Designing products, systems, and the teams behind them.

“Our editorial dashboard couldn’t be in better hands.”

Jeroen Wijering Chief Innovation Officer, JWX

“Sandra is a beloved manager and strong advocate for the impact a well-integrated design team can have. Despite the many challenges she sees, I think she has made strong progress getting designers to build overall better & easier products, and not just “make them pretty”.

Sandra is incredibly strong in UX design. Our editorial dashboard couldn’t be in better hands, which is crucial as we have seen and will see constant change with new product directions and acquisitions of companies.

Sandra is a strong project manager & organizer. She is making sure all the work gets done in the dashboard and across the various frontend teams. She’s on top of key bugs and improvements and not shy to direct engineers outside her team.

Sandra did a great job integrating the 2 design teams. They’re truly acting as 1 unit and former [Connatix] designers speak highly of her.

Sandra also did an excellent job re-deploying designers more on a project basis vs striving to have team allocations. That enabled us to focus more design time on big projects while leaving the teams self-sufficient around little increments.

Generally, Sandra is seen as a key problem solver and strong contributor to all parts of our product stack. The various teams have quickly come to rely on her for UX direction.

Sandra is also seen as an outstanding people and project manager.”

“Communicating with Sandra is effortless because she is as receptive to receiving feedback as she is to giving it.”

Mihaela Vodeb Staff Product Designer, InPlayer & JWX

“[Sandra is] still by far the best manager I’ve ever worked with! Smart, creative, supportive, transparent, and “lead by example” type of manager.

I really enjoy being part of the Design team and seeing the progress we keep making under Sandra’s leadership! Sandra fosters an environment where we can communicate and give each other feedback in an open, constructive and supportive way. Sandra excels in recognising everyone’s strengths and effectively delegates tasks accordingly.

Communicating with Sandra is effortless because she is as receptive to receiving feedback as she is to giving it. She fosters a culture free from personal agendas, where her focus remains solely on ensuring the success of the designers and the product.

Sandra actively engages in company-wide projects, contributing wherever her attention is needed in a form of a small design decision, product management (e.g. Core Experiences), researching big unknown project or polishing intra-team and cross-team communication and conflicts. By doing this, she’s helping the designers when they’re stuck, and consequently, elevating the product and the company.

Sandra consistently uplifts and empowers the design team, ensuring that our achievements take center stage. Even when she takes a more prominent role in certain situations, she tactfully ensures that the spotlight remains on the team, which is a true sign of a remarkable leader. Additionally, even though she has a lot on her plate lately, she remains calm, patient and organised. Without a doubt, Sandra is the best manager I have ever had the privilege of working with.”

“[…] Aleksandra Hristov and Mihaela Vodeb […] have guided us to build a component library with the craftsmanship of a Swiss pocketwatch.”

Katie Daw Senior Product Designer, JWX

“[…] Aleksandra Hristov and Mihaela Vodeb for being the driving forces behind the new Design System which is already paying dividends in our designs. These two have pushed us so far forward technologically on the design team and have guided us to build a component library with the craftsmanship of a Swiss pocketwatch. It’s incredible to watch them work on the fly to field feedback from engineers and refine the components, but as a designer I’ve also learned so much about how to actually correctly apply the components to create a consistent experience for our users. Couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to learn from these awesome ladies. Keep kicking ass guys!”

“[…] YOU brought this team together […] and created a beautiful team culture.”

Mignon Wright Senior Product Designer, JW Player

“Between meeting all the amazing women on our team and all the knowledge I am walking away with, I am so beyond grateful. This team is so amazing and it’s all thanks to your leadership, support, knowledge and guidance. This place is really lucky to have you! You’ve done so much and I know you are gonna accomplish so much more. You are the coolest boss!

I am really going to miss working with you. You have taught me so much and I’m truly thankful for everything I’ve learned while on your team. I never really considered looking into more leadership roles, but after seeing you in this role, its shown me that leading a team can be a fun while challenging. You encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone (presenting and leading workshops) and it has only made me realize that I have so many more skills that I need to tap into. You have taught me to be a more confident designer and we all know how hard it is to shake that imposter syndrome.

You did something that a lot of leaders struggle with, YOU brought this team together after a huge blow and created a beautiful team culture.”

“What I value most is her positive attitude, empathy, and work ethic, which shines through in the products she builds.”

Pieter Janssen Staff Software Engineer, JWX

“It’s going to be hard to put into a few sentences what it is like working with Sandra. There is a lot of positive stuff to mention, but I’ll try to sum up what I remember (and miss) most: she’s a great person to work and collaborate with. What I value most is her positive attitude, empathy, and work ethic, which shines through in the products she builds.”

“Throughout the entire journey, Sandra’s leadership was truly exceptional.”

Vladimir Simjanoski Technical Project Manager for PCS, Co-head of Engineering, Netcetera

“Imagine having just one shot at convincing a customer that you can successfully rewrite a more-than-a-decade-old legacy project with a modern UI - and only a couple of days to prepare for a trial workshop with the end users.

I had the great pleasure of witnessing Sandra take on exactly that challenge and pass the test with flying colors. Drawing on her strong UX expertise, she led the workshop with the end users, creating the foundation for understanding their needs, challenging assumptions, and shaping the direction of the new product.

That approach became the foundation for the next 15 months of rapid development, close collaboration with user groups and the engineering team, and ultimately the delivery of the final product. Throughout the entire journey, Sandra’s leadership was truly exceptional. Her sense of accountability, ownership, and commitment set the tone for everyone around her. She consistently brought clarity, energy, and determination to a highly complex and demanding project.

I have no doubt that the big rewrite would not have been possible without Sandra. She was instrumental in turning a challenging transformation into a successful reality, and I would absolutely love to work with her again.”

“Sandra remains the best UX architect I’ve ever worked with.”

Jana Karcheska Senior Software Engineer, Netcetera

“Sandra remains the best UX architect I’ve ever worked with. She approaches every problem with deep empathy for the customer, seamlessly bridging the gap that often exists between design and frontend engineering. Because of her ability to connect the dots, engineers elevate their understanding of UX, and customer needs are well understood by everyone on the team. We collaborated closely on the RailNet Europe projects, and I learned so much from her. Each time I think about how customers might struggle using what I create, I try to think like her.”

“[…] she stands behind her values and fights for the team, while always keeping the product in focus […]”

Viktorija Bachvarova Principal UX Designer and Product Manager, Netcetera

“I’ve known Sandra for almost a decade. In those years, I can proudly say that I’ve had the privilege of having her as one of my first mentors, team leaders, and shapers of my career in the design industry.

She truly knows how to emphasise a team member’s qualities and work around anything that is of lesser quality in a way that does not cause conflicts. What I believe is her finest virtue is that she is persistent in making sure that each team member can have their own role, and she somehow manages to bring that out of people.

As a person, I can say that she stands behind her values and fights for the team, while always keeping the product in focus and considering what would bring the most value to the customer and users.

Whether she’s working as a lead designer or UX engineer, she’s diligent about making sure we work in the most optimised way. She tries to maintain a clear vision and scope, while always tending to stay up to date with what is latest in the industry and establishing systems that work best for both the design and engineering teams.

Her knowledge spans across almost every area of the industry, from complex systems to industry-specific applications and community-driven activities. On the community side, she managed to establish UXplore as a leading UX-driven community in Macedonia, creating something that had never existed in the country before. This is, to me, another example of her ability to recognise a gap, bring people together around a shared purpose, and build something meaningful and lasting.”