Product designer with over a decade of hands-on experience shipping solutions for high-growth SaaS platforms and building design teams. My approach is driven by a natural curiosity to be at the forefront of emerging tools and making that technology approachable to anyone.

Experience

Director of Product Design & Research

2021 - Present

  • Designed and launched QA Copilot, leveraging GenAI to double QA analyst productivity and deliver 3:1 ROI through intelligent call assessment and sales opportunity identification 

  • Lead designer for Call Explorer, achieving industry-leading 4.3 UX Lite score with 76% monthly engagement across 5,000+ enterprise users through research-driven iteration 

  • Built design and research practices from zero, scaling operations while maintaining hands-on contribution to critical features and delivery deadlines 

  • Established a culture of adaptive collaboration with engineering, enabling flexible leadership exchange based on project needs 

  • Partner continuously with executive leadership to explore AI-powered opportunities, translating user research and behavioral data into strategic product direction 

  • Actively balanced orchestrating research, shipping design, and managing designers from entry to senior levels through structured mentorship

Senior Product Designer

2018 - 2021

  • Design Lead for Content Activation product line, owning end-to-end experience from research and wireframes to pixel-perfect UI across

  • Created and launched Habanero Design System, achieving adoption by 7 of 8 product teams and accelerating design-to-development velocity

  • Shipped enterprise features for Insights, Workflow, and Data Engineering that drove improvements in onboarding, adoption, and 90-day retention

Lead Designer

2013 - 2018

  • First in-house designer and design lead, taking product from validation to successful launches with major retailers including Walmart, Newegg, and Office Depot

  • Designed pioneering conversational interfaces for web and mobile that delivered real-time chat experiences years ahead of industry adoption

  • Built comprehensive design system unifying Product, Engineering, and Marketing teams across all customer touchpoints

  • Led accessibility initiatives ensuring WCAG compliance and inclusive design, expanding addressable market and enabling launch on Target.com

  • Conducted in-store pilots and field research to validate product-market fit through direct observation

Projects

Star ted a community connecting designers for mock inter view practice, initially managing everything manually to validate t he concept and understand real needs. As t he community grew to 50+ active designers, began building tools to encourage volunteering. T he project serves both to foster designer growth and as a playground for experimenting wit h generative AI in design workflows.

Sunsetted

Co-created a Figma plugin that synced design updates in real-time across team workflows, eliminating version control issues and communication gaps. Launched on Product Hunt to positive reception, acquired paying customers, and validated market need for seamless design-development handoff tools. Built with a focus on simplicity and integration, allowing teams to maintain existing workflows while gaining new capabilities.

Skills

Design Excellence

User research, journey mapping, wireframing, visual design, interaction design, prototyping, design systems, mobile-first design, responsive web, accessibility, motion design, content strategy, information architecture

Tools & Technology

Figma (expert), FigJam, Framer, Webflow, Cursor, Claude Code, ChatGPT, AI-enhanced workflows, Mixpanel, Dovetail, Adobe Creative Suite, HTML/CSS, Tailwind UI, SQL, FullStory, Google Analytics

Leadership & Collaboration

Player-coach mentality, design mentorship, cross-functional partnership, stakeholder alignment, design critique, workshop facilitation, agile methodologies, research evangelization, inclusive team building

Volunteering

Design Mentor

I guide designers through career transitions and skill development, drawing from my experience as both IC and leader. My mentorship centers on research-driven design, ethical product decisions, and helping designers find their own path to creating meaningful impact.

Education

Universidad Mayor Real y Pontificia San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca
Medicine and Human Health, 2009

My medical background brings unique perspective to design: systematic problem-solving, empathy for human needs, and rigorous attention to detail that serves me well in creating thoughtful, accessible products.

© 2025 Diego Fernandez