As a Designer across many different projects the one gold nugget of truth is to do your research and understand the problem space, pain points, the product's goals, how to build it, and the demographic you're designing for. I've been using this as the guiding principle that helped me make better decisions when I hit a road block.  Here's are the things I'm currently doing and things I've done in the past.

Download my résumé here or read about my work experiences below or read my write-ups here. Thanks!

Where I am at

Senior Product Designer

Paper Co. MONTREAL, Quebec, (REMOTE) January 2023 - Current

Senior Product designer at Paper.Co currently working on helping students build confidence in their learning journey through engaging content that fills learning knowledge gaps.

  • Revamped Paper's Practice IA, addressing teacher and student pain points, enhancing discoverability and usage

  • Redesigned Paper’s Practice layout to optimize devices & support various content interactions

  • Designed Leaderboard gamification, driving 150k+ daily practice activities during math competitions

  • Overhauled Paper's practice question flow, boosting activity by 4x and fostering habitual use

  • Introduced structured gamification strategy and features to Paper’s practice to increase engagement 

  • Integrated Live tutoring for scaffolded support in Paper's Practice questions

Previous Work

Senior Product Designer

Epic! Creations Inc, Redwood City Ca, May 2022- Nov 2022

As a Senior Product designer at Epic! I worked on helping kids reach their full potential through reading with the assistance and involvement of their parents.

• Led and conducted research exploration & design initiative for new pod - Parent Journey Experience to engage and retain subscribers

• Drove discovery of user retention & churn project leading to several insightful MVP & Potential A/B testing opportunities contributing to company OKR - Retention & Churn

Senior UX/Product Designer

Kinoo, Mountain View Ca, Feb 2021 - Feb2022

As a Senior UX and Product designer lead at Kinoo I worked on an AR video chat platform that helped grandparents and grandchildren, connect, learn and play games through their Tablets and Mobile devices.

Kinoo Latest Awards:

Role and Responsibilities:

  • Led and spearheaded design direction for core product for activities and container connecting grandparents and grandchildren focusing on accessibility and engagement

  • Guided UX/UI design team to define UX, UI, & Interaction systems for the product

  • Defined user interactions with menu UX/UI, In-game HUD, gameplay, SEL curriculum core product

  • Spearheaded and owned product prompt & guidance system to engage grandparents & grandchildren

  • Set UX documentation standards & guidelines that increased effectiveness of communication between cross-functional teams with clear mockups,wireframe, logic flows and interactive prototypes in XD

Lead Senior Designer / Game Producer (2018-Present)

Square Panda, Sunnyvale Ca, 2018-2021

I worked on SquareLand where we teach early literacy to children ages 3-8 through a multi-sensory experience using an App and play set with physical letters. I was the Lead Senior Designer and Game Design Manager in charge of establishing the vision and coordinating efforts between teams in the US, China, and India.

SquareLand Mentions and Latest Awards:

Role and Responsibilities:

  • Led the core Meta-Game experience and all the mini-games for the app that can scale overtime and accommodate various curriculums and play patterns.

  • Coordinated and helped define production schedule, product road map, and development efforts achievable timeline.

  • Established and lead the vision for games/product through close collaboration with all of Square Panda’s internal production teams in the US, China (Artist/Engineers) and India (Designers/Engineers).

  • Mentored and managed a design team based in the US and India. Leading the team to execute on company’s goals and project objectives.

  • Define user interactions with menu UX/UI, In-game HUD, gameplay, curriculum interface and overall product flow.

  • Help Lead the development team consisting of Engineers, QA, Designers, and Producers in the US through day-to-day objectives via sprint planning and story task creations.

  • Created mock-ups and wireframes to communicate game design, flow, and UX/UI design intent.

  • Coordinated Prototyping efforts to get keep the team moving forward.

  • Optimized tuned and balanced gameplay mechanics and UI layout based on UX data, kid testing feedback and Tableau data.

Position Highlights:

  • Leading design initiative for a subscription modeled app - SquareLand - in US/Chinese/India markets by working cross functionally as main point of contact with VP of game development to maximize value in 8 month delivery period to secure EDU market shares

  • Key contributor to redesign efforts of mini-games within main product leading to > 40% increase in traffic and 38% increase in playtime of main product

  • Increased average playtime by >45% by utilizing Tableau Data, UX research feedback, consumer data pain points, redesign

  • Helped defined and established the production pipeline for the game team’s development process by identifying and establishing key needs such as necessary documentation and workflow process between internal teams.

  • Led and coordinated development efforts between remote teams in China (Artist/Engineers), India (Designers/Engineers) and the US to successful ship an app on time and on budget for the school/educational market.

  • Helped define and build the Game Team’s talent needs and managed a team of designers in the US and in India to carry out game centric tasks.

Senior Designer (2014-2018), Game Designer (2011-2014)

LeapFrog Enterprise, Emeryville Ca, 2011-2018

I worked on an online service called LeapFrog Academy Subscription service where we deliver fun games and activities with an educational foundation. You can see the product here: LeapFrog Academy

Role and Responsibilities:

  • Established and lead the vision for games/product through close collaboration with all of LeapFrog’s internal production teams.

  • Define user interactions with menu UI, In-game HUD, gameplay, curriculum interface and overall product flow.

  • Help guide and lead the visual direction, color, mood and style of products.

  • Guided a talented development team in designing and building new projects on proprietary LeapFrog hardware platforms and other touchscreen devices.

  • Spearheaded the creative process, worked with educational advisors to insure seamless curricular integration.

  • Created mock-ups and wireframes to communicate game design, flow, and UX/UI design intent.

  • Tuned and balanced gameplay mechanics and UI layout based on kid testing feedback.

  • Planned and performed heuristic evaluations and kid testing on builds to provide clear actionable feedback on game design mechanics, game flow, UX flow and UI, and pacing to internal and external partners.

  • Partner and communicate with Learning, Marketing, UX Researchers, and Producers to create a product to meet business needs.

Position Highlights:

  • Lead and defined game engines and activities to be used across LeapFrog academy to maximize content count and minimize production time and cost.

  • Oversaw the quality of over 500+ pieces of content: games and activities for LeapFrog Academy Subscription Service.

  • Defined and standardized the mini-game play patterns, mechanics, and UX.

  • Helped refine and contributed to LeapFrog Academy's UI/UX, player navigation, & world design.

  • Contributed to new IPs used in many of the company’s line of products from books to games.

  • Supported and helped the launch of 7 LF hardware platforms with great content that highlighted the hardware’s capabilities.

  • Paved the way in aging down apps to making the interaction, UI, UX playable and understandable for 3+ year olds.

  • Conducted and planned user testing to improve product’s design elements.

  • Contributed and helped change Leapfrog’s gaming portfolio to current trends and engaging play patterns and curriculum play.

  • Lead and shipped over 15 games on LF proprietary hardware.

  • Contributed and spearhead ideas and designs for physical toys & e-books titles.

UX/Product Designer

AlzCare Labs MyDementiaTeam.com 2016 (Beta) Link to Work Here

Role and Responsibilities:

  • I was hired as a consultant to lead and advise UI/UX and Product design for the Social Web Application of MyDementiaTeam.com, an online dementia friendly community. I was put in charge to create all the necessities to create the web app from wireframes to pixel perfect mockups of the UI layout, logic flow, product design documents and overall UX strategy.

Position Highlights:

  • I helped create and lead the UX process and structure for the web application including: documentation, wireframes, wire frame flow, and detailed mockups.

  • I was involved in defining UX and product strategy from look and feel to high-level design of community interactions.

  • I designed the core "Yelp" like product systems that boost community engagement, creating an ecosystem that facilitates community activity, feedback and support.

UX Designer Consultant

Capital Preferences 2015

Company surveyed users with interactive questions to assess adversity to risk and suggested investments based on results.

Responsibilities: 

  • I took the complex product requirements defined by Shachar Kariv Chair of U.C. Berkeley's Dept. of Economics and translated them into a “Gamified” UI design solution across web and mobile devices. I consulted and evaluated current UI systems and gave feedback to CP and advised a redesign with more clarity and usability that boost participants understanding of the usage of the product. I create Lo-Fi and Hi-Fi wireframes for evaluation, communication and implementation.

Associate Game Designer (2008-11)

Backbone Entertainment, F9E, Emeryville, Ca, 2008 - 2011

Designer Role and Highlights:

  • Assisted in the company strategy of landing projects by contributing to concept pitches to publishers.

  • Created GDD, level doc, wireframes and mockups to clearly communicate design requirements.

  • Pitched several game design and level design concepts for implementation.  

  • Provided professional peer review on production level work to iterate and improve designs.

  • Worked independently with cross-disciplinary teams to execute design vision based on game’s goals.

Shipped Projects:

Associate Producer (2006-08)

Backbone Entertainment, F9E, Emeryville, Ca, 2006 - 2008

Associate Producer Role and Highlights:

  • Managed risk by organizing documentation, triaging bugs, and keeping communication flowing with internal team and external stakeholders to keep all aware of issues jeopardizing schedule.

  • Partnered with other department Leads to kickoff project requirements and milestone check-ins, and accountable for following up with Leads to make sure critical action items were delivered on time.

  • Contributed and supported the team during development in areas with deficiencies to unblock and maintain project momentum with tasks in art, design, and QA.

  • Assisted in the company strategy of landing projects by contributing to concept pitches to publishers.

Shipped Projects:

Development Test Team & QA Core Team

Electronic Arts, Redwood City, California, 2005 - 2006

Role and Responsibilities

Help lead and managed a small team to complete tasks requested from development. Contributed to efficient bug fixes and quick iteration of art and game design tasks by working closely with designers and artists.

Shipped Projects:

  • The Godfather (PS2, Xbox)

  • Battlefield 2 (PC)

My Skills

  • Management: Confluence, Jira, Basecamp, Trello, Google Suite, Microsoft Office, Tableau, Asana

  • Graphics/UI: Figma, Figjam, Miro, Adobe XD, Photoshop, Balsamic

My Education

Academy of Art University, CA - BFA: 3D Animation & VFX

  • Major: Games Animation, and Modeling

U.C. Riverside, CA - BA: Liberal Studies

  • Major: Philosophy

  • Minor: Computer Science

Scrum Alliance – Certified Scrum Master

Member of The Interaction Design Foundation

The 3 pillars that inspires my passion to create:

  • Blue Sky Inspiration - Be inspired, curious, and amazed by everything around and something unique will be created from it.

  • Value Work Ethics - No ego, collaboration, transparency, listening, hard work, respect, kindness, and ownership generates a successful product with quality and interesting concepts. Continue to improve and learn from failures and successes.

  • Anything is possible - With the correct perspective, identified problem, and goal we can generate many solutions.