Matija Vojvodic
I design product systems that make complex SaaS and AI products easier to understand, build, and scale.
- Turnfest
Most product confusion starts before the first screen is designed.
Confusing products usually come from unclear foundations: undefined objects, mismatched language, hidden assumptions, weak information architecture, disconnected workflows, and business rules that never became visible.
By the time this reaches the UI, the interface is only exposing a deeper structural problem. My work starts there.
The work I own, end to end.
Four disciplines I lead outright – from the data model under the product to the moment a user converts.
Product architecture
I define the structure a complex product stands on – objects, relationships, and navigation that match how the backend and the user both think.
- Object-oriented product modeling
- Complex SaaS information architecture
- Workflow & permission mapping
- Navigation & UX infrastructure
AI interfaces built to convert
AI that isn't just smart – interfaces where assistance, explanation, and automation are engineered toward trust and conversion.
- AI product workflows
- Persona-ready conversion journeys
- Onboarding that turns understanding into action
- Trust, explanation & feedback loops
Backend-informed design systems
Token-driven systems designed against the real data model and frontend states – so components hold up in production, not just in Figma.
- AI-ready token & component systems
- Engineering-aware states & edge cases
- Interface & interaction detail
Agentic design workflow
I design with AI agents in the loop – from concept to working code, so decisions are tested in the real product, not in mockups.
- Agent-driven prototyping in real code
- Claude Code, CLI & Git workflows
- Design-to-production continuity
Product systems, end to end.
Case studies – from research and object models to the design system and the interface that shipped.
Working on something complex right now?
Book an intro callAI-native, backend-informed design workflow.
One practice, built from product design, frontend development, backend awareness, AI workflows, design systems, and business clarity.
Over 8+ years I've worked where product design, engineering, and business overlap – the places where most products quietly get confusing. My job is to make complex systems make sense: to users, to the team, and in the code.
I started as a frontend developer, which still shapes how I design – I think in objects, states, and edge cases. Along the way I founded and ran a design studio, running the business, scaling delivery, and leading teams.
Experience behind the thinking.
This approach comes from real product environments, not isolated design exercises – complex SaaS, healthcare platforms, event technology, design systems, AI product concepts, frontend implementation, and founder-led marketing websites.
Zenitech
Product Design Lead
Leading product design for a complex AI-driven healthcare platform – balancing hands-on product strategy, UX architecture, and interface design with leading a team of designers across interconnected product areas. Grounding decisions in real data structures and scalable interaction patterns.
- Scale
- 3M+ active members
- Clients
- 570+ employers
- Team
- Design team lead
AI Startup (Stealth)
Founding Product Designer
Defined the product architecture and object model – the foundation for backend data structure and information architecture. Designed the first MVP, ran early quantitative testing, and built scalable interaction patterns connecting design, engineering, and product.
Ostre
Principal Product Designer
Founded and ran an independent design studio for SaaS and AI-driven products – owning the business end to end, from positioning and client relationships to scoping, scaling delivery, and leading project teams across complex workflows.
- Client satisfaction
- 100%
Sweap
Founding Product Designer
Founding designer at an event-technology SaaS. Led a full UI/UX overhaul, established the design system, and built the design practice and handoff process from the ground up.
- User engagement
- +16%
- Net dollar retention
- 103% → 119%
- ARR
- +26%
How I design and lead.
Five moves I repeat in every product – research feeds structure, structure feeds design, design lands in working code, and the practice grows around it.
- Step 1Research
Understand the domain
Domain research and object discovery – mapping users' mental models, the language of the domain, and the objects, relationships, and rules behind it. Assumptions become explicit, hidden logic becomes visible.
- Step 2Foundation
Model the system
Object models, information architecture, and workflows that match how people actually think – the structure everything else is built on.
- Step 3Design
Design & prototype
Interfaces, design system components, and working prototypes – increasingly built in real code with AI in the loop, so decisions are testable.
- Step 4Delivery
Ship with engineers
Working directly with engineering through implementation – shared understanding over handoff documents, so what ships matches what was designed.
- Step 5Leadership
Lead & scale
Growing the design practice around the system – mentoring designers, documenting patterns, and keeping the product coherent as the team and product scale.
Field notes, not thumbnails.
Short essays on product systems, UX architecture, and the structure beneath good products – the thinking behind the work.
The questions that come up in every first conversation.
What kind of work are you best at?
Product design leadership for complex SaaS and AI products: UX architecture, AI product workflows, object-oriented product modeling, and design systems. I'm most useful where the product is powerful but hard to understand.
How do you start on a new product?
With the domain, not the screens. The first weeks go into research and object discovery – users' mental models, the language of the field, and the rules behind it – so design decisions sit on structure instead of assumptions.
How do you work with teams?
Embedded. I work directly with founders, product managers, and engineers – currently leading a team of designers in an AI healthcare product. Handoff documents are a last resort; shared understanding is the goal.
Where are you based?
Berlin, working remotely. Most of my collaborations run across European time zones, with overlap hours for US teams.
We just need more screens, faster. Is that you?
Probably not. If the foundations are clear, any good designer can produce screens quickly. I'm the person you bring in when screens keep getting produced and the product still confuses people.
Turn complexity into a system people can trust.
I help turn unclear product ideas, messy domains, and AI/SaaS complexity into systems people can understand, use, and trust.