Kerstin Exner
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
London, United Kingdom
Toptal member since June 9, 2022
Kerstin has been a product manager for 16 years, working for various companies and industries, from best-practice product companies like eBay and The Guardian to small startups and nonprofits. She excels in creating and improving great products and adapting her approach to the challenges in different environments. Kerstin also mentors and coaches junior team members in product and Agile practices.
Expertise
- Agile Delivery
- Agile Product Management
- Data-informed Decisions
- Feature Backlog Prioritization
- Product Management
- Product Owner
- Product Strategy
- User Experience (UX)
Work Experience
Digital Product Manager
Sponsors for Educational Opportunity Charity (SEO London)
- Defined requirements for Salesforce used as CRM for the charity in collaboration with stakeholders.
- Delivered a fit-for-purpose Salesforce system to support all SEO program teams.
- Introduced agile best practices and coached team to deliver digital functionality with consistent speed and quality.
- Delivered a KPI dashboard for the board to monitor the state of the charity's programs.
- Mentored junior data officer to improve monitoring, integrity, quality, and compliance of customer data in Salesforce.
Product Manager
EduKit Solutions
- Unlocked sales of a mobile app to 60+ schools by developing it from a proof of concept to a fully-fledged product through an external development team.
- Created the product's future-proof vision to unlock sales to all UK schools by shaping the two cofounders' concepts into a coherent whole.
- Developed the most impactful features by prioritizing actions according to customer feedback and business needs in close collaboration with the cofounders.
Digital Product Manager
Gelato
- Quadrupled the revenue of a B2B product Gelato Globe by leading a distributed Agile team through rapid growth with laser-focused prioritization.
- Enabled the company to focus on the most impactful product features by establishing consistent communication between stakeholders and the product team.
- Mentored the company to use customer insight every step of the way by implementing customer research as a crucial part of product development.
Digital Product Manager
Premier Inn (Owned by Whitbread)
- Facilitated the state-of-the-art hotel booking for 30 Premier Inn hotels with 5,000+ rooms in Germany by delivering a product roadmap that matches the German hotel market.
- Demonstrated the benefits of internal Agile development in a digital transformation pilot, leading to it being adopted across the Whitbread digital estate.
- Enabled a first-class end-to-end experience by integrating the digital estate and physical hotel build.
Product Manager
The Guardian
- Increased registrations by 60% and subscriptions by 25% for Guardian Soulmates by creating and executing a product strategy and roadmap, including rebranding and re-architecting to a responsive web app.
- Re-established Soulmates as the Guardian's second-biggest commercial product.
- Empowered the company to monitor the product's success through a KPI dashboard.
Product Manager
eBay
- Enabled eBay UK to grow to the third biggest market for eBay worldwide by introducing country-specific requirements for UK and Ireland to the global roadmap.
- Optimized the seller registration process, achieving a 15% conversion rate uplift.
- Empowered European eBay sellers to grow their sales quickly by introducing a business seller framework, integrated shipping solutions, and the first-ever online returns process.
Project History
eBay Seller Registration Redesign to Improve Conversion
https://www.ebay.co.uk/Led the redesign of the eBay seller registration flow for users in the UK and Ireland, which increased the conversion rate by 15%. Collaborated closely with the global product team to achieve an optimized registration flow.
Guardian Soulmates Dating Product Strategy and Repositioning in Market
Created a new strategy for the product and led a cross-functional team to rebrand and completely re-architect the Soulmates product. After the relaunch, repeat visitor numbers increased by 60%.
I led the team to rebrand, re-architect, and relaunch the product. The relaunch led to a significant increase in all conversion metrics and subscription revenue. In addition, I implemented the first KPI dashboard to monitor the product's success on an ongoing basis.
Website for Premier Inn Germany Hotels in a Digital Transformation Pilot
https://www.premierinn.com/de/de/home.htmlOversaw the development of the first non-English website created to support the launch of Premier Inn hotels in Germany. The brand is owned by Whitbread, the UK's biggest hospitality company.
The website was created along with the hotels, and the project required extensive stakeholder communication and customer research. German customer needs were considered at every step, both online and at the hotels, to create a seamless experience between the online experience and hotel stay.
The project was also a pilot for the digital transformation within Whitbread. Previously, the company had not used internal development teams or Agile practices. I was the first and only digital product manager during the project and introduced many Agile practices that have since become standard at Whitbread.
Education
Course Certificate in Machine Learning for Product Managers (remote)
Duke University - Durham, North Carolina
Master's Degree in Human-centered Systems
City, University of London - London, UK
Skills
Tools
Zoom, Office 365, Balsamiq Mockups, Trello, Slack, Asana, Jira
Paradigms
Agile Product Management, Scrum, B2C, Marketplace Platforms, Agile Project Management, Requirements Analysis, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Key Performance Metrics, Mobile App Design
Industry Expertise
Nonprofits, Education Technology (Edtech)
Other
User-centered Design (UCD), User Experience (UX), Product Owner, Agile Delivery, Agile Sprints, Agile Practices, Product Discovery, Product Launch, Product Roadmaps, Product Delivery, Requirements, eCommerce, Product Management, Roadmaps, Feature Backlog Prioritization, Scrum Product Owner, Functional Requirements, Business Requirements, Feature Roadmaps, User Onboarding, Business to Consumer (B2C), Multi-sided Marketplaces, User Stories, Customer Experience, Product Requirements Documentation (PRD), User Research, User Requirements, Requirements & Specifications, Digital Product Management, Customer Experience Management, Product Leadership, Cross-functional Collaboration, User Interface (UI), Go-to-market Strategy, Web Applications, Sprint Planning, Web Platforms, User Interviews, Remote Team Leadership, Backlog Grooming, Feature Prioritization, Product Strategy, Web Analytics, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Stakeholder Management, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Customer Research, Digital Transformation, Global Product Management, Product Vision, Conversion Rate, Data-driven Decision-making, Data Analysis, Data-informed Decisions, SaaS Product Management, Value Proposition, Software as a Service (SaaS), SaaS, Subscriptions, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Agile Leadership, Analytics, Project Management, Team Leadership, Edtech Design, Mobile Apps, Direct to Consumer (D2C), Business Analysis, Business to Business (B2B), Market Fit, A/B Testing, Travel & Leisure, Wireframing, Ideation, Miro, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Optimization, Localization, Responsive Web Design (RWD), B2B, UX Wireframes, Startups, Salesforce, CRM Design, Technical Product Management, Technical Requirements, iOS, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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