Irem Calisir

I am a senior product designer with over 7 years of experience delivering user-centered solutions across industries such as aviation, defense, and consumer electronics. I specialize in design systems, usability testing, and user research, crafting scalable and impactful experiences that balance user needs and business goals.

With a Master’s degree in Product Design focusing on design systems, I blend aesthetics, functionality, and strategy, creating designs that are intuitive and efficient.

The Experience and Opinions of Designers on Using Design Systems in Their Design Process

My Design Process

Design is not just about aesthetics or functionality; it's about creating meaningful experiences seamlessly integrate into people’s lives. The best design solutions emerge at the intersection of empathy, strategy, and experimentation.

Understanding the Problem & the People Behind It

Designing without understanding the problem is like setting sail without a map. Always start by digging deep asking why this problem exists, who it affects, and what success looks like.

Talking to stakeholders, users, and engineers to gather different perspectives

Conducting user research & data analysis to find hidden patterns
Asking why repeatedly until we get to the core problem

💡 Initiated the company’s first research-driven persona development project, conducting in-depth interviews with six airline professionals. The result? A validated persona set that became a foundational tool for aligning design decisions and enhancing user-centricity.

Ideation & Concept Development: Bringing Ideas to Life

This is where things get exciting! Work with teams to brainstorm, sketch, and explore multiple directions, making sure that our ideas are both user-friendly and business-smart.

Workshops & Brainstorming
Wireframing & Rapid Prototyping
Journey Mapping & User Flows

💡 Mapped flows across nine Ground Portal products, identifying gaps, redundancies, and behavioral inconsistencies. This research led to a streamlined user flow and a more cohesive design language, improving usability and efficiency.

Testing & Validation: Does It Actually Work?

Designing something beautiful is great, but if users struggle to use it, it’s a failure. Testing is a crucial part of my process. Whether it's a prototype or a live product, I conduct usability testing and analyze feedback to refine the design.

Usability Testing
A/B Testing
Heatmaps & Analytics

💡 Conducted structured usability tests and gathered real user feedback. By analyzing test results and iterating based on pain points, managed to improve workflows to better align with user needs. Close collaboration with testing teams and project managers ensured that each iteration enhanced usability, leading to more intuitive and efficient operational processes.

Research & Discovery: Finding Patterns & Insights

Once the problem is clear, shift into research mode. A highly important part of this phase is seeing unexpected patterns emerge. Sometimes what users say and what they do are two completely different things.

Contextual Inquiries
Qualitative & Quantitative Data Analysis
User Interviews

Design & Prototyping: Making the Vision Real

Now comes the real hands-on work of designing, testing, and refining. Depending on the project, either work within an existing design system or create new interaction patterns from scratch.