I’m Zeamanuel Ayalew, a UX Systems Designer based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I bridge the gap between design vision and engineering reality, building design systems, interactive prototypes, and AI-augmented products that actually ship.

Available for projects

What I Do

UX Design

User-centered interfaces

Design Systems

Scalable component libraries

Figma

Prototyping & handoff

React / Next.js

Production frontend code

AI Integration

LLM-augmented workflows

Prototyping

Interactive concept validation

User Research

Interviews, testing, synthesis

Component Libraries

Mantine, Tailwind, Storybook

Experience

Jan 2026 – Present

UX/UI Designer & Full-Stack Developer

Rahela Fashion Brand

Contract

Leading design and development for an e-commerce platform serving the Ethiopian fashion market. Designing the complete shopping experience: shop, cart, and checkout, while also building the front-end and back-end.

2024 – Present

Founder & Designer

Hisab

Own Product

Founded during Digital Product School at TUM. Building a freelancer protection platform addressing payment protection and agreement management for Ethiopian freelancers. Completed user research across a 5-stage customer journey, built MVP with React, Firebase, and Tailwind CSS.

Oct 2024 – Jan 2026

Product Designer

OMOC

Contract

Led product design for a social commerce platform through a full development cycle. Built the design system and component library from scratch, designed the seller dashboard, buyer mobile app, and created developer handoff and design QA standards.

2024

UX/UI Designer

DH

Contract

Redesigned a communication and collaboration platform. Reworked core features including messaging, group management, calls, and task system. Created a design system for cross-platform consistency and built interactive prototypes.

2024

UX/UI Designer

IdeasLab

Contract

Designed a gamified iOS learning app from the ground up following Apple HIG. Delivered end-to-end user flows, high-fidelity mockups, and interactive prototypes with gamification elements.

2022 – 2023

Graphic Designer

Effoi Pizza & Restaurant

Full-time

Developed brand identity and visual guidelines. Designed marketing materials for print and digital, and managed social media presence.

Education

2024

Digital Product School

Technical University of Munich (TUM) & UnternehmerTUM

Intensive 12-week product development program. Built Hisab concept and initial MVP. Completed with distinction.

2019 – 2022

Bachelor of Arts in Economics

Addis Ababa University

GPA 3.53/4.0. Great Distinction. Thesis on digital banking transformation in Ethiopia.

2023

UX Design Professional Certificate

Accenture

User-centered design, design thinking, interaction design, and usability testing.

Recognition

Upwork Top Rated. 100% Job Success Score

Selected for Africa Meets Bavaria Innovation Exchange Program (2025 & 2026)

Economics Department Academic Excellence Award, Addis Ababa University

How I Work

Human-First Design

Every pixel serves a person. I start with empathy, end with impact, and measure success by how people feel using the product.

Ship, Then Iterate

Perfect is the enemy of shipped. I believe in rapid prototyping, real-world testing, and continuous refinement over endless polishing.

Bridge the Gap

I speak both design and code. The best products come from tight loops between designers and engineers, with no walls and no handoff friction.