Alessandra Canestrini
/**
* Senior Product Designer based in Munich
* I design complex digital products, portal experiences,
* onboarding flows and conversion-focused user journeys
* with a focus on product ownership, analytics and AI-supported workflows
*/
$ cat about.txt
Background
Hi, I’m Alessandra, a Senior Product Designer based in Munich.
Over the last 5+ years at IU Internationale Hochschule, I have designed complex digital products across student portals, applicant onboarding, matching flows, complex forms, CMS workflows, study-path personalization, credit recognition and conversion-focused website journeys.
My strength is turning complex processes into clear, useful and measurable product experiences. I enjoy working end-to-end: understanding the problem, mapping user journeys, clarifying requirements, prototyping, aligning with stakeholders, supporting developer handoff, maintaining design system consistency, and using analytics to improve after launch.
Before moving into UX, I worked in e-commerce, luxury retail and content-heavy digital experiences. That background still shapes how I design today: with a strong focus on customer behavior, clarity, business impact and practical delivery.
Selected impact & validation signals
$ cat selected_impact.txt
[01] +12.1% appointment booking. Redesigned applicant onboarding to guide users toward the right next step.
[02] 76.6% / 75.8% completion-resolution rates. Designed onboarding paths for German and international applicants.
[03] 80% completion rate. Designed a matching criteria flow for practice-placement preferences.
[04] 80.8% CTA engagement. New applicant portal main screen exceeded the target of ≥60% CTA engagement during live validation.
[05] 1/3 completion + >50% sent to review. Early document builder usage: 1/3 of users complete all 11 steps, and more than half send their generated application package to review.
[06] 20–25% engagement increase. Designed website-based finance and decision-support tools for prospective students.
$ ls -l projects/
Selected Work
[01]
APPLICANT PORTAL ONBOARDING & MATCHING FLOW
Portal UX · Onboarding · Matching flows · Complex forms · Product analytics At IU Internationale Hochschule, I redesigned key parts of the applicant portal for dual study applicants, including onboarding, qualification checks, matching criteria, document preparation and guided next steps. The work focused on reducing confusion, improving self-service and helping applicants move through a complex application journey with more clarity. Impact: +12.1% appointment booking 76.6% / 75.8% completion/resolution rates 80% completion rate for the matching criteria flow 80.8% CTA engagement on the new main screen during live validation
[02] CONVERSION-FOCUSED WEBSITE TOOLS Marketing website UX · Finance tools · Study-path decision support At IU Internationale Hochschule, I designed and optimized website-based tools helping prospective students understand study options, financing possibilities, credit recognition and potential savings in time and cost. The work focused on making complex decision points easier to understand and supporting users earlier in the application journey. Impact: 20–25% increase in user engagement Contribution to +12% conversion uplift and -10% bounce rate
[03] ONE DOMAIN WEBSITE CONSOLIDATION Information architecture · Journey mapping · Website consolidation I contributed UX research, journey mapping and information architecture work for the consolidation of multiple IU websites into a more unified platform experience. The project focused on reducing journey fragmentation, improving navigation clarity and creating a stronger foundation for consistent website experiences across different study formats. Although the full migration was not implemented, the work created valuable UX insights and reusable improvements for future platform and website initiatives.
Technical skills & Methods
$ cat skills.json
Product design
- Product discovery
- User flows and journey mapping
- Complex forms and decision flows
- Portal UX and onboarding
- Information architecture
- Wireframing and prototyping
- Design system maintenance and contribution
- Developer handoff and QA
Research & analytics
- Usability testing
- Surveys and interviews
- Funnel analysis
- Product analytics
- Amplitude dashboards
- Google Analytics 4
- Microsoft Clarity
Collaboration
- Stakeholder alignment
- Requirements clarification
- Workshop facilitation
- Agile product teams
- Collaboration with PMs, engineers, sales, marketing, CRM and content teams
AI-supported workflows
- Claude
- Claude Code
- Claude Design
- ChatGPT
- Cursor
- Lovable
- Figma Make
- AI-supported analysis, documentation, prototyping and design system workflows
Tools
- Figma
- FigJam
- Miro
- Jira
- Confluence
- Amplitude
- GA4
- Optimal Workshop
- RapidUserTests
- TestingTime
- HTML/CSS
$ cat interests.txt
When I am not designing
[01]
Theater & performance
Stories, movement, emotion.
[02]
Music
From metal to acid techno.
[03]
Running & cycling
Running, bikepacking, cyclocross watching.
[04]
Food
Pizza, cheese, red wine.
Get in touch
Interested in working together or learning more about my experience? Please feel free to reach out. I’m always open to new opportunities and meaningful conversations.
$ cat contact_form.txt