Talking Product with our Product Manager, Ana Paula Miranda
Tell us a little about yourself?
I Grew up close to the Atlantic ocean, near Porto, Portugal. Based in Berlin, Germany since 2018. I have a Materials Engineering background with 8+ years of experience in Finance in both well established companies and fast growing start-ups. In my free time I love to just have quality time with loved ones, do abstract painting, travel a lot, play board games and study computer science engineering.
When and why have you decided to join Klar?
I joined Klar in November 2021 because I love its mission to democratize financial services and empower Mexican users. I saw lots of potential in Klar’s Product!
What is the most exciting part of working as a Product Manager at Klar?
It is hard to choose only one, so I will mention a few:
- Getting to know the Mexican users and learning about their needs, struggles, motivations and desires.
- Releasing new features or products that are useful for our users and widely adopted by them.
- Work at a multicultural company and be exposed to different ways of working.
What does a typical day look like in the Berlin Klar’s office?
The mornings are used to collaborate with the tech team, which is mainly based in Berlin. We start the day with a stand up, where we brief each other on the progress made towards our sprint goals and solve any blockers we might be facing. Afterwards, I spend time collaborating with our Product Designers, understanding our users through data, checking our products’ performance, catching up with UX insights and documenting the upcoming initiatives. In the afternoon I align with our business stakeholders, most of whom are based in Mexico. Defining our product roadmap is a joint and continuous effort and a big part of my role is understanding the sweet spot between satisfying user needs and business requirements.
And how do you build your relationships with your colleagues?
The team I work with is spanned across the globe. In order to bond with the Berlin based colleagues I work a couple of times a week from the office. Thanks to our People Team, we have some cool events to enjoy such us Thirsty Thursdays and free lunches on Wednesdays ahah!
In order to bond with the remote colleagues I have digital coffees or just use the first few minutes of meetings to check in with them and make sure they are well. Anyways, the best way to build good relationships with your colleagues is to give your best at work, share your knowledge and make yourself available to listen to your colleagues' needs.
What does the Product department have to offer for your professional development?
Working with a cross functional team (tech/ design/ product). We all have different backgrounds, so we learn a lot with each other. I love working with the User Research team and learning new insights about the needs, desires and motivations of our users. I love getting insights from our Business stakeholders and understanding how they influence strategic decisions.
