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Işınsu Sakallı
User Experience (UX) Researcher at Shopify
Professional Background
Işınsu Sakallı is a highly skilled and experienced professional specializing in user experience research, digital engagement, and design. Currently serving as a User Experience Researcher at Shopify, Işınsu has harnessed her strong educational background and diverse work experience to create solutions that enhance user interaction and satisfaction in digital environments. Her role at Shopify capitalizes on her deep understanding of human behavior and ethics in technology, allowing her to contribute to creating user-centric designs effectively.
Prior to her role at Shopify, Işınsu held the position of Digital Engagement Coordinator at Propeller Dance, where she leveraged her expertise to enhance community engagement through artistic mediums. Her strong organizational skills were evident as she successfully navigated the complexities of digital platforms to improve connection and access to the arts. Işınsu's previous experience as an Event Organizer Assistant at 1125@Carleton provided her with valuable skills in managing logistics and ensuring participant satisfaction during events, contributing to creating memorable experiences.
Her journey in the field of design and user experience began with her entrepreneurial endeavor, founding and managing Gamifi Inc., where she specialized in gamification strategies that facilitate user interaction and enhance engagement in various applications. As the Operations Manager, she oversaw various projects, ensuring they met quality standards and deadlines, ultimately leading to the successful implementation of innovative gamified solutions.
Education and Achievements
Işınsu's academic qualifications are impressive and reflect her commitment to learning and professional growth. She earned her Honours Bachelor of Science (H.B.Sc.) degree with a double major in Human Biology and Philosophy of Bioethics at the esteemed University of Toronto. This unique combination of subjects not only provided her with a strong scientific foundation but also equipped her with a thorough understanding of ethical implications in health sciences and technology. Her education has positioned her to approach design and user experience with a philosophical lens, bolstering her expertise in creating thoughtful and responsible user experiences.
Following her undergraduate studies, Işınsu pursued a Master’s Degree in Design at Carleton University, achieving a remarkable CGPA of 11.3 or 94%. This high academic achievement demonstrates her dedication, attention to detail, and exceptional design abilities. Her exemplary performance in this rigorous program confirms her capability to plan, execute, and manage complex design projects effectively.
Additionally, Işınsu completed a certification in Gamification from the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated with a 92.7%. This certification reflects her passion for integrating game-like elements into various domains to enhance engagement and motivation, showcasing her innovative approach to user interaction.
Achievements
Throughout her career, Işınsu Sakallı has accumulated a wealth of experience and numerous accomplishments that speak of her capabilities in enhancing user experiences. Notably, as a User Experience Researcher at Shopify, she has contributed significantly to various projects, providing valuable insights that guide design decisions and strategies. Her keen ability to analyze user behavior and translate those findings into actionable recommendations has made her a vital asset to her team.
Her experience at Propeller Dance stands out as a key highlight, where her digital engagement strategies facilitated increased visibility and participation in the arts among diverse communities. This accomplishment resonates with her commitment to accessibility and inclusivity, principles that she upholds in all her work.
As the founder and Operations Manager of Gamifi Inc., Işınsu not only spearheaded innovative projects but also fostered a collaborative and creative working environment that allowed her team to thrive. Her strong leadership skills have been a significant factor in the successful execution of numerous initiatives that have garnered appreciation from stakeholders and clients alike.
In an academic capacity, her role as a Teacher's Assistant at Carleton University and her previous research assistant positions reflect her dedication to mentorship and support within educational institutions, fostering the next generation of professionals in the field of design and user experience.
In summary, Işınsu Sakallı's multifaceted career unfolds a narrative of passion, expertise, and an unwavering commitment to enhancing user experience through thoughtful design and ethical considerations. Her educational background, combined with her varied roles across different organizations, position her as a leading figure in her area of expertise.
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.