I Lead Design Teams
Product, Marketing, and Operations ● Strategic and Hands-on
About me
Design Leadership ● Product & Marketing Design ● Design Operations
I build and scale design teams across product, marketing, and brand design.
I took a founding design role when web accessibility was just becoming an industry requirement, led UX/UI and brand design alongside operations at a digital agency for over a decade, mentored hundreds of design students through fundamentals, web, print, and digital art, and most recently led multidisciplinary teams across five global cybersecurity brands.
I care about two things: helping designers do their best work, and making sure that work drives real results. I build the systems, stay hands-on when it matters, and get out of the way when it doesn't.
What I Bring to the Table
Strategic leadership across product, marketing, and brand design
Design Ops expertise: Jira workflows, process automation, tooling optimization
Hands-on design skills paired with mentorship experience
Track record of building teams with high retention and strong eNPS
What I Bring to the Table
Strategic leadership across product, marketing, and brand design
Design Ops expertise: Jira workflows, process automation, tooling optimization
Hands-on design skills paired with mentorship experience
Track record of building teams with high retention and strong eNPS
What I Bring to the Table
Strategic leadership across product, marketing, and brand design
Design Ops expertise: Jira workflows, process automation, tooling optimization
Hands-on design skills paired with mentorship experience
Track record of building teams with high retention and strong eNPS
What Colleagues Say
"Working alongside Alex has been a privilege. He has this educator-like way of giving feedback that makes you want to do better. He's patient, genuinely cares about each person on the team, and creates an environment where people feel safe to share ideas."
Candice A.
Senior Design Manager, Express VPN
"Alex is easy to collaborate with and always pushes for better outcomes. He led an initiative to analyze landing pages for conversion improvements, which got design and content working together in a way we hadn't before. Thoughtful, creative, and genuinely pleasant to work with."
Shira S.
Head of Content, CyberGhost & PIA VPN
"Under Alex's leadership, the design team consistently delivered quality work on time. His transparent communication around workload and timelines made cross-team planning much smoother, and he consistently drove meaningful workflow improvements."
Ron M.
VP Growth, Kape Technologies
"Working alongside Alex has been a privilege. He has this educator-like way of giving feedback that makes you want to do better. He's patient, genuinely cares about each person on the team, and creates an environment where people feel safe to share ideas."
Candice A.
Senior Design Manager, Express VPN
"Alex is easy to collaborate with and always pushes for better outcomes. He led an initiative to analyze landing pages for conversion improvements, which got design and content working together in a way we hadn't before. Thoughtful, creative, and genuinely pleasant to work with."
Shira S.
Head of Content, CyberGhost & PIA VPN
"Under Alex's leadership, the design team consistently delivered quality work on time. His transparent communication around workload and timelines made cross-team planning much smoother, and he consistently drove meaningful workflow improvements."
Ron M.
VP Growth, Kape Technologies
CASE STUDIES
Featured Design Work ● Design Case Studies
product design
b2c
Redesigning the PIA VPN App
The outcome User satisfaction from 62% to 84%, feature adoption up 32%, accessibility from failing WCAG to 95% AA, QA time cut 40%.
My role Design lead, two-person team. Research direction, design direction, UI redesign, component library, and accessibility audit.
product design
b2c
Redesigning the PIA VPN App
The outcome User satisfaction from 62% to 84%, feature adoption up 32%, accessibility from failing WCAG to 95% AA, QA time cut 40%.
My role Design lead, two-person team. Research direction, design direction, UI redesign, component library, and accessibility audit.
product design
b2c
Redesigning the PIA VPN App
The outcome User satisfaction from 62% to 84%, feature adoption up 32%, accessibility from failing WCAG to 95% AA, QA time cut 40%.
My role Design lead, two-person team. Research direction, design direction, UI redesign, component library, and accessibility audit.
product design
b2c
Redesigning the PIA VPN App
The outcome User satisfaction from 62% to 84%, feature adoption up 32%, accessibility from failing WCAG to 95% AA, QA time cut 40%.
My role Design lead, two-person team. Research direction, design direction, UI redesign, component library, and accessibility audit.
Product design
PRM
Optimizing Affiliates Management app
The outcome Onboarding cut from 3 weeks to 1, password reset tickets down ~80-85%, link creation errors from 15% to under 5%, 30-45 minutes saved per manager per day.
My role Sole designer. User research, login and authentication redesign, dashboard overhaul, unified visual system.
Product design
PRM
Optimizing Affiliates Management app
The outcome Onboarding cut from 3 weeks to 1, password reset tickets down ~80-85%, link creation errors from 15% to under 5%, 30-45 minutes saved per manager per day.
My role Sole designer. User research, login and authentication redesign, dashboard overhaul, unified visual system.
Product design
PRM
Optimizing Affiliates Management app
The outcome Onboarding cut from 3 weeks to 1, password reset tickets down ~80-85%, link creation errors from 15% to under 5%, 30-45 minutes saved per manager per day.
My role Sole designer. User research, login and authentication redesign, dashboard overhaul, unified visual system.
Product design
PRM
Optimizing Affiliates Management app
The outcome Onboarding cut from 3 weeks to 1, password reset tickets down ~80-85%, link creation errors from 15% to under 5%, 30-45 minutes saved per manager per day.
My role Sole designer. User research, login and authentication redesign, dashboard overhaul, unified visual system.
Product design
b2b2c
Reviewing EqualWeb Accessibility Widget
The outcome Expected: reduced errors on critical controls, faster time to first action, lower support load, stronger competitive positioning in a market where widget UX had become a differentiator.
My role Founding designer. End-to-end audit, expert review, real user testing, benchmarked against competing solutions.
Product design
b2b2c
Reviewing EqualWeb Accessibility Widget
The outcome Expected: reduced errors on critical controls, faster time to first action, lower support load, stronger competitive positioning in a market where widget UX had become a differentiator.
My role Founding designer. End-to-end audit, expert review, real user testing, benchmarked against competing solutions.
Product design
b2b2c
Reviewing EqualWeb Accessibility Widget
The outcome Expected: reduced errors on critical controls, faster time to first action, lower support load, stronger competitive positioning in a market where widget UX had become a differentiator.
My role Founding designer. End-to-end audit, expert review, real user testing, benchmarked against competing solutions.
Product design
b2b2c
Reviewing EqualWeb Accessibility Widget
The outcome Expected: reduced errors on critical controls, faster time to first action, lower support load, stronger competitive positioning in a market where widget UX had become a differentiator.
My role Founding designer. End-to-end audit, expert review, real user testing, benchmarked against competing solutions.
UX/UI
CRO
Revamping VPNMentor PPC Pages
The outcome Bounce rate down 35%, conversion up 50%, mobile engagement up 40%, user satisfaction up 25%. Led to a multi-year design collaboration between Kape and Webselenese.
My role Sole designer. CRO audit, page layout and vendor card redesign, unified branding kit.
UX/UI
CRO
Revamping VPNMentor PPC Pages
The outcome Bounce rate down 35%, conversion up 50%, mobile engagement up 40%, user satisfaction up 25%. Led to a multi-year design collaboration between Kape and Webselenese.
My role Sole designer. CRO audit, page layout and vendor card redesign, unified branding kit.
UX/UI
CRO
Revamping VPNMentor PPC Pages
The outcome Bounce rate down 35%, conversion up 50%, mobile engagement up 40%, user satisfaction up 25%. Led to a multi-year design collaboration between Kape and Webselenese.
My role Sole designer. CRO audit, page layout and vendor card redesign, unified branding kit.
UX/UI
CRO
Revamping VPNMentor PPC Pages
The outcome Bounce rate down 35%, conversion up 50%, mobile engagement up 40%, user satisfaction up 25%. Led to a multi-year design collaboration between Kape and Webselenese.
My role Sole designer. CRO audit, page layout and vendor card redesign, unified branding kit.
Brand Design
Corporate identity
Refreshing Kape Technologies Visual Identity
The outcome Expected: a complete brand system designers could work from, illustration production time cut from 2-4 days per asset, and a corporate identity that held up against competitors.
My role IC project alongside Senior Design Manager role. Visual audit, logo redesign, typography, illustration system, production mockups.
Brand Design
Corporate identity
Refreshing Kape Technologies Visual Identity
The outcome Expected: a complete brand system designers could work from, illustration production time cut from 2-4 days per asset, and a corporate identity that held up against competitors.
My role IC project alongside Senior Design Manager role. Visual audit, logo redesign, typography, illustration system, production mockups.
Brand Design
Corporate identity
Refreshing Kape Technologies Visual Identity
The outcome Expected: a complete brand system designers could work from, illustration production time cut from 2-4 days per asset, and a corporate identity that held up against competitors.
My role IC project alongside Senior Design Manager role. Visual audit, logo redesign, typography, illustration system, production mockups.
Brand Design
Corporate identity
Refreshing Kape Technologies Visual Identity
The outcome Expected: a complete brand system designers could work from, illustration production time cut from 2-4 days per asset, and a corporate identity that held up against competitors.
My role IC project alongside Senior Design Manager role. Visual audit, logo redesign, typography, illustration system, production mockups.
Visual design
Visual Identity
Reimagining CyberGhost’s Illustration style
The outcome Campaign CTR up 5.2%, homepage conversion up 4.7%, illustration production time cut 40%, 90% internal adoption within three months, 600+ assets deployed.
My role Design lead and IC. Mascot redesign, modular pose and expression system, usage guidelines, internal rollout.
Visual design
Visual Identity
Reimagining CyberGhost’s Illustration style
The outcome Campaign CTR up 5.2%, homepage conversion up 4.7%, illustration production time cut 40%, 90% internal adoption within three months, 600+ assets deployed.
My role Design lead and IC. Mascot redesign, modular pose and expression system, usage guidelines, internal rollout.
Visual design
Visual Identity
Reimagining CyberGhost’s Illustration style
The outcome Campaign CTR up 5.2%, homepage conversion up 4.7%, illustration production time cut 40%, 90% internal adoption within three months, 600+ assets deployed.
My role Design lead and IC. Mascot redesign, modular pose and expression system, usage guidelines, internal rollout.
Visual design
Visual Identity
Reimagining CyberGhost’s Illustration style
The outcome Campaign CTR up 5.2%, homepage conversion up 4.7%, illustration production time cut 40%, 90% internal adoption within three months, 600+ assets deployed.
My role Design lead and IC. Mascot redesign, modular pose and expression system, usage guidelines, internal rollout.
Alex Dihel | Product & Marketing Design Leader | Design Operations www.alexdihel.com © | Privacy
Alex Dihel | Product & Marketing Design Leader | Design Operations www.alexdihel.com © | Privacy
Alex Dihel | Product & Marketing Design Leader | Design Operations www.alexdihel.com © | Privacy