Anna Pilyutik

Service Designer & UX Research Lead (hands-on) | International Experience | Talent Visa (UK)

I’m a Service Designer and CX/UX research lead with 9+ years in fintech, e-commerce, B2B and other industries. I’m used to dynamic environments, multicultural teams and doing hands-on research. I help teams deeply understand users, apply Human-Centered Design and make strong research-based product decisions.

Key Areas of Expertise:
  • Establishing and scaling product research functions to align teams and stakeholder goals.
  • Using qualitative and quantitative methods, along with leading frameworks (in-depth interviews, U-tests, Surveys, NPS/CSI, CJM, Service Blueprint, etc.), to deliver actionable insights.
  • Driving UX maturity through training, mentoring, and research culture building.
Work
2025-Now
Senior Service Designer & Product Researcher m10 Digital Wallet (PashaPay)
Fastest growing fintech startup in Azerbaijan
  • I lead end-to-end Discovery for major projects (digital card, new loans): checking clients’ needs, reviewing ideas, running in-depth interviews, using JTBD, surveys and usability tests. Created the methodology and led piloting and automation of surveys for new product launches.
  • I follow how research insights and problems were solved through delivery and marketing.
  • I conduct and manage research, analysed results, presented findings and advocate for customer needs to stakeholders and board members.
  • I work in Azerbaijani and Russian research contexts (most studies in AZ, 30–40% in RU), creating a way to manage methodology so methods stay consistent across languages. I present reports in English.
2020-2024
Competency Assessment Framework for CX/UX Researchers
Together with Elena Svergenenko we created a Kit for Researchers, Team Leaders, and Business Managers
2023-2025
Head of Product Research at X5 Retail
(Russia’s #1 Retailer)
  • Built & Led UX Research — Established the UX research & editorial function, leading a team of researchers and writers to enhance product decision-making.
  • Optimized Customer Experience — Developed a customer satisfaction measurement system and addressed key customer pain points in the platform redesign, which helped improving NPS/CSI by 30%.
  • Strengthened Discovery & Cross-Team Collaboration — Integrated HCD & research into the Discovery process across united teams of e-commerce platforms, working closely with product, design, and leadership teams to drive user-centered improvements.
Articles
2020-2023
Head of b2b Product Research at ALFA BANK
(Top-5 Bank in Russia)
  • Built & Led UX Research — Established a 16-person UX team and the B2B CX/UX Lab, supporting 120+ product teams with advanced research tools like emotion AI and eye-tracking.
  • Optimized UX & Boosted Customer Satisfaction — Developed a UX prioritization framework, resolving 70 critical issues, preventing 100% of critical failures in top-100 user scenarios, and implementing a customer satisfaction measurement system for top-30 use cases.
  • Improved Product Discovery — Rolled out Discovery processes for 120+ teams, trained 50% in HCD, and contributed to launching 30+ new services.
2016-2020
Senior researcher, interactive designer at Wonderfull
(design thinking agency)
  • Conducted user research, usability testing, gap analysis, and CJM/EJM across multiple industries (retail, telecom, agriculture, education, etc.).
  • Led design thinking workshops.
  • Created personas, wireframes, digital prototypes, and design systems.
  • Defined product development priorities and employee journey strategies.
Other projects
2024
Speaker at the Service Design course
Design Thinking Center (member of Global Design Thinking Alliance).
Topics: Change Management, and Implementation of Service Standards
2018-2019
Educators project
Desing thinking for teenagers and teachers. Product owner, methodologist. Design Thinking Center
2017-2019
Building trend research practice at Wonderfull
Tools for creating product ideas based on trends
Contacts
Made on
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