Grab a coffee, get advice
Our mentors dedicate one hour every month to help you grow — through 1:1 career advice, portfolio feedback, and practical resources for designers.
Rafael Matos da Silva
Freelance Design Systems and Brand Identity Lead
Whether you’re refining a portfolio, improving a design system, exploring freelancing, structuring work in Figma, or figuring out your next career move, I’m happy to share feedback, perspective, and real-world experience. I help designers, freelancers, and product teams navigate what they’re building with stronger direction. Working across branding, UI/UX, design systems, and independent creative work with entrepreneurs, startups, SaaS companies, and agencies for over 20 years.
Artur Poluektov
Strategy & Marketing
I'm a strategy and marketing advisor. I ran a service design agency full of UX and service designers, and at Deloitte Digital I led mixed teams of designers, engineers, marketers and strategists, getting them to build the right thing together. So I've sat in your seat, and I've managed, hired and grown people in it. I've watched a lot of designers move up, and I know what moves them up. A few ways I'd love to help: ✦ Validate before you build. Work out who your project is really for, and whether anyone wants it, before you pour months into it. The customer belongs in the room from the start, not bolted on at the end. ✦ Grow what you've started. When you have some traction but aren't sure what's next: positioning, a clear offer, and where the demand actually is. ✦ Move up the ladder. I've managed and promoted designers, so I can help you frame your work for impact, tell your story to the people deciding, and aim for the role you want next. ✦ Work better across the table. How to collaborate with product managers, founders and stakeholders, speak the language of the business, and get your design work taken seriously where the decisions get made. ✦ Bridge design and growth. Connect what you make to how a company actually grows, the part most makers never get shown.
Pedro Moreira da Silva
Principal Product Designer at GitLab
I'm currently Principal Product Designer at GitLab, the leading platform for software development, and one of the largest all-remote orgs. I led GitLab's first agentic design sprint, shaped the UX vision for AI in the IDE, and contributed to putting GitLab in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for AI Code Assistants. Over the years, I've supported the growth of design from 5 to 30+ people — from early startup days through IPO and beyond. Before GitLab, I helped a startup grow 25% each month and hit #1 on Product Hunt. I also led design at a SaaS. As a player-coach, I turn fuzzy problems into clear directions and lead by example. I mentor, build culture, and stay close to the work. Hands-on and technical when it helps. Strategic and diplomatic when it matters. I can help with: ✦ Portfolio, CV and job hunting. ✦ Communication and public speaking. ✦ Collaboration, alignment and team structures. ✦ Business and selling design. ✦ AI in how you work. ✦ AI experiences. ✦ B2B, dev tooling, and software development products.
Sitara
Senior Product Designer at Usercentrics
Over eight years experience crafting digital products across a range of sectors in London, including B2B, B2C, nonprofits, startups, and fintech. With a background in fine art and web development, I draw from both of these to design with creativity, empathy and technical understanding. I love solving big, meaty problems using human-centred, data-driven design to produce solutions across every stage of the product lifecycle (and make them look beautiful too!).
Isabel Novais Machado
Head of Design at Usercentrics
With over 15 years of experience spanning telecommunications, data, and finance, Isabel has been instrumental in positioning Design as a strategic partner for business and tech. As a design leader, she’s passionate about collaboration and believes that truly impactful solutions come from understanding people’s needs.
Rui Quinta
Co-founder at With Company
Rui sees design as the practice of shaping services, identities, processes, systems, and cultures that make experiences meaningful. With hands-on experience (Toyno, Peixaria Centenária, IDEO, among others) and an academic role teaching at business schools and universities, Rui guides teams in Design Thinking and Innovation while mentoring and consulting leaders who want to put curiosity at the center, align purpose with action, and improve what matters most — whether it’s brand, product, service, or organizational culture.
Sónia Gomes
Principal Product Designer at Uphold
Sonia led 20+ successful projects for brands like OutSystems, Net-a-Porter, Namecheap, Prozis and Blip/Betfair, creating seamless B2B, SaaS, and B2C experiences. VP at UXPA Portugal and mentor, helping designers grow while sharing insights through talks and writing. Passionate about making design inclusive, impactful, and always a little fun!
Paulo Fonseca
Co-founder at proposals.app
UX Designer and User Researcher for 15 years now. Worked in multiple industries all over the world, from healthcare to fintech, and supporting both established corporations and scrappy startups. Founded a few startups as well and advised a handful of others, and now he is building proposals.app, an open-source governance tool for DAO people, focused especially on Ethereum.
Hugo Alves
Co-founder & CPO at Synthetic Users
With over 15 years of experience in psychology, web development, and product management, I am passionate about creating human-like digital personas that can interact with real users and generate valuable insights. I lead a team of engineers, designers, and researchers to build and scale a platform that leverages artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and behavioral science to create realistic and engaging synthetic users. I have skills in user experience, digital marketing, and web development. I am driven by curiosity, innovation, and impact.
Ivo Gomes
Director of Product Design at Dashlane
I’m passionate about minimalist and functional design. I’m currently leading an awesome design team at Dashlane, focusing on making the Internet a safer place by protecting companies and individuals sensitive data (credentials and secrets) from breaches and phishing attempts. As a fan of Design Systems, I helped build Cobalt (Talkdesk’s Design System) from the ground up, and lead the team at Dashlane in consolidating our Design System from the early start to a complete multi-platform system.
Mariana Pena Monteiro
Senior Innovation & Service Design consultant
I’m a Service Design & User Experience Specialist with 9 years experience in human-centred design. I help organisations better understand their customers/staff’s needs and delivering human-centred design solutions. I facilitate collaboration across all stages of the innovation process, from initial customer research and co-design workshops through to developing live services and products. I work best in an agile environment, where iterative improvements and open communication help guide the team towards a shared goal.
Ricardo Luiz
UX Strategist Lead at Mediaweb
I’m really excited to meet all of you. I’ve worked closely with UX, product, and tech teams, and I know how valuable great design is, but also how hard it can be to get your work seen, understood, and appreciated. I’d love to help you in any of the following ways: ✦ Giving feedback on your personal narrative — how you tell your story when applying for jobs or talking to stakeholders; ✦ Reviewing your portfolio and helping you frame your work in ways that highlight impact and collaboration; ✦ Sharing tips on how to work better with product managers and developers; ✦ Offering real-world examples of how UX made the difference in a product’s success; ✦ Pointing you to practical tools, frameworks, or resources to grow your influence. Whether you’re preparing for your next role or just want a sounding board for your ideas, I’m happy to support however I can.