Portrait of Stefan Caldare, smiling, wearing clear-framed glasses and a white shirt.

About

Hi, I'm Stefan.

I'm a Lead UX Designer based in Bucharest, Romania. For more than 10 years I've designed products where small decisions carry big weight: checkouts, onboarding, paywalls, data tools and, lately, AI.

How I got here

I started in print design, making materials for medical and pharmaceutical companies, then moved into branding. Curiosity about why some designs worked and others didn't pulled me into UX. I'm largely self-taught: first the tools, then the thinking, through the work of Don Norman, Steve Krug and Tim Brown, and years of testing ideas with real users.

That path shaped how I work. Print taught me precision, branding taught me that design has to serve a business, and UX taught me to check my assumptions with evidence.

Alongside my full-time roles, I run UX Stuff, a small design studio (formerly Webdevity) that has delivered 50+ projects for startups and companies in Europe and the US.

Experience

  1. 2025 to present

    Lead UX Designer (contract), Adobe Express

    AI Presentations, Print and new initiatives.

  2. 2024 to 2025

    Lead UX Designer, Appex

    10+ mobile apps, 5M+ users, team of 3 designers.

  3. 2022 to 2023

    Lead UX Designer, Flip

    E-commerce and trade-in platform in 4 European markets.

  4. 2021 to 2022

    Senior UX/UI Designer, 3Pillar Global

    NielsenIQ, IntraFi and POLITICO.

  5. 2019 to 2022

    Senior UX/UI Designer, Rebag

    Web, checkout and native apps for a New York luxury marketplace.

  6. 2018 to 2019

    Interaction Designer, Spigot

    iOS and Android apps, A/B testing and app store optimization.

  7. 2011 to present

    Founder, UX Stuff Design Agency

    UX/UI, web and branding projects for international clients.

What I bring

Design
Product and UX strategy, interaction design, information architecture, prototyping, design systems, accessibility (WCAG), mobile (iOS, Android)
Research
User interviews, usability testing, A/B testing, conversion optimization, behavioral analytics (Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Hotjar)
AI
Generative AI UX, conversational UI, AI-assisted prototyping with Claude, Claude Code, Cursor and Figma Make
Leadership
Design leadership and mentoring, cross-functional collaboration, stakeholder management, workshops
Languages
Romanian (native), English (full professional), German (limited working)
Education
Bachelor's degree in Marketing and Management, University of Bucharest

Download full resume (PDF, 109 KB)

Contact

Hiring a Lead UX Designer? Let's talk.

I'm open to Lead and Principal UX roles, remote or based in Bucharest. The quickest way to reach me is email.