Hi, my name is Joanna
I’m a Principal UX/UI Product Designer with over seven years of experience spanning product, brand, and systems design. I’m passionate about creating thoughtful, intelligent products that make people’s lives easier and more meaningful.
I thrive in environments that call for systems thinking, ethical design, and close collaboration. Whether it’s mapping out end-to-end product architecture, facilitating design sprints, or aligning cross-functional teams around a shared vision, I enjoy bringing clarity to complex problems. I’m comfortable working with engineers, subject matter experts, and business stakeholders to translate research and strategy into tangible, human-centered solutions.
I design intuitive systems at the intersection of data, user behavior, and emerging tech.
As a designer, I work at the intersection of technology, people, and creative expression. I specialize in UX/UI design with a focus on accessibility, scalability, IA, ergonomics, and usability—crafting intuitive experiences for users across diverse abilities and backgrounds. I’m particularly inspired by emerging tools like AI, that helps deepen insight, streamline workflows, and accelerate outcomes that matter.
I build systems and experiences that help people navigate with confidence.
My UX practice is rooted in structure, story, and the psychology of clarity. I design systems that help people move through information with ease—physically, cognitively, and emotionally. My focus is on creating flows and frameworks that feel intuitive, supportive, and aligned with real user goals.
Whether mapping a multi-path onboarding flow, designing navigation for a complex product, or refining page hierarchies to reduce friction, I aim to help people get where they need to go—confidently and without confusion.
I often lead collaborative research and alignment exercises—such as card sorting, journey mapping, and service blueprinting—to bring teams together around user needs and business strategy. These sessions surface insight, build empathy, and foster shared ownership across disciplines.
I’m also passionate about content modeling and taxonomy: turning complex, messy information into clear, scalable systems. By co-creating content schemas and metadata frameworks, I help teams maintain consistency, governance, and reusability across large ecosystems.
Core areas of focus include:
Planning and leading generative and evaluative research (interviews, usability tests, diary studies)
Facilitating stakeholder alignment through research synthesis and storytelling
Developing personas, journey maps, and service blueprints grounded in real data
Translating findings into actionable design and product opportunities
Partnering with data science, product, and engineering to validate hypotheses and measure outcomes
Cultivating research operations practices (repository design, participant management, documentation)
Clients i’ve worked with
Design Systems: Building Cohesion That Scales
I specialize in building design systems that scale—creating cohesive, flexible ecosystems that reduce technical debt and empower cross-functional teams. My approach is grounded in clarity, consistency, and care: designing not just components, but the conversations, guidelines, and trust structures that help them thrive.
I’ve led the creation and maintenance of design libraries across multiple platforms, always with a focus on accessibility, usability, and long-term sustainability. I advocate for systems that support real workflows—balancing visual coherence with engineering constraints, and ensuring that tokens, patterns, and documentation evolve alongside the product.
My design systems work includes:
Defining foundational design tokens (color, type, spacing, motion)
Creating scalable component libraries in Figma and aligning with frontend frameworks
Auditing and reducing UX debt across features and flows
Partnering closely with engineering to align naming, behavior, and implementation
Facilitating documentation and adoption through onboarding, trainings, and live office hours
Prioritizing accessibility and inclusive design from the system level up
I see design systems as living, breathing expressions of a product’s soul—and believe they should evolve with intention, in dialogue with real user needs and team dynamics.
Projects
01
Surgical planning with immersive clarity and trust.
Surgical Theater is an advanced visualization platform that integrates 3D imaging, virtual reality, and surgical planning tools to support neurosurgeons in making more precise, informed decisions.
By uniting diagnostic data into immersive, navigable environments, the platform transforms how surgeons, patients, and care teams engage with complex anatomy—turning medical uncertainty into shared understanding.
This project reflects a shift from siloed expertise toward collaborative, systems-based care—where technology becomes a conduit for trust, precision, and better patient outcomes.
02
Commercial flight optimized for safety, efficiency, and accuracy.
FPO “Flight Profile Optimization” is a tablet-based application developed with Collins Aerospace to help pilots make faster, safer, and more informed in-flight decisions. It replaces fragmented tools with a unified interface that brings essential flight data into a single view.
FPO is built not just for performance—but for presence. It supports pilots in navigating complexity with clarity, enhancing both individual decision-making and systemic flight safety.
03
Cyber resilience for an interconnected age
Resilience is a cybersecurity platform built to help enterprises quantify, manage, and insure against cyber risk. It integrates technical telemetry, threat intelligence, and insurance analytics to provide a unified, dynamic view of an organization’s cyber posture.
Designed for today’s interconnected systems, Resilience doesn’t just mitigate risk—it enables adaptive response across technical, economic, and human layers, helping teams move from reactive defense to integrated resilience.
04
Wealth Management that is dynamic and human-aware
WealthFeed Catalyze AI is a platform that uses artificial intelligence to reimagine how individuals and institutions manage financial strategies. From individual investors to enterprise firms, it enables smarter, more transparent decision-making rooted in real-time data.
Catalyze isn’t just about speed or scale—it’s about crafting financial tools that are responsive, inclusive, and aligned with long-term human and economic well-being.
05
Cinematic Nostalgia Meets Social Play
Cinenerdle is a daily online movie game for film lovers who find meaning in memory, pattern, and play. Each puzzle invites users to recognize scenes, share insights, and celebrate cinema as a living archive of culture.
In a time of constant distraction, Cinenerdle creates space for shared attention, cultural connection, and communal joy—reminding us that story is one of our oldest technologies for belonging.
Design with intention.
In today’s interconnected world—where humans coexist with machines, nature, and one another—we have the opportunity to design technology that fosters connection, curiosity, and play. By thoughtfully integrating design into everyday life, we can build a future where innovation becomes a bridge: connecting us to ourselves, each other, and the world we belong to.
I see design as a relational practice. I build tools that are intuitive, inclusive, and quietly powerful—products that integrate into people’s lives with respect and purpose. When guided by care, innovation becomes more than progress—it becomes a way of creating meaning.
Design Principles
Between function and feeling, present and future, user and world.
Design connects people to purpose. I use research to align product goals with real human needs—emotional, functional, and cultural. Through user research, I listen for what matters most, then build products that are emotionally and functionally aligned with people’s lives.
Design as the bridge
Clarity comes from listening.
Every design decision begins with listening. Data—qualitative and quantitative—guides clarity, usability, and form. I let qualitative and quantitative data guide visual and interaction choices—ensuring that design not only looks good, but supports how people actually think, feel, and move.
Research as insight
Behind intuitive experiences is thoughtful architecture.
Information architecture and backend logic are where clarity begins. Structure makes experiences feel intuitive. I work hands-on with content modeling, IA, and systems thinking. I often map user flows and behaviors to backend logic and product frameworks—making complexity feel effortless.
Order from chaos
User research doesn’t stop at usability
Emotions tell us what’s working. I tune into frustration, hesitation, and delight—because trust isn’t just logical, it’s felt. I pay attention to nervous system cues, frustration patterns, and subtle hesitations—because friction isn't just functional, it’s emotional. Trust is a design outcome.
Emotions is data
Functionality is not enough—people need to feel at home.
I shape flows that not only work—but welcome—by attending to emotion, tone, and ease. I explore not just what works, but what welcomes. I look for moments where users feel confident, curious, seen—and where they drop off or disconnect. This informs how I shape tone, affordance, and flow.
Foster belonging
Complexity needs clarity, not just novelty.
New tech should empower, not confuse. I help users understand what’s happening—and feel in control—with transparency and care. When working with emerging technologies (AI, NLP, predictive systems), I prioritize transparency, language design, and user trust. I ask: how does this help people make better decisions or feel more capable?
Innovation add clarity
Every choice carries weight—culturally, behaviorally, ethically.
I use research to surface assumptions, reduce harm, and prioritize inclusivity and ethical clarity. I believe inclusive design begins with who we ask, how we listen, and what we prioritize.
Design w/ awareness
Build with, not for.
I co-create with users and teams. From story gathering to prototyping, I believe in designing with, not for. I involve users early and often—through co-creation, story gathering, and iterative feedback. I also facilitate internal team conversations to align business goals with lived human needs.
Collaborate early
Services
UX/UI Design
Website Design
Brand + Art Direction
Locations
San Francisco, CA (Remote)
Other References
Clients
Toyota, Philips, ABM, Collins Aerospace, Surgical Theater, Envase, Catalyze, Insight Software, Resilience Cybersecurity, FuelCycle, Cinnerdle, Catalyze, Envase, Insightsoftware, Visualise, Peoplegrove, Cinenerdle, Ochre Graphics, StaticCMS