Yana Potashnik, MBA

Visionary
DISC Type : Ds

Director of UX Research at NBCUniversal

San Francisco Bay Area, United States

Overview

Yana Potashnik is the Director of UX Research at NBCUniversal, leveraging over 18 years of experience from roles at Amazon and Microsoft. An MBA from UCLA Anderson, she excels at scaling research programs for innovative hardware and software products. Colleagues describe her as a passionate and supportive leader who builds strong teams.

She holds multiple patents for her work on notification systems and visual indicators for head-mounted devices, reflecting her expertise in emerging hardware technology.

Personality Overview

Goal-Oriented

Risk Tolerant

Direct & Assertive

They might take some time to make their mind up but once they do, they don't change it easily.  They are very professional in their approach and can weigh multiple perspectives together. They exhibit a rare combination of being result-oriented but patient at the same time.

Topics They Care About

Scaling UX Programs
Her profile highlights a passion for establishing and scaling impactful UX research programs in fast-paced environments, making it a core professional focus.
Innovative Hardware (AR/VR)
Her experience includes AR/VR projects at Amazon and patents for head-mounted devices, showing a deep interest in emerging consumer hardware like wearables and IoT.
Measuring Customer Emotion
She authored a publication titled "Going beyond useful and usable: Measuring customer emotion in UX research, " indicating a specialized interest in advanced research methodologies.

Media Appearances

Yana has no verified media appearances

Work History

4-2025
Director of UX Research at NBCUniversal
9-2024 - 4-2025
Director of UX Research at NBCUniversal
4-2023
Founder and CEO at Arcadia Insights
3-2022 - 3-2023
Director, User Research at Maven Clinic
10-2021 - 2-2022
Manager, UX Design and Research at Amazon

Education

2020 - 2022
Executive MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management
2008 - 2009
MS from University of Washington Human Centered Design & Engineering

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 10 Location : San Francisco Bay Area, United States Job Level : Mid-senior Designation : Director of UX Research at NBCUniversal
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Insights For Selling To Yana

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Let them know of potential risks but suggest mitigation methods alongside
  • You can spend time on BANT (or other qualification methodology) but keep it to the point
  • Stick to your standard pitch and qualifying script, don't try to wing it

DONT's

  • Don't take their patience for granted, avoid long-winding sermons
  • Don't get into pricing discussions early on, steer conversation towards proven results
  • Don't go over them unless you are left with no other option

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Yana is

  • Strong proof of impact and their conviction will matter the most, but they wouldn't want to act unilaterally either
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Yana

  • They will say no if they are not convinced but you will have to prompt them.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Yana move?

  • They will want to understand things well but can move fast once they have a clear picture.
  • Can Yana take some risk or not?

  • They have good risk tolerance but are likely to think it through once or twice.

You And Yana

Personality Compatibility


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