Nikita Kissel
Product builder
Emotional intelligence meets systems thinking.
The friction that matters most is the one users don't notice.
The need that matters most is the one they can't name.
I build for both.
Success is not time spent in the product.
It's a better life outside of it: attention reclaimed, a deep need met.
Anything this user doesn't need gets cut, even if it works.
Where my passions and experiments led me
Bump Web · iOS coming Skip small talk for an overlap that matters.
Motivation
Most social settings never get past small talk.
We stick to the topics expected for the gathering and never find out where we actually match with a stranger.
Bump skips the small talk, finds the authentic overlap that matters, even at events where you’d least expect it, and lets more connections have real-life impact.
The decision
Talking about what's real and current matters more than topics you used to.
Staying current is the hard part: asking users to keep it updated themselves is too much friction.
So on iOS, the app agrees on a weekly time that works, then places a short, consent-first call through it — 2 to 5 minutes, gentle but brief — just to catch up on what's changed.
What it proves
People crave connection, and even more for it being real.
An easy opener into the meaningful, current part of a conversation.
Artifacts
Heer Web Conflict resolution reimagined.
Motivation
When conflict comes up, we often avoid the conversation until emotions break through at the worst possible moment.
Old patterns take over: we get defensive, and it escalates the same way it always has.
We listen to respond, not noticing that the other person needs to be heard before they can hear us.
The shift happens when we stop competing to be heard, and one person takes in the other's reality without comment.
When both do that, there's a foundation for empathy, a shared reality, and a solution that fits both without compromise.
The decision
Separate people on the call, until each of them feels heard.
What it proves
Conflict can only be resolved when both sides feel heard.
Artifacts
Wellbeing App Live prototype Your wearable and phone data, turned into seven scores you can actually feel.
Motivation
Wearables aren't an ecosystem. Each one tracks its own slice of activity, and what reaches you is numbers and charts that rarely match how you actually feel.
Logging, checking in and decoding it all turns self-care into one more chore.
This app is built to be your body's advocate, not a mindless tool that nags about metrics disconnected from what you actually need until it gets boring and you stop.
It pushes gently, by making your patterns visible, not your decisions — owning your wellbeing, and acting on it, stays yours.
It reads the signals quietly, tells you in one human sentence how you are and why, and turns self-care into something closer to a game: build your character, level up, feel a little better every day, with future skins pulled from the worlds you already love.
And it rewards consistency, so taking care of yourself pays you back twice.
The decision
Reward consistency with price.
Every day you stay in your target ranges builds Resilience, and Resilience lowers what you pay.
What it proves
The business can win only when the user does.
Taking care of yourself pays you back twice: in how you feel and in what you pay.
Artifacts
Horoscope Android A daily horoscope that feels familiar and quietly runs on psychology and local weather-vibe.
Motivation
A playful experiment in making astrology more accurate and more helpful.
Weather shapes our mood and choices, and proven psychology offers better life strategies than a horoscope, ones many people never come across.
So the better advice, backed by better data, comes wrapped in a form that feels familiar and comforting.
The decision
Keep the surface a horoscope — nothing to configure, no refresh, only swipes between yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Substitute grounded behavioral psychology for prediction, and let the day's weather set the emotional texture without ever naming it.
What it proves
Product taste is what gets cut, not what gets added.
Non-goals were locked before features.
Artifacts
PRD · tech spec · design spec · agent brief. Links coming.
Product building is my focus.
I'm open to a range of roles, as long as there's research and real product or business impact.
Early-stage or human-centered teams are a bonus.
I work with directness and care, and I'm looking for a team that values the same.