
Experience
MLKSTK&Co.
Portland, Oregon
2023-Present
Principal Designer
• Provided strategic design consultation across multiple industries including adtech, insurtech, and productivity SaaS.
• Designed UX architecture for AI-powered insurtech claims platform, focusing on process automation and insights generation.
• Partnered with PMs and engineers to develop application structure and key features for an adtech campaign management system that increased client capacity by 3.5x.
• Conducted comprehensive user journey mapping through review of existing processes, documentation, and stakeholder interviews to define solution requirements.
• Implemented user-centered design methodology with regular stakeholder testing to validate solutions against business requirements.
• Established design systems and user flows for early-stage productivity software focused on cross-team collaboration.
• Designed UX architecture for AI-powered insurtech claims platform, focusing on process automation and insights generation.
• Partnered with PMs and engineers to develop application structure and key features for an adtech campaign management system that increased client capacity by 3.5x.
• Conducted comprehensive user journey mapping through review of existing processes, documentation, and stakeholder interviews to define solution requirements.
• Implemented user-centered design methodology with regular stakeholder testing to validate solutions against business requirements.
• Established design systems and user flows for early-stage productivity software focused on cross-team collaboration.
Sureify
San Jose, California
2020-2023
Staff Product Designer
• Defined comprehensive product suite architecture through iterative modeling and low-fidelity prototyping during company growth from $100K to $15M revenue.
• Led UX design for agent portal from concept to launch, conducting competitor analysis, user research, and delivering high-fidelity Figma designs.
• Generated 30+ core transactions that facilitated product discovery with customers and their policyholders.
• Standardized product development patterns across multiple product pods, ensuring actionable outcomes and consistent user experience.
• Built and maintained cross-functional consensus by educating product, sales and engineering teams on long-term design viability.
• Represented Sureify design at client sites and industry events, effectively communicating solutions to insurance industry experts.
• Conducted user interviews to identify pain points, constructed personas, and integrated findings into product roadmap.
• Collaborated on SureUI design system implementation and rollout, establishing design consistency across 5 product lines.
• Directed feature designs and oversaw multiple designers' contributions to the agent portal.
• Utilized narrative storytelling to evangelize design thinking methodologies across the organization.
• Presented wireframes and product models to internal stakeholders and anchor clients, building alignment on problem-solving approach.
• Led UX design for agent portal from concept to launch, conducting competitor analysis, user research, and delivering high-fidelity Figma designs.
• Generated 30+ core transactions that facilitated product discovery with customers and their policyholders.
• Standardized product development patterns across multiple product pods, ensuring actionable outcomes and consistent user experience.
• Built and maintained cross-functional consensus by educating product, sales and engineering teams on long-term design viability.
• Represented Sureify design at client sites and industry events, effectively communicating solutions to insurance industry experts.
• Conducted user interviews to identify pain points, constructed personas, and integrated findings into product roadmap.
• Collaborated on SureUI design system implementation and rollout, establishing design consistency across 5 product lines.
• Directed feature designs and oversaw multiple designers' contributions to the agent portal.
• Utilized narrative storytelling to evangelize design thinking methodologies across the organization.
• Presented wireframes and product models to internal stakeholders and anchor clients, building alignment on problem-solving approach.
2017-2020
Senior Product Designer
• Served as founding product designer, establishing core product patterns during company expansion from 10 to 300 employees.
• Created design solutions addressing complex customer requirements in the legacy insurance sector.
• Established standardized product terminology across web and mobile platforms serving both consumer and corporate users.
• Developed and maintained a resilient design system across three platforms while supporting customization for client-specific needs.
• Built and scaled design team, managing resources to ensure delivery timelines and enhanced client experience.
• Contributed to company transition from service-oriented to product-centric business model.
• Designed first web application, creating foundational UX patterns that supported product suite expansion.
• Balanced technical constraints with user needs to deliver intuitive solutions for complex insurance workflows.
• Oversaw transition from Sketch to Figma, establishing best practices and workflows that improved design team efficiency.
• Created design solutions addressing complex customer requirements in the legacy insurance sector.
• Established standardized product terminology across web and mobile platforms serving both consumer and corporate users.
• Developed and maintained a resilient design system across three platforms while supporting customization for client-specific needs.
• Built and scaled design team, managing resources to ensure delivery timelines and enhanced client experience.
• Contributed to company transition from service-oriented to product-centric business model.
• Designed first web application, creating foundational UX patterns that supported product suite expansion.
• Balanced technical constraints with user needs to deliver intuitive solutions for complex insurance workflows.
• Oversaw transition from Sketch to Figma, establishing best practices and workflows that improved design team efficiency.
Fieldwire
San Francisco, California
2015-2017
Senior Product Designer
• Served as first product design hire at construction tech startup that secured $8M in funding and achieved $300M acquisition by Hilti.
• Redesigned task, worksite, and project management features, implementing high-impact UX improvements with minimal development resources.
• Created markup tools and plan version control for architectural drawings, significantly expanding core product functionality.
• Reduced support ticket volume through strategic redesigns of knowledge base, account management, and multi-project billing systems.
• Improved product accessibility through targeted design enhancements for colorblind users.
• Maintained design quality through structured collaboration with engineering leadership.
• Supported marketing efforts by revamping company website, creating case studies, and producing video content that strengthened brand identity.
• Redesigned task, worksite, and project management features, implementing high-impact UX improvements with minimal development resources.
• Created markup tools and plan version control for architectural drawings, significantly expanding core product functionality.
• Reduced support ticket volume through strategic redesigns of knowledge base, account management, and multi-project billing systems.
• Improved product accessibility through targeted design enhancements for colorblind users.
• Maintained design quality through structured collaboration with engineering leadership.
• Supported marketing efforts by revamping company website, creating case studies, and producing video content that strengthened brand identity.
Noble Brewer
Oakland, California
2015
Product Designer
• Served as founding designer for craft beer marketplace startup, collaborating directly with Founder and Head of Growth.
• Increased website traffic by 70% through experience optimizations and campaign effectiveness testing.
• Transformed company WordPress site into full-featured e-commerce platform with optimized checkout experience.
• Managed offshore engineering team to ensure high-quality implementation of design specifications.
• Designed physical product packaging, labels, and informational materials to enhance brand consistency.
• Represented company at startup events, driving user acquisition and brand awareness.
• Increased website traffic by 70% through experience optimizations and campaign effectiveness testing.
• Transformed company WordPress site into full-featured e-commerce platform with optimized checkout experience.
• Managed offshore engineering team to ensure high-quality implementation of design specifications.
• Designed physical product packaging, labels, and informational materials to enhance brand consistency.
• Represented company at startup events, driving user acquisition and brand awareness.
Foglocal
San Francisco, California
2013-2015
Web Designer
• Consulted with San Francisco restaurants and bars as contract designer, interpreting client needs and translating them into digital assets.
• Created comprehensive design deliverables including logos, illustrations, website designs, and style guides.
• Collaborated with small cross-functional team of sales, engineering, and project management professionals
• Created comprehensive design deliverables including logos, illustrations, website designs, and style guides.
• Collaborated with small cross-functional team of sales, engineering, and project management professionals
Feastly
San Francisco, California
2013-2014
Product Designer
• Led product design for peer-to-peer supper club marketplace as sole designer in the company.
• Architected strategic platform shift by decoupling menu listings from event scheduling, enabling chefs to gauge interest before committing to dates.
• Created interest-based notification system that increased event attendance and facilitated lower-cost expansion into new urban markets.
• Designed dual-sided marketplace solutions addressing both host needs and guest discovery challenges.
• Developed innovative content sourcing mechanism using social media timestamp and hashtag data to populate chef profiles with event photos.
• Established design review process through daily engineering standups, ensuring consistent implementation quality.
• Balanced competing needs of two-sided marketplace, focusing on both supply (chef retention) and demand (guest engagement).
• Architected strategic platform shift by decoupling menu listings from event scheduling, enabling chefs to gauge interest before committing to dates.
• Created interest-based notification system that increased event attendance and facilitated lower-cost expansion into new urban markets.
• Designed dual-sided marketplace solutions addressing both host needs and guest discovery challenges.
• Developed innovative content sourcing mechanism using social media timestamp and hashtag data to populate chef profiles with event photos.
• Established design review process through daily engineering standups, ensuring consistent implementation quality.
• Balanced competing needs of two-sided marketplace, focusing on both supply (chef retention) and demand (guest engagement).
Womply
San Francisco, California
2012-2013
UI Designer
• As sole designer, transformed credit card-based loyalty program into comprehensive small business analytics dashboard.
• Expanded product features to include social media presence monitoring, competitor research, and market trends analysis.
• Created wireframes, production-ready designs, and redlines for implementation by engineering team.
• Optimized existing design assets, reducing load times by nearly 30% across products and marketing website.
• Designed marketing materials including website, pitch decks, and advertisements to support multi-channel sales and fundraising.
• Expanded product features to include social media presence monitoring, competitor research, and market trends analysis.
• Created wireframes, production-ready designs, and redlines for implementation by engineering team.
• Optimized existing design assets, reducing load times by nearly 30% across products and marketing website.
• Designed marketing materials including website, pitch decks, and advertisements to support multi-channel sales and fundraising.
Newsbound
San Francisco, California
2012
Junior Product Designer
• First design hire, collaborated with CEO to create efficient news consumption experience for time-constrained users.
• Conducted user testing with paper prototypes and clickable mockups to validate hypotheses and optimize user flows.
• Analyzed test data to refine application structure and designed novel components for story update visualization.
• Established consistent brand identity across marketing materials, mobile applications, and desktop widgets.
• Created visual assets to complement content within embeddable explainer widget.
• Conducted user testing with paper prototypes and clickable mockups to validate hypotheses and optimize user flows.
• Analyzed test data to refine application structure and designed novel components for story update visualization.
• Established consistent brand identity across marketing materials, mobile applications, and desktop widgets.
• Created visual assets to complement content within embeddable explainer widget.
LIME Marketing
Provo, Utah
2011
Junior UI Designer
• Contributed to cross-disciplinary team supporting client campaigns and software products.
• Designed iOS and web applications including a budgeting app from concept to execution.
• Implemented gamification elements within the application to improve user retention and engagement.
• Ensured high-quality implementation by providing detailed redlines and stylesheets.
• Created custom iconography, illustrations, logos, storyboards, and motion graphics for client campaigns.
• Designed iOS and web applications including a budgeting app from concept to execution.
• Implemented gamification elements within the application to improve user retention and engagement.
• Ensured high-quality implementation by providing detailed redlines and stylesheets.
• Created custom iconography, illustrations, logos, storyboards, and motion graphics for client campaigns.
Education
Rhode Island School of Design
Providence, Rhode Island
BFA, Illustration
2007-2009
Maryland Institute College of Art
Baltimore, Maryland
Foundation
2006
Side Projects
United Designers
Online Design Community Management
Hacklab PDX
Tech Community in Portland, Oregon
Interested in working together? Contact me!
© Anders Houston 2024