Received Recommendations"I had the pleasure of hiring and working with Yan Vishnepolsky at Tallwave, and I can confidently say he’s one of the most passionate and detail-oriented UX researchers I’ve collaborated with. Yan brings a rare combination of empathy, methodological rigor, and strategic thinking to every research engagement.
His ability to deeply empathize and understand users on multiple levels, whether through ethnographic studies, usability testing, or data synthesis—helped drive tangible outcomes for top-tier clients like JPMorgan Chase and American Express. One standout example of his research at Chase Travel directly contributed to reducing average call times by two minutes, resulting in a $6.2M quarterly savings.
Yan also authored our UX research playbook from nothing to became the foundational guide for how we approached digital product research agency wide. It’s still the go to process document today. He’s not only a skilled researcher but also a generous mentor as he’s built strong relationships with fellow designers and continues to guide and support their user research education to this day. Any team looking to grow their research capabilities, maturity and foster a truly user-centered culture would be lucky to have Yan on board leading and teaching UX Research methods."
"Yan has worked with me as a subcontractor for research and analysis projects. He led research activities for ProductPartner.AI and Brite Lite Neon and has also contributed his valuable AI insights to the UX and AI course I teach at Miami Ad School.
Yan demonstrated his research abilities through scheduling, planning, and conducting nine research interviews for Product Partner AI. His report highlighted key themes for the client to consider and provided guidance for how the insights could support the consumer as well as the business. Yan also helped address issues on the Brite Lite Neon website through a heuristics audit and a nicely crafted usability recommendations report.
Yan is a natural instructor and manages class activities well. He considers the ethics of AI in research and uses creative approaches to help students apply what they learned. Students appreciate his systematic approach and depth of AI knowledge.
Yan understands how to connect research findings to business strategy, and he explains findings in a way that teams can apply right away. I recommend Yan for analysis and research roles."
"At Multilingual Connections, we had the pleasure of working with Yan, who served as a Russian and English moderator for one of our projects. Yan did a great job, consistently demonstrating professionalism, transparency, and excellent communication skills throughout the entire process. He effectively navigated the cultural nuances around the sensitive healthcare topic. His ability to bridge cultural gaps while gathering valuable user insights was invaluable to the success of the project. We look forward to working with him again!"
"Yan is smart and proactive. Every session, he joins with a ton of preparation work and puts into practice the things we discuss. He'd be a really useful addition to a user research practice."
"Yan possesses a unique blend of qualities that set him apart from anyone I have worked with in my 20+ year career in design. His kindness, patience, and uplifting nature create a welcoming and collaborative environment. He consistently offers encouragement and valuable insights, showcasing his knowledge and insightful perspective.
His expertise and understanding of advanced prompt engineering capabilities with AI tools, information architecture, and the natural ability to make everyone in the room feel comfortable and heard are inspiring. Yan is highly knowledgeable and skilled in facilitating user interviews, qualitative and quantitative research, moderated usability testing, and insights repositories. His mastery of mind mapping, tree testing, and various mixed methodologies in user research strategy brings clarity to complex problems.
Lastly, Yan has been an incredible mentor to me. Despite no longer working together, he continues to offer guidance and support, demonstrating his selflessness, gratitude, empathy, and genuine authenticity. I wholeheartedly recommend Yan for any UX research or design position. His unique qualities, skillsets, and unwavering dedication to the craft of user research make him an invaluable asset to any team. Working and being mentored by Yan has been insightful and exciting. I am confident that his contributions will significantly enhance any organization fortunate enough to work with him."
"I am writing a professional recommendation letter for Yan Vishnepolsky. I have been collaborating with Yan Vishnepolsky for the better part of 18 months on several media productions exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence technologies and user research. Throughout our interactions, I’ve been consistently impressed by Yan’s promptness, reliability, and commitment to fulfilling his obligations, going above and beyond in meaningful ways.
The first example is a one-on-one podcast interview we conducted focused on Yan’s area of subject matter expertise, user research. We explored in depth how to properly frame and structure the practice, why it is essential, and how to effectively manage complex change management strategies across a variety of environments. Yan’s responses were so dialed in that, at one point, we joked it felt like a successful job interview (go figure!). The second example is a panel discussion focused on Responsible AI by Design, where Yan served as a panelist. The four-person panel explored a wide range of topics related to the core principles of building ethical, human-centered AI systems. We benefited from the diverse backgrounds of the participants and covered a great deal of ground. Throughout the session, Yan remained sharply attuned to the evolving conversation, consistently grounding the dialogue in both strategic and operational realities. His contributions brought a pragmatic dimension that enriched the overall discussion.
LINK TO PRODUCTIONS:
AI Focused User ResearchResponsible AI By Design
If I can provide further attestation around Yan's professional ethos, performance, and ability to execute in a team environment, please do not hesitate to reach out."
"I brought in Yan to help with a fast-moving project that needed solid UX research around user interactions with chat interfaces. While the details are under wraps, the insights he delivered were spot-on and immediately useful. He worked quickly, made the complex stuff easy to understand, and kept iterating as our needs shifted. The report he put together gave us the clarity we needed to make confident design decisions—and we’re already putting it to use. If you’re looking for a sharp UX researcher who’s fast, flexible, and strategic, I highly recommend him."
"Yan is one of those rare researchers who can seamlessly shift between tactical and strategic thinking. He helped me make sense of early-stage medical device UXR and roadmap ideation, offering sharp, actionable feedback on how to structure my research and refine my user segmentation. What really stood out was his ability to quickly pivot his recommendations based on the intel I shared. He was comfortable working within ambiguity, and instead of trying to overdefine things too soon, he helped me shape the fog into something useful. His commitment to doing right by the user was felt in every insight and suggestion. That clarity and care didn’t just support my work, it amplified it. If you want a collaborative thought partner who can bring structure to chaos and elevate your research with real-world impact, Yan’s your person."
"I had the privilege of working closely with Yan Vishnepolsky at Tallwave for about eight months. Our work together primarily focused on developing Tallwave's User Research Playbook, which was adopted across all client projects. Yan later democratized this playbook by setting up user research Community of Practice sessions for the UX team. His dedication, expertise, and collaborative spirit were instrumental in the success of this initiative.
Aside from the playbook, we worked together on Tallwave’s American Express project. I observed him working on user research operations for our project, which helped our user research approach gain maturity and standardize user research processes, by tailoring user research best practices to our project needs.
Yan can integrate diverse perspectives and synthesize them into actionable insights and I wholeheartedly recommend Yan for any team or organization needing an impact-driven, collaborative, and committed professional. I am confident that he would deliver exceptional results in his future endeavors."