Elena Akaliyska

Product & Design

High impact design for complex domains

High impact design for complex domains

Scaling products through strategic, data-driven design and a pinch of common sense. Mediator, ambiguity conqueror, and a woman with many opinions backed by 10+ years in design and shipping over 30 products.

Scaling products through strategic, data-driven design and a pinch of common sense. Mediator, ambiguity conqueror, and a woman with many opinions backed by 10+ years in design and shipping over 30 products.

A woman reviewing her phone in a wine shop, next to a mobile checkout screen showing credit payment terms and a payment due notification.

Unlocking online ordering for a new segment of customers

Senior Product Designer | Heineken | 2024

A segment of customers couldn't order online because credit terms weren't supported at checkout. Led end-to-end design to close that gap, reducing operational costs for the business and unlocking a new customer segment. The solution was later adopted as a reusable payment service across other HEINEKEN products and markets.

The Brandwatch analytics interface showing social mention data, surrounded by floating team name labels representing the design team.

Scaling the analytics design team while delivering at pace

Product Design Manager | Brandwatch | 2023

Led UX for Brandwatch's acquisition of an influencer marketing tool, delivering first integration in 30 days. Pushed back on surface-level UI overhaul demands and along with tech created a phased integration approach. Simultaneously managed the analytics design team growing from 2 to 5 designers, creating structured onboarding, knowledge-sharing and mentoring sessions supporting the team’s efficiency and high spirits.

Experience

Experience

Sr. Product Designer, Distributors

UX strategy and end-to-end design for HEINEKEN's new global distributor platform from vision through MVP delivery and cross-market validation.

HEINEKEN Global, 2024 - 2025

Sr. Product Designer, E-commerce B2B

Sr. Product Designer,
E-commerce B2B

End-to-end UX for DOT, HEINEKEN's global B2B ordering platform used by 200K+ customers across 24 markets. Focus on improving ordering journeys, increasing conversions and order value.

HEINEKEN Global, 2023 - 2024

Product Design Manager, Analytics

Built and led a team of 5 designers through acquisition. Hired 3 designer in 6 months, mentored junior talent, and drove design strategy across the Analytics workstream.

Brandwatch, 2022 - 2023

Sr. Product Designer, Analytics

Embedded designer on Measure, a social media analytics platform. Led discovery and end-to-end design, introduced continuous discovery practices, and contributed to the design system.

Brandwatch, 2019 - 2022

UX Design Lead

Led design and discovery across client projects at a boutique agency - owning deliverables, managing client relationships, and mentoring junior designers.

Kickflip, 2018 - 2019

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