If you’ve ever opened an app and thought, “Wow, this is clean, smooth, and strangely satisfying,” chances are, someone like Kaylan Tran made that magic happen. Except in her case, it’s not just magic—it’s strategy, systems, and a whole lot of soft skills.

We sat down with the NYC-based Lead Interaction Designer to talk about design systems, creative longevity, scaling with soul, and—yes—her cat named Sansa (Game of Thrones fans, this one’s for you ).

“I work on systems that serve 31 million users… and I feel the burden of that responsibility every day”

Kaylan wears many hats: product designer, mentor, and low-key digital architect of experiences you didn’t even know were carefully constructed for ease. Her current gig? Lead Interaction Designer at Kettle, a digital agency under the Code and Theory group. She works on large-scale systems for brands like T-Mobile—yep, she helps design experiences for over 31 million users across the U.S.

And no, the pressure isn’t lost on her.

“It’s very intimidating,” she says with a laugh. “Every decision you make impacts millions. So you can’t afford to just wing it. You have to pause and ask—does this work for everyone? Is it accessible? Does it still align with our values?”

Kaylan builds design systems—internal tools that allow designers and developers to ship products faster, with more consistency. But unlike the buzzword-heavy way it’s often described, she breaks it down simply:

“It’s not just about lines and shapes on Figma. If what’s in Figma doesn’t align with code, the system itself has no value, to the designers, the engineers, or the client. The system needs to speak the same language across design and engineering—otherwise, you’re just adding pretty pixels to the void.”

Where Are All the Women in the Room?

Despite the female-dominant classrooms she saw in design school, the real world was… different.

“Once you hit the director level and above, the room starts to look very male, very fast,” she notes. “It’s a sharp drop.”

Thankfully, Kaylan found herself at Kettle, a women-led agency with a culture that doesn’t treat maternity leave like a career death sentence.

But she’s under no illusion—agency life is intense. Kaylan notes that sometimes, the work week can clock in up to 60+ hours. (yes, you read that right) and says she manages only because she’s single and can control her time.

“Balancing this with caregiving or motherhood? That’s a real challenge. We need more flexibility and trust. Trust people to do the work without policing their every move.”

Her tip for companies? ” Let people be humans with lives. Let them log off. Let them pick up their kids. Let them breathe. Plus, let them have autonomy to create a schedule that works for both parties”

Let’s Talk Portfolios (But Not the Way You Think)

Here’s the part aspiring designers need to read twice.

“We don’t just look at pretty mockups,” Kaylan says. “We ask: Have you worked with developers? Do you know how to negotiate feedback with non-design people? Can you explain your process in five minutes to a CEO?”

Because at the end of the day, real-world design isn’t just creative—it’s collaborative.

Her advice? Make your portfolio a conversation starter, not a wallpaper of UI screenshots. Bonus points if you’ve actually turned one of your projects into a real, working prototype using a no-code tool.

“If you’re serious about product design, show us how you think. Don’t just show the ‘after.’ Show the ‘during’—the choices, the pivots, the messy stuff.”

Click here to : Read more real life tips from creative women shaping their industries

How Kaylan Keeps the Soul in System Design

Design systems can sound cold—logic, tokens, governance (yawn). But Kaylan is deeply invested in keeping the “human” in UX.

“We hold open office hours twice a week to gather feedback—not just from users, but from the internal teams actually using our systems.”

She believes good design is never final—it’s iterative, evolving, open to change. That’s what keeps it alive.

Her Mentorship Mantra? “Don’t Come With Just Questions.”

Kaylan mentors junior designers, and she’s not shy about her expectations.

“Come with real work. Show us what you’ve been trying. Let us give feedback you can actually use. And don’t stop at one mentor—get multiple perspectives. Your job is to distill the feedback and decide what works for you.”

And perhaps the hardest truth she’s had to tell a mentee?

“Breaking into the industry is the hardest part. It does get easier after that. But getting your foot in the door takes grit.”

Kaylan’s Most Underrated Skill? Asking Smart Questions.

Not AI skills. Not motion design. Not even coding.

“Asking clarifying questions is everything. You might be the only person in the room brave enough to say, ‘Hey, what does this really mean? That one question could unlock valuable learnings and change the entire direction of a project.”

And that kind of clarity? That’s what gets you to lead-level.

TL;DR: Kaylan’s Power Moves 

• Keep it human—no matter how techy your tools get
• Collaborate or perish—design is a team sport
• Have range—branding, product, mentorship? Bring it all
• Don’t wait to be perfect—learn by getting your hands dirty