professional advice, and most importantly — deep question that I need to figure out myself. He don’t just gives you want you want. He gives you what you actually need. Thank you, Kit!

    Nikolay ShevchenkoUI/UX designer, NKD studioAug 2026
  • Kit's amazing honestly. I think he is so clear and so honest. You come out of the session really understanding how you can improve, what's missing in your work/career path and what steps you need to take. He has a lot of knowledge, a lot of experience in many different areas to give you the resources and the ways to solve your questions. He goes above and beyond, making sure you get what you need out of the session. Excited to keep working with him!

    Alonso RosadoProduct Designer, SchooxJun 2026
  • Kit's the kind of guy you want in your corner. He and I discuss the current state of design, ideas for positioning myself, and more. All in all, so worth the time and I'll be back!

    Steve ArringtonDirector of Product Design, BrivoMar 2026
  • I had an outstanding experience with my mentor, who provided amazing communication and motivation throughout our session. Their deep subject knowledge and exceptional problem-solving skills helped me understand how to effectively progress forward in my goals. I highly recommend booking a session with this mentor if you're seeking guidance that truly exceeds expectations. Their support

    Gevinn SingarajahIndustrial Design, MAIMar 2026
  • Kit is an excellent mentor who helped me with many parts of hiring in the design field. He gave a great — and most importantly, honest — review of my portfolio as a product designer. With him you will at least: structure your case studies, increase the chance that your applications turn into interviews, and understand your weak spots so you can improve them. If you need an honest (which is important for growth) and effective mentor for your career, I warmly recommend Kit.

    Robert GarmazaLead Product Designer, IZDAT Venture StudioMar 2026
  • I had fantastic repeated sessions with Kit. Our conversations were goal-oriented, practical, and insightful. His attention to detail and his experience in the design industry really helped me navigate some of my portfolio and application gaps. He starts with understanding the mentee and then gives advice, followed by actionable items and examples.

    ojas guptaProduct Designer, BayerFeb 2026
  • I had a great mentorship session with Kit! Our conversation was thoughtful, practical, and very supportive. Kit asked the right questions and helped me see my challenges from a new perspective. I left the session feeling more confident and motivated, and I’m especially grateful for the advice on my interview and self-presentation skills.

    Hanna KharinskaProduct designer, Startup in Solar energy industryFeb 2026
  • This was my first session with Kit and I'm excited to continue my mentorship with him in the future. As someone who appreciates honesty, Kit has a fun way of being candid while helping you achieve your goals within reason. I'm excited to see the progression of our mentorship both from a job search level but also a professional in her career managing various perspectives as she designs her products and their execution as a product manager.

    Megana ChinalachaiagariProduct Manager, Fannie MaeFeb 2026
  • Kit listens to understand; shows a path. Had a good time and learning with him, and love how he frames his guidance in the form of examples!

    Aniruddha SainkarStudent, Northeastern UniversityDec 2025
  • I had an outstanding experience with Kit, an amazing mentor who truly excels in communication, motivation, subject knowledge, and problem-solving. His pragmatic approach helped me gain real solutions and insights for my professional growth and job search. Kit's kindness and integrity made our sessions even more enjoyable. I highly recommend booking

    Mei MUX designer, One Main FinancialNov 2025
  • I had an amazing and impressive session with Kit! His advice was extremely valuable during this transformative time in my career journey. He is truly a great leader - after our call, I felt energised and inspired to keep moving towards my goal, now with clear steps and a strong sense of direction.

    KristinaHead of Design | Design Recruiter, YappiNov 2025

My design approach

While I am happy to lead others, I am accustomed to contributing myself: as a strategic consultant, or simply as a fellow designer. To me, being a human experience designer means caring deeply about people and using my skills to make their lives better, help my company grow, and develop our society as the whole.

I’m a systems thinker.

My brain works in frameworks, journey maps, and complex integrated systems at large scale. I move easily across the zoom levels of a design project: from huge enterprise ecosystems and data streams down to small UI components and design patterns. It all matters to me, and I love how those things fit together in a product or service I’m designing.

I start with “why”.

I start every design project by clearly defining a problem we’re trying to solve for the people, as well as the business objectives this project is trying to achieve. I’m also thoughtful about the design ethics, and the impact this project might have on the sustainability of our human society as a whole.

I blaze trails.

I love starting from scratch, and I love working on some big hairy problems. I don’t like to move fast and break things, but I sure love to learn fast. I prototype something quickly (with Figma, AI or just paper) to get collaborative insights and validate the idea as soon as possible, then iterate on the solution.

For five years I ran my own studio: a fully remote team of designers, researchers, and engineers delivering hundreds of projects worldwide, from enterprise apps to brand and marketing sites, on time and on budget. More of it lives on Dribbble and Tumblr.

That’s my story.

Thanks for reading! Reach out anytime, I’m always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Email me at [email protected] or send me a message on X or LinkedIn.