How I work
A mindset built on real projects, real pressure, and real outcomes.
About my patch to Product Design
NOT THE EASY PATH
There’s an easier career path. I didn’t take it.
I didn’t grow up in one long, comfortable product cycle.
I grew up in high-velocity product environments.
My career started at Clearcode — a software house specialized in AdTech and MarTech.
I joined as a mid-level designer thanks to my earlier background in web and service design, but the real education came from the agency model itself.
At Clearcode, speed was the default.
Multiple products. Short timelines. High pressure. Real clients. Real stakes.
This taught me something most designers never experience early enough:
how to design systems, not just screens — and how to make decisions when time, data and clarity actually matter.
TWO WORLDS, ONE MINDSET
For years, I worked in an agency model:
- fast delivery,
- constant context switching,
- exposure to dozens of business models,
- deep immersion in AdTech and MarTech ecosystems.
But I knew something was missing.
Agency work gives you breadth.
Product work gives you depth.
So I deliberately built the second half of my career around long-term product ownership:
- early-stage concepts,
MVP launches,
post-MVP iteration,
continuous discovery,
analytics, heatmaps, behavioral data,
and real feedback loops that shape the roadmap.
That combination shaped how I work today:
I move fast like an agency designer,
but I think long-term like a product owner.
FROM EXECUTION TO OWNERSHIP
At Clearcode, I didn’t just deliver client work.
I also led internal product initiatives when the company started building its own tools:
- header bidding platforms,
- marketing graphics editor,
- internal & external UI kits,
- design systems used across teams.
Some of these products carried my vision — but they were built by many hands: frontend engineers, UX designers, UI designers, product managers.
That experience taught me how to lead without ego and how to scale design beyond myself.
WHY I WORK THE WAY I WORK TODAY
My way of working is a direct result of that path.
I don’t see design as isolated craft.
I see it as operational leverage.
I focus on:
- systems over screens,
- clarity over decoration,
- decision-making over aesthetics,
- and outcomes over artifacts.
I’m comfortable in complexity because I grew up in it:
AdTech stacks, MarTech flows, enterprise constraints, multi-role platforms, data-heavy environments.
A NOTE ON CONTINUITY
Clearcode as a brand changed ownership over the years —
Stratiteq, Qinshift, Avenga.
But the design and development team stayed intact until the very end of 2025.
What changed was the logo.
What stayed was the culture, the people, and the way we worked.
That continuity shaped me more than any company name ever could.
Contact
Dribbble — @maciejantkowiak
LinkedIn — maciejantkowiak
Email — antkowiakmaciej@gmail.com
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