Volkan Akyel
Design Engineer
I design and build products for founders, from the first sketch to the day it ships.
You work with me directly, on the design and the code. Before this, five years shipping interfaces at TotalEnergies, Decathlon and Europcar.
More on LinkedIn (opens in new tab), GitHub (opens in new tab) and X (opens in new tab).
Taking on new projects, one at a time.
No deck needed. Bring the idea, or the part that isn’t working.
Selected work
Recent launches. I designed each one and wrote the code behind it.
Experience
Five years in big product teams taught me the unglamorous parts: empty states, edge cases, code someone else can maintain.
to 2023
Europcar
B2B and B2C e-commerce and content systems, live in 27+ markets.
Frontend Engineer
to 2024
Decathlon
Research UI in production, and the design system through a company-wide rebrand.
Design Engineer
to now
TotalEnergies
Data-visualisation and admin tools shipped to production for energy and R&D teams.
Software Engineer
Products & tools
Things I make for myself, mostly for the Mac. Some have shipped, some are still on the bench.
Open source
Turns flat icons and marks into 3D objects.
LiveMac app
Your local servers, one glance from the menu bar.
In progressMac app
A glass window switcher for crowded desktops.
In progress
From the journey
Conferences, trips, and the desks in between.
Working together
One project at a time, start to finish. It usually takes one of three shapes.
Launch page
A landing page or waitlist that makes the product feel real before it is.
2–3 weeks
Product build
First flows to a working product, with the design system under it.
6–10 weeks
Ongoing
A few days a month of design and frontend, for teams already shipping.
Monthly
After you book
A call, a written plan, then work you can open in the first week.
Call
Day one
20 minutes. You tell me the idea, I ask the awkward questions.
Scope
By day three
A short written plan: what we build, in what order, by when and for how much.
Build
From week one
A link to the work from the first week, so you see it move instead of hearing about it.
Let’s talk
Good work starts with a conversation. Tell me what you’re building. Either I can help, or I’ll know someone who can.
20 minutes on scope, timeline and budget. You leave knowing whether we’re a fit.
A few lines and a link are enough. You get a next step back, not a sales pitch.
volkan@uikielle.com