Pavel Khudiakov.

Now

Releasing Stiger — encrypted text hidden inside ordinary-looking PNG stickers, for iMessage; it is in App Store review. Working on Stecho in a related space.

Why

Most of what keeps a conversation private has existed for years — in papers, in command-line tools, in apps built by engineers for engineers. It rarely reaches the people who need it, because using it means understanding it first.

That gap is the work: take the research seriously, then design it until it feels like a normal app. A serious secret or a joke for a friend — same tool, no manual.

Before

Nine years at Yandex, the company behind Russia’s main search engine, then a move to Buenos Aires and a platform built from scratch for a US company.

1. 2022–2026
   Effectiff / Cloud Interpreter

   Led the frontend of a real-time audio and video platform for interpreters — from a blank page to tens of thousands of calls.

2. 2021–2022
   Kinopoisk

   Frontend tech lead at one of Russia’s largest streaming services.

3. 2019–2021
   Yandex Services

   Two full rebrands, a component library built with the design team, video introductions shipped end to end.

4. 2018–2019
   Yandex Messenger

   Web and desktop clients for macOS, Windows and Linux. Launched channels and web push.

5. 2012–2018
   Yandex News, Rasp, Avia

   News, sports and stocks; train and flight schedules. Where I learned to ship to a lot of people at once.

6. 2007–2012
   Freelance

   Websites and small shops. Before that, winning CSS design contests on a Russian blogging platform — probably the first sign I cared how things look.

Talk to me about

Usable privacy, messaging products, conference talks — and projects where one person gets to own the product, the design and the code.