ABOUT
I have over 15 years experience in digital product design and design leadership.
I learned and honed my craft in the fast pace of agency life. Recognising an opportunity in the market, I started my own design studio in 2009 and grew the business with a client portfolio that included Sony Playstation, Nike and IKEA with a staff base of 10 people including designers, developers and account managers.
In 2014 I joined Fjord (Accenture), where I delivered service design excellence and design leadership on high-profile global projects and high-value clients.
In 2019 I moved to in-house design at Spotify, where I have excelled as a design leader, mentor and product strategist. I'm hands-on designer who is also experienced in designing for Machine Learning.
I’ve just started playing bass and have a 5 year goal to be Bootsy Collins.
MY LEADERSHIP APPROACH
01
Clarify vision and goals. I help teams navigate through ambiguity, guide them towards impactful, measurable outcomes.
02
Cultivate skills, mentor brilliance – advocate for quality. I foster team growth and unlock individual potential.
03
Bias towards action. I lead with decisive action, blending empathy and strategic mentorship with clear communication.
04
Show what I think. Share ideas and progress early and often. Through prototyping, I actively involve stakeholders along the process.
05
Understand the numbers, empathize with the people. This balance is vital for directing projects and leading teams.
06
Passion for the craft. Every decision requires attention to detail. Engagement and delight are rooted in the details.
“Yaprak makes people shine.✨”
Direct report, Senior Designer, Fjord Berlin
“I love how welcoming you are to change and nothing ever seems to be too disruptive for you. I try to emulate a lot of that by observing you. Working with you makes me better.”
Director of Insights, Spotify
"Yaprak is one of the greatest managers I’ve had in my career so far. She fosters good Psychological Safety. She is proactive and delivers clear and actionable feedback. My professional development path is clear and inspiring, all thanks to Yaprak."
Direct report, Senior Designer, Spotify
“Not exaggerating here, anything can be possible when Yaprak is in the room.”
Senior Staff Designer, Spotify
“Yaprak has great instincts. I’ve seen this manifest in many ways – understanding what type of design deliverable would be most effect to get a point across, knowing what type of narrative to tell, knowing when a design solution feels slightly off. This is a big asset and not one that everyone possesses.”
Senior Director of Design, Spotify
“Yaprak and I had the best product/design partnership I've had in my 25 or so years doing this kind of work. We really felt like collaborators with shared goals, without the usual tension that product people often feel with different motivations in the design org.”
Director of Product, Spotify
“Yaprak is a phenomenal designer, and mentor. As a director she manages to be supportive and empathic while she leads and maintains an uncompromising sense of design quality. She has an uncanny ability to shield her team from organisational complexities and she'll work in the background to sort out project ambiguity, to give her reports the space needed to get the work done. ”
Direct report, Staff Designer, Spotify
EXPERIENCE
2024 - Now
Head of Design
Goodnotes
2019 - 2024
Director of Product Design
Spotify
2014 - 2019
Service Design Lead
Fjord, Accenture
2009 - 2014
Creative Director
Groar Studios
2008 - 2010
Visual Design Lead
Publicis
CLIENTS
Sony Playstation
Nike
Škoda
Garanti BBVA
Turkiye Is Bankasi
Etisalat
Vodafone
IKEA
Carnival Cruise Lines
AWARDS
Cannes Lions , 2016
Jury Member
Global Finance Awards, 2016
Garanti Mobile App
Felis Awards, 2015
Best UX & UI, Garanti Mobile
Awwwards, 2014
Jury Member
Webby Awards, 2010
MUBI
EDUCATION
Visual Communication Design
Sabanci University
Bachelor's Degree
Spotify 20-20
Senior s Leadership Programme
Understanding Group and Leadership
Hyper Island, Intensive Programme
PUBLICATIONS
Print Mag, 2016
Gestalten,2013
Logos of the World, 2011