Joann is building a product
Product Designer with years of experience designing, launching, and scaling user-centered digital products across SaaS, fintech, healthcare, gaming, POS, and emerging technology environments. Recognized for designing from 0→1, leading end-to-end UX across complex platforms, and translating technical constraints into elegant, accessible solutions. Experienced in collaborating with founders, engineers, researchers, and executive stakeholders to define product vision, interaction models, and scalable design systems. Demonstrates strong systems thinking, accessibility leadership, and the ability to deliver resilient product experiences across web, mobile, and hardware-adjacent surfaces. Adept at balancing business objectives, technical feasibility, and user needs to drive adoption, efficiency, and long-term product value.
Additional case studies available upon request.
Product Designer
Product Designer
Product Designer
San Mateo, CA
San Mateo, CA
San Mateo, CA
What I'm about
WHERE I'M FROM 🌏
Born in Seoul, raised in the SoCal + Bay Area (with a quick NYC detour), creativity runs in the family—my dad designed physical products, my mom designed clothes, so making things is kind of my default setting.
WHAT I USED TO DO 🎨
I grew up a fine-arts kid, painting and taking photos, which still shapes how I think about composition, color, and storytelling.
WHAT I DO NOW 🧩
I’m a product designer who creates clear, human-centered interface architectures. I’m passionate about building things that help people learn, share, and connect. I move quickly, think in systems, and team up with PM and engineering to ensure high-value ideas actually see the daylight (and don't get stuck in Figma files).
WHERE I'M AT NOW 🌤️
I live in Walnut Creek, California, and when I’m not designing, I’m usually driving toward the coast, the redwoods, or whatever place has the best night view.
WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR 🚀
A place where I can apply my proven ability to design scalable, accessible, multi-platform experiences that translate complex systems into intuitive, user-centered products.
Experience
Founding Product Designer • 2021 - Present
Own end-to-end product design for an early-stage, emerging-technology startup which includes leading the translation of novel technical capabilities into usable, intuitive, and scalable product experiences.
Define the long-term product vision and interaction roadmap by balancing experimental innovation with practical delivery constraints to support sustainable platform growth.
Lead the design and delivery of a patented global gesture-control product, overseeing the full lifecycle from concept development and interaction modeling through high-fidelity prototyping and production-ready specifications.
Partner closely with engineers and external legal stakeholders, including DLA Piper, to ensure product designs aligned with patent requirements, technical feasibility, and regulatory considerations.
Establish core interaction patterns and UX standards to ensure consistency across evolving product surfaces and future feature expansion.
Facilitate cross-functional collaboration between design, engineering, and leadership teams to resolve ambiguity, align priorities, and accelerate decision-making in a fast-moving startup environment.
Contribute to external-facing materials, including product visuals and demonstrations, to support partnerships, fundraising conversations, and strategic positioning.
Collaborated directly with global partners including Netflix and the Paris Olympics, supporting contract acquisition through product demos, experience narratives, and design-led storytelling.
Worked alongside founders of Coffee Meets Bagel to align product direction with user needs, market positioning, and business objectives.
Freelance Product Designer • 2021 - Present
Aligned objectives with founders, product leaders, and cross-functional teams to design and ship user-centered web and mobile experiences for 10+ companies across POS, HRIS, fintech, healthcare, gaming, AI, and technology.
Serve as founding product designer for a gaming e-commerce platform, collaborating with executive leadership to define product vision, user journeys, feature prioritization, and long-term roadmap.
Head UX and interface design for an AI-driven surgical robotics startup, simplifying complex clinical workflows into intuitive, learnable, and safety-conscious user experiences.
Design end-to-end experiences across POS systems, mobile ordering, digital banking, employee management, and loyalty platforms supporting 100,000+ users to ensure usability across diverse operational environments.
Build WCAG-compliant design systems across five SaaS products, establishing reusable components, interaction patterns, and documentation to improve consistency and scalability.
Conduct user research, usability testing, and iterative design reviews to validate assumptions, uncover usability issues, and continuously refine interaction quality.
Deliver go-to-market assets, including product interfaces and visual systems, to support launches, investor communication, and stakeholder alignment.
Product Designer • 2023 - 2024
Liaise with university faculty and globally distributed teams to design responsive web and mobile learning platforms, increasing accessibility and engagement across varied educational contexts.
UIUX Designer • 2022 - 2023
UIUX Designer • 2022 - 2023
Spearheaded end-to-end UX/UI design for multiple client engagements, aligning design decisions with operational goals, product strategy, and measurable business outcomes.
Completed comprehensive UX audits, usability testing, and accessibility reviews across 5+ products, identifying friction points and recommending improvements grounded in user behavior.
Delivered design assets that achieved WCAG 2.1 AA compliance, improving accessibility, usability, and regulatory alignment.
Orchestrated structured workshops with clients and internal teams to define design strategy, clarify requirements, and establish shared success metrics.
Project 1: Internal CRM Tool
Joined forces with executive leadership to develop a vision prototype articulating the product’s long-term direction and feature evolution.
Devised high-fidelity mockups and interaction flows to communicate complex workflows and advocate for the product’s strategic value.
Constructed a design system from the ground up, establishing visual and interaction standards to ensure consistency across the platform.
Supported implementation and adoption, contributing to an estimated 80% increase in development efficiency as reported by the team.
Project 2: Finfare
Supervised a team of UI/UX designers to tackle complex system-level challenges using a systems-thinking approach.
Responsible for conducting user research and facilitated five or more usability testing sessions to validate concepts and refine interaction patterns.
UIUX Designer • 2021 - 2022
Successfully redesigned the first-time user onboarding (FTUX) experience by simplifying navigation, streamlining core user flows, and reducing initial friction.
Bridged communications directly with C-level executives to align onboarding improvements with business priorities, activation goals, and retention strategies.
Skills
Product Design
Product Design
Prototyping
Prototyping
Responsive UI
Responsive UI
Responsive UI
Responsive UI
User Research
User Research
Product Strategy
Product Strategy
Tools I work with
Tools I work with
What I'm about
WHERE I'M FROM 🌏
Born in Seoul, raised in the SoCal + Bay Area (with a quick NYC detour), creativity runs in the family—my dad designed physical products, my mom designed clothes, so making things is kind of my default setting.
WHAT I USED TO DO 🎨
I grew up a fine-arts kid, painting and taking photos, which still shapes how I think about composition, color, and storytelling.
WHAT I DO NOW 🧩
I’m a product designer who creates clear, human-centered interface architectures. I’m passionate about building things that help people learn, share, and connect. I move quickly, think in systems, and team up with PM and engineering to ensure high-value ideas actually see the daylight (and don't get stuck in Figma files).
WHERE I'M AT NOW 🌤️
I live in Walnut Creek, California, and when I’m not designing, I’m usually driving toward the coast, the redwoods, or whatever place has the best night view.
WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR 🚀
A place where I can apply my proven ability to design scalable, accessible, multi-platform experiences that translate complex systems into intuitive, user-centered products.
Experience
Founding Product Designer • 2021 - Present
Own end-to-end product design for an early-stage, emerging-technology startup which includes leading the translation of novel technical capabilities into usable, intuitive, and scalable product experiences.
Define the long-term product vision and interaction roadmap by balancing experimental innovation with practical delivery constraints to support sustainable platform growth.
Lead the design and delivery of a patented global gesture-control product, overseeing the full lifecycle from concept development and interaction modeling through high-fidelity prototyping and production-ready specifications.
Partner closely with engineers and external legal stakeholders, including DLA Piper, to ensure product designs aligned with patent requirements, technical feasibility, and regulatory considerations.
Establish core interaction patterns and UX standards to ensure consistency across evolving product surfaces and future feature expansion.
Facilitate cross-functional collaboration between design, engineering, and leadership teams to resolve ambiguity, align priorities, and accelerate decision-making in a fast-moving startup environment.
Contribute to external-facing materials, including product visuals and demonstrations, to support partnerships, fundraising conversations, and strategic positioning.
Collaborated directly with global partners including Netflix and the Paris Olympics, supporting contract acquisition through product demos, experience narratives, and design-led storytelling.
Worked alongside founders of Coffee Meets Bagel to align product direction with user needs, market positioning, and business objectives.
Freelance Product Designer • 2021 - Present
Aligned objectives with founders, product leaders, and cross-functional teams to design and ship user-centered web and mobile experiences for 10+ companies across POS, HRIS, fintech, healthcare, gaming, AI, and technology.
Serve as founding product designer for a gaming e-commerce platform, collaborating with executive leadership to define product vision, user journeys, feature prioritization, and long-term roadmap.
Head UX and interface design for an AI-driven surgical robotics startup, simplifying complex clinical workflows into intuitive, learnable, and safety-conscious user experiences.
Design end-to-end experiences across POS systems, mobile ordering, digital banking, employee management, and loyalty platforms supporting 100,000+ users to ensure usability across diverse operational environments.
Build WCAG-compliant design systems across five SaaS products, establishing reusable components, interaction patterns, and documentation to improve consistency and scalability.
Conduct user research, usability testing, and iterative design reviews to validate assumptions, uncover usability issues, and continuously refine interaction quality.
Deliver go-to-market assets, including product interfaces and visual systems, to support launches, investor communication, and stakeholder alignment.
Product Designer • 2023 - 2024
Liaise with university faculty and globally distributed teams to design responsive web and mobile learning platforms, increasing accessibility and engagement across varied educational contexts.
UIUX Designer • 2022 - 2023
Spearheaded end-to-end UX/UI design for multiple client engagements, aligning design decisions with operational goals, product strategy, and measurable business outcomes.
Completed comprehensive UX audits, usability testing, and accessibility reviews across 5+ products, identifying friction points and recommending improvements grounded in user behavior.
Delivered design assets that achieved WCAG 2.1 AA compliance, improving accessibility, usability, and regulatory alignment.
Orchestrated structured workshops with clients and internal teams to define design strategy, clarify requirements, and establish shared success metrics.
Project 1: Internal CRM Tool
Joined forces with executive leadership to develop a vision prototype articulating the product’s long-term direction and feature evolution.
Devised high-fidelity mockups and interaction flows to communicate complex workflows and advocate for the product’s strategic value.
Constructed a design system from the ground up, establishing visual and interaction standards to ensure consistency across the platform.
Supported implementation and adoption, contributing to an estimated 80% increase in development efficiency as reported by the team.
Project 2: Finfare
Supervised a team of UI/UX designers to tackle complex system-level challenges using a systems-thinking approach.
Responsible for conducting user research and facilitated five or more usability testing sessions to validate concepts and refine interaction patterns.
UIUX Designer • 2021 - 2022
Successfully redesigned the first-time user onboarding (FTUX) experience by simplifying navigation, streamlining core user flows, and reducing initial friction.
Bridged communications directly with C-level executives to align onboarding improvements with business priorities, activation goals, and retention strategies.
Founding UIUX Designer • 2021
Led initial MVP product design for food delivery app, including critical features like search, order tracking, and reviews.
Skills
Product Design
Prototyping
Responsive UI
Responsive UI
User Research
Product Strategy
