Lena Karelis

Lena Karelis has extensive experience in user experience research. Lena is currently working as a Lead User Experience Researcher at MakerSights, where they collaborate with cross-functional teams to make user-centered decisions. Prior to that, they held the role of User Experience Researcher at Adobe, where they delivered insights for design decisions and mentored designers in conducting research. Lena also worked as a User Experience Researcher at Atlassian, where they identified customer experience priorities and led workshops to increase research buy-in. Additionally, Lena worked as a Researcher and Project Manager at Oliver Gardens LLC, improving internal communications efficiency and proposing revenue-increasing strategies. Lena has also worked in research roles at Cultural Association prostorož, Celtra, Inc., Projects Unlimited, and the University of Ljubljana. Overall, Lena has a strong background in user experience research and has made significant contributions to product development and strategy.

Lena Karelis has a diverse education history. In 2005 to 2009, they attended the University of Ljubljana, where they obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Informatics. In 2007, they participated in an international exchange program at Linköping University, focusing on Statistics. In 2009 to 2010, Lena pursued a Master of Arts degree in Science and Technology Studies at Maastricht University. In 2010, they further specialized in Technology and Social Change at the Université de Namur. Later, in 2016 to 2017, Lena completed a 500-hour Certificate of Completion in Yoga Teacher Training/Yoga Therapy from Yoga Garden San Francisco. Lena also holds additional certifications, such as being a registered yoga teacher (RYT500) from Yoga Alliance, and certifications in CPR and Wilderness/Remote Location First Aid from SOLO Wilderness Medical School. In 2020, they attended UC Berkeley Extension for User Research for UX, but no specific degree was mentioned.