Reimagining education
through technology
I led product team though the launch of several 0→1 products (Recap, Synth, Swivl Teams) and explored innovative concepts (Interactive Classroom) — helping expand company’s product portfolio, grow user base and take a leading role in EdTech space.
Space
EdTech
Type
Role
Team
Deliverables
The vision
Create better learning outcomes for teachers and students of all ages through the use of innovative technology, both hardware and software.
It all started with Swivl Robot and the company's first software product, Swivl Cloud — a video collaboration platform for professional development, but then quickly grew into exploring new ways of empowering teachers and engaging students with technology for self-reflection, inquiry-driven learning and flipped classroom methodology.
My role
I joined Swivl in 2014 as the first designer with the objective of building a design team and driving design strategy.
During my 4,5 years with the company I wore multiple hats — juggling design and innovation (which was my primary focus) with building core product capabilities and managing remote teams collaboration. This is when for the first time I ventured from design into product management, which ultimately changed my career trajectory.
“Alla's capabilities span design, product management, project management and marketing. Unusually for someone of this breadth, she also has incredible depth in design. Most importantly - her work is stunning. Everything she did at Swivl raised the bar. She is a strong communicator across language barriers, highly organized yet also highly creative, a skilled researcher and effective at building processes for multi-disciplinary teams."
Brian Lamb
Founder and CEO at Swivl
Approach
Key launches:
(2016) Beta launch of Recap ● (2017) Recap 2.0 launch ● (2017) Swivl Multi-Camera launch ● (2018) Synth launch
Building an advanced video collaboration platform with multi-camera recording
With the launch of Gen2 Swivl Robot, we received a technical ability to connect multiple video and audio streams, which opened a path to the creation and launch of Swivl Multi-Camera — two separate apps for teachers and students, connected to Swivl Cloud, that would support group-based learning scenarios.
● synchronously record from up to 5 mobile devices (1 teacher device and up to 4 student devices)
● teacher can project image and video slides on all devices
● teacher has full control of the session — start/pause/stop recording, control slides, adjust settings, etc
Recap — a K-12 e-learning platform — was designed to provide teachers with new, creative ways to gather evidence of student thinking using video and foster transformative discussions in the classroom.
● formative assessment ● self-reflection
● class management ● parent communication
Synth was designed as an audio-first micro-podcasting platform with an ambition of growing an information network and a shared knowledge base for personal growth, productivity and team communication. With social features that enhance knowledge-sharing without the noise of traditional social media.
Synths are 256 second audio or video soundbites that you can share anywhere, discover easily, interact with and listen to back-to-back.
🙋 10K+ active users within first 6 mo
Launched on Product Hunt
YC application
Impact
Design-led growth
I grew the product design team from a team of 1 to a strong team of 5, while transforming Swivl into a truly design-driven organization.
I provided mentorship and support, setting up every designer for success in their career, both at Swivl and beyond. The team has seen an incredibly high retention with some members still being there as of 2024, and others pursuing great careers at design agencies, startups and big name companies like Amazon.
1 → 5
design team
3 zero to one products launched
including 1 launch on Product Hunt and 1 YC application
1.5M users and 2 industry awards
for Recap — a K-12 e-learning platform