About

Meet Olena.

Black and white professional portrait of Olena Mostepan smiling warmly, short wavy hair and hoop earrings

I help B2B startups turn complex technical challenges into strategic advantages. My research and design work has contributed to securing innovation grants, achieving profitability, and uncovering markets 3x larger than original targets.

I specialise in products where complexity is the challenge - AI-enhanced workflows, two-sided marketplaces, financial tools. My approach combines systematic user research with rapid validation and cross-functional collaboration. My literature theory background taught me to analyze narratives and psychology - skills I apply to understanding user behavior and spotting gaps between what users say and what they actually need.

01

Experience

Product Designer | CQuel

November 2023 → Present

Leading design for a B2B sustainability marketplace connecting commercial real estate with solution providers. Designing the Brief Builder feature and dashboard capabilities that bridge communication gaps between technical sustainability data and business decision-making. Using rapid prototyping to validate workflows with sustainability managers before development.

Product Designer | Papermill

November 2022 → November 2023

Founding designer. Led user research that uncovered a 3x larger market opportunity, pivoting product strategy from students to B2B agencies. Research directly contributed to securing Innovate UK grant. Designed platform improving document efficiency by 45% for agency workflows.

Detailed experience at:

MY CV

MY CV

MY CV

Product Designer | Frienton

April 2022 → March 2023

Designed payment approvals, bookkeeping dashboards, and tax management for financial platform. Research-driven design retained at-risk customers through faster workflows. Improved user experience contributed to startup achieving financial independence.

02

Education

Professional Diploma in UX Design | UX Design Institute

Graduated 2023

Comprehensive methodology covering end-to-end product thinking, from research to testing and validation. Additional specialised training includes:

  • UX Measurement Training (2024) - Learning to quantify design impact with real metrics by Vitaly Friedman

  • Interface Design Patterns Certification (2024) - Studying proven solutions to common UX problems by Vitaly Friedman

  • Product Design Specialisation (2022) - Focused on end-to-end product thinking at Projector Institute

  • Mobile Interfaces: Advanced (2022) - Sophisticated mobile patterns at Projector Institute

  • Master's Degree in Philology | National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (2006-2013) - Analytical foundation in narrative theory and psychology that informs user research approach.

03

Beyond Work

I grow vegetables in my garden (cucumbers are doing great this year). These days I read modern philosophy and behavioral psychology instead of modernist novels. I'm a film enthusiast who's actually watched all 100 BAFTA top British films and working through the American list. Love local history, taking portraits, and hunting for niche perfumes. My 7-year-old daughter Sasha and I are obsessed with board games (she's getting scary good at strategy).

Also into: craft fashion, hiking, single malt whisky (especially from Islay), calligraphy, and trying to live more sustainably.

Published books with my design for non-profitable organisations: