Who I am
A design leader who has actually shipped the work
Ex-startup founder with 15+ years of experience designing and leading teams inside B2B start-ups and scale-ups across Europe, USA and Australia.
MSc in Human-Computer Interaction with deep expertise in information architecture, product and systems thinking.
Who this is for
No design leader in-house
- Founders making product design calls without a senior voice in the room, facing a decision they don't trust themselves to make alone
- Teams about to ship something big who want a senior bar raiser to review the work first
Design teams and leaders
- Heads of Design who want an outside ally — someone with no stake in the internal politics and who brings a unique view
- Design leaders stuck on a tricky problem who need a sparring partner but don't have anyone senior enough in their org
What I look at
AI made building fast, so the filter that used to run through every stage now has to happen at the end, when it's harder to say no. The editor or bar raiser's job is to look at the whole and take responsibility for the details until the work passes the quality bar to be shipped. These are the questions I bring.
Does it solve the problem?
Not whether it looks finished. Whether it works for the person using it, in the context they use it.
Is it the obvious version?
What everyone in your market would build with the same tools and the same research. And what would make yours yours.
Is it whole?
Plenty of things look good in isolation and feel disconnected once they sit in the user journey. I read it end to end.
Is it fully formed?
Done is not the same as good. I look for the gaps, the details nobody decided and the parts that were never finished.
What would prove the bet right, or tell you to stop?
The evidence to look for before you build more, so you stay on the problem and change the solution.
Is it a test or a promise?
What can change next week, and what customers can build on. Being clear about which keeps their trust.
How it works
- 01Fill out a short formA few lines on what you're stuck on or about to ship, no deck required
- 02We work through it togetherA thinking partner on hard decisions. An editor for work in progress.
- 03You leave with clarity on what's worth shippingA reframed problem, work that's fully formed, and concrete next steps
“Her ability to take several steps back, question our roadmap and priorities, and suggest alternatives has proven invaluable.”
“Her pushes to think differently about a topic have often helped us deliver much better experiences to customers significantly sooner.”
“Elena is an absolutely superb manager and designer. I've personally benefited hugely from her mentorship and guidance.”
“I worked with Elena for almost two years, and I can say she's one of the best managers I ever had... continually encouraging me to go beyond my limits.”
“Elena is able to go deep in the weeds and think at a high level, which means she's able to contribute so much to the team and, ultimately, to the customers.”
“We released to market on time with a lot of positive feedback around experience. I'd highly recommend Elena for any design leadership role.”
“Elena continuously seeks to improve the process, deliverables, and ways of working as a team. Given her positive attitude and inspirational leadership, she is a great person to work with and look up to.”
“Elena's ability to challenge both the team and her peers has helped shape EO into a culture where constructive feedback and challenges are welcomed.”
“Elena is very good at switching between an IC role and a management role. It was great to see how she raised the standards of design and our aspirations towards UX.”
LET'S TALK
Got a hard problem or critical work to review?
Book a chat. We'll look at it together and agree on the cadence that helps.