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Product Management

Roman Kolyvanov

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A Little Note

Hi there,

Thanks for stopping by! Before I share my work experience and recent projects with you,
I wanted to let you in on some things that are super important to me:


1. I want to make people’s lives BETTER


Apps can literally change how people live their lives, how they work, how they enjoy their free time, and how they manage their money. I've had my life completely changed by finding apps that uniquely answered some specific pain point or consistent struggle in my life (Google Sheets, Todoist, and YNAB are a few). I believe digital products will continue to transform our lives for the better and it makes me super happy that I get to contribute to that!




2. I like DIGGING into complex problems


There's nothing like learning the ins and outs of a problem, of looking at it from every angle, and of coming up with a solution that not only resolves the pain point, but takes the user's experience from just "fixed" to absolutely delightful. It takes a certain type of curiosity to not be afraid of the unknown; to jump into the abyss, to follow lines of thinking and questions through to their end. And then to finally gain perspective and deep, contextual understanding; to begin to see the larger systems at play that exist outside the realm of the initial problem.. Yeah, I like that stuff. :)




3. I love DESTROYING the boring, menial stuff people don't want to do at work anymore


I've worked in all kinds of different jobs and industries in the early part of my career (have held positions as a School Records Clerk, a Head Secretary, an Inventory Pricing Auditor, an Account Coordinator, among a few others), and after getting a grasp on the job, I would quickly get discouraged when I'd have to do some menial tasks over and over again on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. I love helping people get efficient in the tedious areas of work so they can be free to focus on the meaningful and impactful things instead.



Anyways... Now let's get down to the nitty gritty...

my education and work

Experience

  • work
  • education
timeline

Jan 2022 - present

Director of Product Management

2018 - 2021

Senior Product Manager

2016 -2018

Product Manager

timeline

2006 - 2010

College

1993 - 2006

School

Jan 2022 - present

Director of Product Management

I'm currently working at a pretty darn cool digital product agency called Ventive. We build apps for clients in a variety of different industries and capacities.

In my role, I get to lead our Product Management depaartment which consists of our Lead and Junior Product Owners, UX Researchers, UX/UI and Visual Designers.

2018 - 2021

Senior Product Manager

In this role, I led teams of UX/UI and visual designers, technical project managers, lead engineers, and BE/FE developers to take our client's vision from the back of the napkin to the real deal. I absolutely loved getting to know the industry and people that my products apply to, and collaborating with everyone involved in building out the product.

I would work on 3-5 different projects simultaneously that involved completely different industries, including: Eyecare, Trucking, Diamond Manufacturing, and Medical Supply Ordering.

2016 - 2018

Product Manager

I used to be on the product team for a DSD / Warehouse Management Software company where I launched a Learning Management System/Training Center for new and current clients of their enterprise software by developing a website that included software documentation, FAQs, a video library, and a comprehensive implementation process involving over 20 training videos that I scripted and produced using Premiere Pro.

I also worked with developers to take a half finished SaaS product to a new and improved version 2.0. To streamline the effort, I redesigned the look and feel of the app to reflect Material Design principles. We then launched the web app on the Intuit App Store.

Around this time, I also worked with a business partner on an MVP version of a project management and time tracking web app. The goal was to test the market using lean startup principles and to learn if this product would be viable in the marketplace. We found that users were relatively comfortable with piece mealing various web apps together to fulfill their needs and that unless a new product could combine a CRM, Project/Task Management, Time Tracking, and Invoicing, all in one soltuion, they weren't willing to jump away from what was currently working for them. At that time, based on these findings, we decided to not pursue the effort further.

2006 - 2010

George Fox University

My four years at George Fox were transformational. I left with not only a Bachelor's of Arts in Music Theory & Composition, but a clearer understanding of how my mind works and what my strengths and weaknesses are.

1993 - 2006

Portland Public Schools

I went through the Portland Public Schools and am so thankful for the teachers and staff that influenced my life and inspired me to pursue further education as well as my passion for efficiency, technology, and design.

my recent works

Portfolio

  • all
  • Product Development
  • Design
  • Business Process Analysis
  • Other Ventures

Contact

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Roman2023

About me

From websites, to web & mobile apps, to complex content and data management systems, I am passionate about designing and building digital products and solutions that change people's lives for the better.

I merge Business Process Analysis and Design to create functional yet beautiful digital products.

I’m a learner, a communicator, and a creative.

Let's write you a digital symphony.

profession:
product management & ownership
languages spoken:
english, russian

PracticePal

PracticePal.io is a forward thinking application that is disrupting the optometry industry.

For the past two years, I have been leading a team of highly skilled UX/UI Designers, Project Managers, and FE / BE Developers to build a never before seen Eligibility / Benefits Patient Lookup tool as well as an Optical Sales tool that deciphers the patient's plan and instantly shows the patient's copay amounts for all inventory at the practice. No more confusion on what a patient owes.

categories:
Product Development
project by:
Ventive LLC
OST

Internal Backlog Tool

Created a fully fleshed out product backlogging & requirements gathering process and Google Sheet tool that was then applied as a requirement for all projects company-wide.

A Product Backlog is a major communication tool that helps unify the expectations and requirements for both the Client / Stakeholders as well as the Product Team.

A good Product Backlog can be used to align vision, to negotiate / discuss priorities (what should we do first?), to capture ideas / new requirements, and to get an overall understanding of timeline and effort remaining.

categories:
Business Process Analysis
project by:
Roman Kolyvanov
backlog

Online Mortgage Application User Testing

Our client asked us to test the user experience between their product and several major products that were already on the market. We created a comprehensive testing plan that involved 3-hour long user testing sessions.

The test sessions were 3 hours long because we had the test subjects actually apply for a mortgage using both our client's product as well as for one of the competitor's products (we did not tell the test subject which product was our client's and we alternated which one the test subject completed first), which meant we had to find a very specific cohort of test subjects that were actually looking to buy a house, and we had to find unique ways of marketing and incentives to intrigue the ideal candidates.

After the testing was concluded, we compiled comprehensive reports that broke down the findings for each milestone of the mortgage application process, and listed out specific UX improvements that our client could implement to improve their product and make the experience better than any of their competitor's.

categories:
User Testing
project by:
Roman Kolyvanov
text

Space Budget

Description coming soon!

categories:
Product Development
project by:
Roman Kolyvanov
text

Rytsar.io

Previous partner in startup called Rytsar.io, a Project Management Web App. A few deliverables I was able to provide for this project:

  • Built Requirements Gathering document gleaned from Discovery Sessions with Stakeholders.
  • List of User Personas with profiles for each User Role.
  • Fully fleshed out list of Epics, Features, & User Stories.
  • Wrote and edited all copy for website and app.
  • Designed UX flows for the following User Flows:
    • Onboarding
    • Company / Account Creation
    • Project Creation / Management
    • Time Tracking System
    • Task Creation
    • Workflow Creation

categories:
Product Development
project by:
Vlad Dzhidzhiyeshvili & Roman Kolyvanov
rytsarweb rytsarapp

Schoenberg Schönberg

My friend Ben and I discuss a different piece of classical music each episode, giving it our own unique take. We talk about hipster genius Gustav Mahler and his 9th Symphony, our buddy Rachmaninoff and his choral prowess, and how Sibelius brought me to tears, well, maybe just that one time..

Find this podcast on iTunes, or anywhere you listen to podcasts, or just go here.

categories:
Other Ventures
project by:
Ben Tissell & Roman Kolyvanov
schoenberg

Upwardly Global

I came to the states from Russia when I was 5 years old as a refugee. Now, as an educated U.S. citizen, I want to do something to give back. At Upwardly Global, I volunteer by working with professionals on their resumes, cover letters, and job interview skills.

Upwardly Global’s mission is "to eliminate employment barriers for skilled immigrants and refugees, and integrate this population into the professional U.S. workforce."

For more info, you can go here.

categories:
Other Ventures

Music Creation

Music is Auditory Art involving logic, problem solving, mathematics, timing, inspiration and creativity.

I believe I am a better Product Manager because of my musical endeavors.

Here are a few examples of my work.

categories:
Other Ventures
project by:
Roman Kolyvanov
soundcloud2