BACKGROUND

For most of my career, I have been working in Institutional Finance. That means designing products for Traders, Analysts, Quants, Strategists, Portfolio Managers, Financial Advisors. And Operations & Compliance. I am comfortable with complex concepts, complex interactions, and dense UI.

For the past 8 years, I have been focusing on artificial intelligence, machine learning, NLP (Natural Language Processing), predictive & behavioral analysis, automation and conversational AI.

For the past 2+ years, I had been conceiving, designing and developing groundbreaking AI experiences, that engage users, deliver business goals, and showcase the practical benefits of Generative AI.

My other passion is data. I believe statistics are a unique way to unlock insights. Data surprises us, educates us and, at its best, transforms us. All of us who work in Data Science, designers, developers and data scientists - we are modern day journalists, looking for stories in data.

2021, March 8 - International Women's Day, my employer at the time of publishing, Publicis Sapient, published my article, CLOSE THE WEALTH GAP. This has been my passion project for 3 years.

In a nutshell, in my view, investing is yet another aspect of life, where American women trail leaps and bounds behind men. I call on both women, and the financial advisories, to engage with each other, for everyone’s benefit.

EDUCATION

My Master of Science degree I received at Pratt Institute, and my BFA at Manhattanville University.

UX APPROACH

My superpower is simplifying complexity and converting ambiguity into clarity. I lead teams and bring projects over the finish line.

My colleagues and managers have observed that I have an incredible ability to deeply focus, and tune out all the noise.

Testimonials from clients, managers and coworkers, from the 3 companies I worked the longest at, and people knew me best: J.P. Morgan (4yrs), Sapient (3.5yrs), and Moody's (3yrs).

MOODY'S:

"Yelena is very methodical in gathering requirements for her work and documenting user stories and assumptions thoroughly.

● She has a unique and effective way of managing files in Figma, which allows for clear tracking of design evolution and attribution of ideas.

● She is highly organized and hardworking, not afraid to grind through work and tasks.

● She has done a great job putting together designs for complex parts of the Copilot product, which have required multiple iterations and feedback from stakeholders."

Director of Product Management, Moody's Analytics

"Yelena consistently demonstrates a genuine interest in understanding the team's objectives and strives to understand the full picture of what the team is working on."

Senior Director of Product Management, Moody's Analytics

GOLDMAN SACHS, CLIENT ASSIGNMENT FROM PUBLICIS SAPIENT

"Yelena was able to establish a middle ground in workstyle, cadense and collaboration. She also learned a new product area within Goldman Sachs, which she hadn't been previously familiar with.

She learned quickly and was able to contribute. She gained confidence from the Product team as a reliable voice in a complex functional domain".

Service Design Lead, Private Wealth Management, Goldman Sachs, Publicis Sapient's client and Yelena's manager on the Goldman assignment

"I did not work with Yelena daily but observed her to to be unafraid to ask the hard questions to ensure she has an understanding of the product, or context, featured on her design track. Her tenacity enables flexibility in creating solutions and focus on design outcomes."

Client Relationship Manager, Sapient resource and team lead for the Goldman Sachs account

"Yelena was a fantastic partner. She thoroughly reviewed user stories and provided valuable feedback on how certain product requirements may or may not fit with the design principles being used for the application. She was able to quickly respond to design requests, and was able to successfully articulate the reasoning behind certain UX/UI choices to senior stakeholders and working group members."

Product Manager, Sapient resource who eventually converted to a FT Goldman employee

"Yelena was a pleasure to work with. She was quick to dive in and get up to speed quickly.

● She actively sought out and scheduled 1-1 sessions with me to learn the context, which allowed her to be more productive in meetings.

● She managed feedback from end-users and was trusted with those Goldman Sachs clients.

● I thought that Yelena did a great job of pushing back when GS team members wanted to break design patterns and best practices.

● On the flip side, she was always happy to incorporate feedback into her designs."

Scrum Master, Earns & Young resource who eventually converted to a FT Goldman employee

TOP 5 ASSET MANAGER IN THE U.S. , CLIENT ASSIGNMENT FROM PUBLICIS SAPIENT, NON-REFERENCEABLE CLIENT

"When Yelena joined, we never had a UX expert here at client side and there was skepticism as to how client will take it and adopt the UX design.

● Yelena made significant inroads suggesting multiple options to client and a new perspective to look at UX.

● We really appreciate the way Yelena traversed the client with UX journey as the end users most of the time had little idea on the experience they need.

● Yelena was a thorough professional in dealing with the client and her teammates."

Quant Engineering Manager, at the Asset Management client, Sapient resource who eventually converted to a FT client employee

"Yelena is not only an incredibly talented UX/UI SME, she is also very collaborative with the team, very determined and adapts to change. Working iwth her was a great experience. I learned a lot from her. When she starts a project, there is a guarantee that the project will be handled in the best possible way."

Front End Developer, Sapient resource at the Asset Management client

PUBLICIS SAPIENT, DIRECT MANAGER

"Yelena jumped into the design team and developed a strong working relationship with one of the more difficult clients. She was a core member of the small strategy team, during a time when the Head Strategist had limited bandwith to contribute. Yelena and the team put in long hours to prepare for what ended up being a very successful workshop.

● On all her projects, Yelena is cited for her methodological approach to design, her careful attention to detail and the strength of her designs.

● If Yelena has one defining quality, it's a strong concentration on increasing her abilities. That includes professional development, but she takes this mindset to her projects too. She applies it to better understand her projects, the business environment, the users she's designing for and the technologies behind her designs.

● Yelena is consumed with a desire to understand new technologies, their implication for Design and best practices for creating designs with those technologies."

Group Creative Director and Yelena's direct manager at Publicis Sapient

J.P. MORGAN

● "Willingness to step up and take on roles outside of direct remit. Does so in a collaborative and constructive manner. Great partner."

● "Under her guidance the site evolved from a basic POC to a properly-styled, well-thought out toolset for both developers and end users of applications. Feedback on the design was universally positive and she did a good job of balancing sometimes-conflicting stakehlder demands."

Combined feedback from internal clients

MOTTO

It's a Gatorade ad. I did not invent it, but I wish I had.

"It's not where you're from, but where you're going.

It's not what you drive, but what drives you.

It's what what's on you, but what's in you."

FUN FACTS

I am 6'1 (183cm) and I played basketball for 10 years.