Nikita Kissel

Product management UX · User research

Emotional intelligence meets systems thinking.

Those are already my genuine opinions.

Work

Then

A decade as an engineer and engineering manager taught me structure, but in retrospect I treated every job as a product and every project as a relationship.

Now

Empathy and a passion for emotional intelligence shape how I build products addressing deep needs: well-being, autonomy, connection and being understood.

Next

A product role with research and real product or business impact. Early-stage or human-centered teams are a bonus.

Download resume
Projects

Projects

Bump|Web · iOS coming

Skip small talk for a topic that's current for both.

Bump match screen: two people and the topics worth exploring together

Out loud, not in formsFive short voice questions

Every match says whyTopics worth exploring together

Heer|Web

Conflict resolution reimagined.

Heer screen: what will be shared, in your own voice

Private firstEach side talks to Heer alone

Nothing shared unconfirmedYou approve every word

Wellbeing App|Live prototype

Your wearable and phone data, turned into seven scores you can actually feel.

Wellbeing App today screen with seven scores

You correct, it learnsThe gap is the learning signal

Consistency paysResilience lowers the price

Horoscope|Android

A daily horoscope that feels familiar and quietly runs on psychology and local weather-vibe.

Horoscope today screen on a slow, rainy day

Weather, never namedIt only sets the tone

Nothing to configureSwipe yesterday, today, tomorrow

Ember|Concept

A dating app that matches on vibes, not profiles.

What made you smile this week?

When's usually a good time for you to chat?

No bios, no likesIt reads how you talk

One match at a timeOnly when it's confident

Experience

Product strategy, UX & fundraising

Stealth-stage wellbeing app · 2026 – present

A pre-seed app translating wearable signals into emotional and physical state. I defined the data architecture behind seven everyday scores, designed the daily iOS experience and its feedback loop, shaped the business model and built the pre-seed deck.

Electrical engineering manager

Horsepower Electric · New York · 2022 – 2026

I lead the engineering department and designed the workflows that set how the team scopes, owns and delivers work.
Initiating and leading the software transition became a live surgery with new workflows, kept deadlines, and management of adoption and resistance to change.
Being product owner for internal workflow software built from scratch taught me to communicate and advocate for team needs.
I wrote the requirements and gave UX and QA feedback to an Agile team.

Electrical engineer, assistant project manager

New York · 2018 – 2022

I coordinated design and construction teams to keep complex systems aligned, constructible and code-compliant.

Quality control engineer

Russia · 2014 – 2018

I led field and lab testing and quality evaluation for major construction projects, and automated reporting that cut submission time more than 10×.

QA tester, World of Tanks

Wargaming.net · Belarus · 2011 – 2014

I turned observed player behavior into UX improvements for a live product with millions of players. My first grounding in iterative, user-centered development.

Interested in working together?

Vibing?