Iris Vale
Iris Vale
Product manager
About
Research, design, product.
I started by asking people questions, then by drawing answers, and for nine years by running the teams that build them. This is the longer version.
About
Research, design, product.
I started by asking people questions, then by drawing answers, and for nine years by running the teams that build them. This is the longer version.
About
Research, design, product.
I started by asking people questions, then by drawing answers, and for nine years by running the teams that build them. This is the longer version.
The story
Since 2017, one team at a time.
- 2014
Research first
Fourteen studies for nine startups in Rotterdam, as a freelance researcher. The habit of writing down what users actually say started here.
- 2015
Studio Mast
Two years as a product designer for fintech and health clients. Built the studio's design system, then noticed the interesting decisions were being made before the design started.
- 2017
Kindly
Associate product manager on search and discovery in Amsterdam. Time to first order cut by half; the discovery playbook is still being forwarded.
- 2019
Relay
Product manager for the mobile app, zero to 800K installs in eighteen months, a team of nine, the first experimentation program.
- 2022
Northwind
Senior product manager for payments and onboarding in Berlin. Checkout conversion up 31 % in a year, Northwind Pay in four countries, three product managers hired and run.
In numbers
- 9
- years in product
- 4
- launches led
- 2.1M
- people using them
- 3
- countries worked in
How I work
Four things I do not bend.
- Ship every weekSmall releases, feature flags, a release note people read. Momentum is a feature.
- One number per betEvery roadmap line names the number it should move and by when. If it cannot, it is not ready.
- Talk to users yourselfFive interviews a month, no matter the title. Users say things to a person they do not say to a survey.
- Write it downDecisions, trade-offs and the no's go in a doc everyone can read. Memory is not a system.
Education
- 2012 to 2014TU Delft · MSc Design for InteractionThesis on onboarding in mobile banking, cum laude.
- 2009 to 2012University of Amsterdam · BSc PsychologyMinor in statistics.
The story
Since 2017, one team at a time.
- 2014
Research first
Fourteen studies for nine startups in Rotterdam, as a freelance researcher. The habit of writing down what users actually say started here.
- 2015
Studio Mast
Two years as a product designer for fintech and health clients. Built the studio's design system, then noticed the interesting decisions were being made before the design started.
- 2017
Kindly
Associate product manager on search and discovery in Amsterdam. Time to first order cut by half; the discovery playbook is still being forwarded.
- 2019
Relay
Product manager for the mobile app, zero to 800K installs in eighteen months, a team of nine, the first experimentation program.
- 2022
Northwind
Senior product manager for payments and onboarding in Berlin. Checkout conversion up 31 % in a year, Northwind Pay in four countries, three product managers hired and run.
In numbers
- 9
- years in product
- 4
- launches led
- 2.1M
- people using them
- 3
- countries worked in
How I work
Four things I do not bend.
- Ship every weekSmall releases, feature flags, a release note people read. Momentum is a feature.
- One number per betEvery roadmap line names the number it should move and by when. If it cannot, it is not ready.
- Talk to users yourselfFive interviews a month, no matter the title. Users say things to a person they do not say to a survey.
- Write it downDecisions, trade-offs and the no's go in a doc everyone can read. Memory is not a system.
Education
- 2012 to 2014TU Delft · MSc Design for InteractionThesis on onboarding in mobile banking, cum laude.
- 2009 to 2012University of Amsterdam · BSc PsychologyMinor in statistics.
The story
Since 2017, one team at a time.
- 2014
Research first
Fourteen studies for nine startups in Rotterdam, as a freelance researcher. The habit of writing down what users actually say started here.
- 2015
Studio Mast
Two years as a product designer for fintech and health clients. Built the studio's design system, then noticed the interesting decisions were being made before the design started.
- 2017
Kindly
Associate product manager on search and discovery in Amsterdam. Time to first order cut by half; the discovery playbook is still being forwarded.
- 2019
Relay
Product manager for the mobile app, zero to 800K installs in eighteen months, a team of nine, the first experimentation program.
- 2022
Northwind
Senior product manager for payments and onboarding in Berlin. Checkout conversion up 31 % in a year, Northwind Pay in four countries, three product managers hired and run.
In numbers
- 9
- years in product
- 4
- launches led
- 2.1M
- people using them
- 3
- countries worked in
How I work
Four things I do not bend.
- Ship every weekSmall releases, feature flags, a release note people read. Momentum is a feature.
- One number per betEvery roadmap line names the number it should move and by when. If it cannot, it is not ready.
- Talk to users yourselfFive interviews a month, no matter the title. Users say things to a person they do not say to a survey.
- Write it downDecisions, trade-offs and the no's go in a doc everyone can read. Memory is not a system.
Education
- 2012 to 2014TU Delft · MSc Design for InteractionThesis on onboarding in mobile banking, cum laude.
- 2009 to 2012University of Amsterdam · BSc PsychologyMinor in statistics.
- 01ListenInterviews, support tickets and the data before any roadmap. The problem gets written down in one sentence
- 02DecideOne bet at a time, with the number that would prove it wrong. Everyone sees the trade-offs
- 03ShipSomething real every week. Small releases, feature flags, a release note people actually read
- 04LearnThe experiment gets read out whatever it says. What we learned goes into the next bet, in writing
- 01ListenInterviews, support tickets and the data before any roadmap. The problem gets written down in one sentence
- 02DecideOne bet at a time, with the number that would prove it wrong. Everyone sees the trade-offs
- 03ShipSomething real every week. Small releases, feature flags, a release note people actually read
- 04LearnThe experiment gets read out whatever it says. What we learned goes into the next bet, in writing
- 01ListenInterviews, support tickets and the data before any roadmap. The problem gets written down in one sentence
- 02DecideOne bet at a time, with the number that would prove it wrong. Everyone sees the trade-offs
- 03ShipSomething real every week. Small releases, feature flags, a release note people actually read
- 04LearnThe experiment gets read out whatever it says. What we learned goes into the next bet, in writing
Let's talk
Send the role. I will read it.
Send the role. I will read it.A short mail is enough: the team, the problem, the stage. I answer every one, and I say no quickly when it is a no.
Open to work from January 2027
Let's talk
Send the role. I will read it.
Send the role. I will read it.A short mail is enough: the team, the problem, the stage. I answer every one, and I say no quickly when it is a no.
Open to work from January 2027
Let's talk
Send the role. I will read it.
Send the role. I will read it.A short mail is enough: the team, the problem, the stage. I answer every one, and I say no quickly when it is a no.
Open to work from January 2027