Lia Dolev is a senior freelance product designer and UX/UI designer based in Pardes Hanna-Karkur, in the Sharon region of Israel, designing since 2005. She is available to hire as a freelance UX designer, as a contract product designer or UX contractor, and as a fractional product designer or fractional head of design. A B2B SaaS product designer and SaaS UX designer, she works on complex systems, dashboards, multi-role systems, AI-driven platforms, cybersecurity tools and automotive software, with design system consulting and UX audits, and runs Lia Dolev Studio.
She works directly with founders, product managers, development teams and QA, as the sole designer or as the design owner of a team, and is experienced in ongoing day-to-day work with them. At GfK, Optibus and Gigya she was the only designer in the company, owning research, specification and design end to end.
Clients hire her as a freelance UI/UX designer, a freelance product designer, a fractional Product Designer or Head of Design, an AI product designer, or a UX auditor.
She works in Hebrew and English, remotely or hybrid, with clients in Israel, Europe and the US. She is available for new projects, hourly or on a monthly retainer, quoted per project.
Where Lia stands out
The only designer in the room, more than once
At GfK, Optibus and Gigya she was the sole designer in the company, owning research, specification and design end to end with the CEO, product and R&D.
Gigya: sole designer from early-stage startup to its $350M acquisition by SAP, with 700+ enterprise customers and 1.5 billion customer identities under management. Optibus: sole designer through the $12M Series A, and led the company rebrand.
Hard domains
Cybersecurity and automotive software, where the users are experts and the technology is still being defined, and multi-user systems with roles, permissions and complex workflows.
PlaxidityX: scaled design from one product to seven, built the design system, and designed an AI-driven XDR platform. A product she designed was presented at a global conference and led to collaborations with Google. GfK: designed RegioGraph, which won Top Retail Product 2017. General Motors: owned UI/UX for the Bolt EV and Hummer Off-Road apps.
Design with AI in the loop, and for AI features
She designs with Figma alongside Cursor, Claude, Lovable and Make.com, and designs AI features for expert users.
AI-XDR and AutoDesigner are AI-driven products she designed. Her own tools, live, private and in progress, are on the AI Playground page.
Selected case studies
UX lead for a newly built cybersecurity product
An AI tool for automotive cybersecurity that generates Threat Analysis and Risk Assessment reports compliant with ISO/SAE 21434.
Challenge: Security and safety teams worked across spreadsheets, cloud tools and hand-drawn diagrams, and complying with ISO/SAE 21434 added overhead on top.
Decision: One editable, guided workflow from system design to risk analysis: upload an architecture image or draw it, and the tool generates the Data Flow Diagram and a pre-filled TARA report. Early prototypes were tested with cybersecurity engineers, and their feedback decided the direction.
Relevant to: AI tools, cybersecurity, compliance workflows
Proposed and led the redesign of an existing product, then integrated AI features
Extended detection and response for connected vehicle fleets, with AI-assisted investigation flows that surface evidence, impact and affected vehicles for SOC analysts.
Challenge: The product was many separate screens that did not connect or guide the analyst, and analysts had to leave the platform for an external BI tool to find recommended actions.
Decision: The architecture was reorganized into one investigation journey: Alert, Evidence, Impact, Affected Vehicles, Mitigation, with AI insights on potential impact and suggested mitigation. She also created a design system and applied it to the existing product.
Relevant to: Security operations, AI-assisted investigation
Led UX and UI across mobile and in-vehicle experiences
A cross-platform off-road planning and navigation app for the GMC Hummer EV.
Challenge: As the first all-electric supertruck, it needed a way for off-road drivers to engage with the vehicle's extreme capabilities.
Decision: A cross-platform off-road area in the mobile app, where the driver plans the next trip taking energy consumption and the constraints of driving an EV into account.
Relevant to: Mobile apps, automotive, consumer products
Advocated a platform-based approach and led the UX of the flagship platform
A unified platform that consolidates several standalone automotive security tools into one workspace.
Challenge: Products were built independently, with different entry points, structures and flows, yet the company needed a platform that supports independent tools and a full suite, in the cloud and on-prem, with consistent UX across legacy and new modules.
Decision: A modular UX framework: a shared navigation system with product-specific and cross-product layers, a Projects hub that links workflows across tools, and user, group and admin management. Each product can stand on its own or work as part of the ecosystem.
Relevant to: Consolidating tools into a platform, information architecture
UI designer for desktop and mobile products
An award-winning geomarketing and market research platform used by global brands.
Challenge: Dense geographic data layers needed a clear visual hierarchy to stay readable, and users needed precise territory editing while keeping the overview.
Decision: A layer-management system with intelligent defaults and progressive customization, territory-editing tools built for precision, and collaborative map sharing in place of static exports.
Relevant to: Analytics, maps, data-heavy interfaces
Product designer for the On-Schedule and On-Time desktop apps
Public transportation scheduling software that uses optimization algorithms and machine learning.
Challenge: Controllers needed immediate visibility into service disruptions across entire networks, and planners had to balance hundreds of constraints across several objectives.
Decision: A priority-based alert system that surfaces critical issues and filters out noise, a unified timeline of vehicle, driver and schedule status, and scenario comparison views for evaluating trade-offs.
Relevant to: Operations software, complex scheduling
UX lead, end-to-end design and a new design system
Binary SBOM scanning for automotive software security and compliance.
Challenge: OEMs and Tier 1 manufacturers must show their assets are free of software vulnerabilities for compliance, and the platform had become overloaded with data, with a fragmented workflow across tabs and side panels.
Decision: A new information architecture and navigation flow, a role and task analysis to understand what users do and prioritize, and a UI built on a new design system for cross-platform use.
Relevant to: 0-to-1 products, security compliance
Designer lead from the startup's first stages, now SAP
An enterprise identity and access management platform: registration as a service, comments, gamification and a no-code UI builder.
Challenge: Complex identity configuration needed technical precision while staying accessible, enterprise clients managed hundreds of sites with different identity requirements, and the plugins had to fit any site.
Decision: A SaaS platform for customer identity and access management, minimal and generic engagement plugins that any site can customize, and a UI Builder for login and registration flows in as few steps as possible.
Relevant to: Developer and enterprise platforms, early-stage startups
AI: designing with it and for it
Lia designs with AI in the loop: Figma alongside Cursor, Claude, Lovable and Make.com.
For products, she designs AI-assisted investigation flows and LLM-powered analysis tools, and works on making AI output interpretable, trustworthy and actionable for expert users.
For an existing product built with AI tools, she improves the UX/UI: a UX audit, a flow restructure and a real visual system, typically 2 to 5 weeks. This sits under AI product design.
Her own tools, at different stages, are on the AI Playground page: an AI-run UX audit, a job-hunt bot and a WhatsApp calendar agent. No benchmarks are claimed for them.
AI Playground · AI product design
Frequently asked questions
Who is Lia Dolev?
Lia Dolev is a senior freelance product designer (UX/UI) in Israel with 20+ years of experience. She designs complex B2B SaaS, AI-driven platforms, cybersecurity tools and automotive software, and runs Lia Dolev Studio. Her work includes PlaxidityX, General Motors, Optibus, GfK and Gigya (acquired by SAP).
What areas of design does Lia cover?
Product design (UX/UI), complex B2B UX, AI product design, design systems and web design. The work behind each is in the case studies: AI-XDR and AutoDesigner for AI product design, Gigya, Optibus and GfK RegioGraph for complex B2B UX, and the PlaxidityX design systems.
Is Lia Dolev a freelance designer in Israel, and where is she based?
Yes. She works independently as Lia Dolev Studio from Pardes Hanna-Karkur, in the Sharon region of Israel, and works remotely or hybrid with clients in Israel, Europe and the US.
Is Lia available for new projects?
Yes. Use the contact page; she replies within one business day and usually schedules a 20-minute discovery call.
Does Lia work with startups?
Yes, startups are her main client group: mostly pre-seed to Series B B2B startups, typically founder-led teams building complex or technical products. At GfK, Optibus and Gigya she was the sole designer in the company. The MVP design package is built for early-stage teams.
What roles can Lia take?
Freelance UI/UX designer, freelance product designer, fractional Product Designer or Head of Design, AI product designer, and UX auditor.
How does Lia charge, and does she work on retainers?
Product design is hourly, or on a monthly retainer for ongoing work, quoted per project after a discovery call. Website projects are quoted for a defined scope. There is no public price list.
Which languages and time zones does Lia work in?
Hebrew and English. She is on Israel time (UTC+2/+3) and arranges overlapping working hours with clients in Europe and the US.
Is Lia suited to complex B2B or SaaS product design?
Yes, it is the core of her work: data-heavy products for expert users, as at Gigya, Optibus, GfK and PlaxidityX.
Does Lia design cybersecurity products?
Yes. She has designed XDR platforms, vulnerability management tools, DevSecOps consoles and automotive threat analysis systems, including AutoDesigner and AI-XDR at PlaxidityX.
Does Lia design UX for AI-driven products?
Yes. She designs AI-assisted investigation flows, LLM-powered analysis tools and AI features for expert users, with a focus on making AI output interpretable, trustworthy and actionable.
Can Lia improve a product that was built with Lovable, v0 or Bolt?
Yes. AI product design covers existing AI-built products and takes 2 to 5 weeks: a UX audit, a flow restructure, information architecture, a real visual system, component cleanup, and handoff to the team's stack.
What is the difference between a fractional Head of Design and a freelance product designer?
A freelance product designer is hired per project to deliver specific design work. A fractional Product Designer or Head of Design is embedded on a monthly retainer, typically 1 to 3 days a week over three months or more, and owns design across flows, builds and governs the design system, and mentors the team.
How long does an MVP design take?
3 to 4 weeks, from problem framing to a clickable high-fidelity Figma prototype ready for user testing or development handoff.
Does Lia deliver Figma files and developer handoff?
Yes. Deliverables include an interactive Figma prototype, lightweight design tokens and a component starter kit, and a developer handoff session.
Does Lia design websites for businesses?
Yes. Web design takes 3 to 6 weeks: audience, message and structure, full responsive design for desktop and mobile, a no-code build, forms, analytics, domain setup and launch.
Which companies has Lia worked with?
PlaxidityX, General Motors, Optibus, GfK and Gigya (acquired by SAP).
When is Lia not the right fit?
Individual or hobby projects without a team to work with, pure visual-only execution with no product or engineering collaboration, projects that need a large agency account layer, and teams with no counterpart to co-design with.
How do I start a project with Lia?
Fill in the short contact form. She replies within one business day to schedule a 20-minute discovery call, and a written proposal follows within 48 hours.
Does Lia design dashboards and data-heavy interfaces?
Yes. At GfK she designed RegioGraph, a geomarketing and market research platform with dense map and data layers. At Optibus she designed operations software with a unified timeline and alert system, and in AI-XDR and the DevSecOps platform she designed dashboards and investigation views for security teams. Each case study explains the hierarchy and the trade-offs behind the screens.
Can Lia design products with many user roles and permissions?
Yes, it is a recurring part of her work. The DevSecOps platform includes user, group and admin management across several products, Vulnerability Management started from a role and task analysis, and Gigya's identity platform is built around configuring access for many sites and users.
Does Lia build design systems?
Yes. At PlaxidityX she built a design system that gave the company's products a consistent interface and scaled design from one product to seven. The Vulnerability Management UI was built on a new design system for cross-platform use.
Can Lia take a product from zero to one?
Yes. She was UX lead for AutoDesigner, a newly built cybersecurity product, end to end from concept to launch, and was the first designer in early-stage startups such as Optibus and Gigya. For a new idea, the MVP design service takes it to a clickable, high-fidelity prototype in 3 to 4 weeks.
Does Lia work in the automotive industry?
Yes, from two directions: automotive cybersecurity at PlaxidityX (XDR, vulnerability management, the DevSecOps platform and AutoDesigner) and consumer products at General Motors, where she owned UI/UX for the Bolt EV and Hummer Off-Road apps.
Does Lia do user research and usability testing?
Yes. For AutoDesigner she started with a discovery day of observations and interviews with cybersecurity engineers, then built early prototypes for each section and tested them with real users. Their feedback shaped the product and confirmed the key design decisions. A UX audit is also available as a separate service.
Does Lia design Hebrew and right-to-left interfaces?
Yes. She works in Hebrew and English, and this site is bilingual, with the Hebrew pages built right to left.
Which industries has Lia worked in?
Cybersecurity and automotive software, public transportation scheduling (Optibus), geomarketing and market research analytics (GfK), enterprise identity and access management (Gigya), and websites and apps for businesses.