Hi, I'm Rachel.

I'm a Product Designer and Manager with 10+ years of experience working with startups and fast-paced companies. I design user interfaces, lead cross-functional product and design teams, set product priorities and ship features.

I previously worked in Berlin, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seoul and presently reside in Maryland.
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I am currently design consulting! Get in touch if you want to work on some amazing things together.

What I can do for you

Lead Design Skill

Design products & features

I design high-quality features and products that are backed by research and great ideas.

Lead Design Skill

Manage design teams

I lead small design teams in a productive and fun environment while fostering growth.

Director Level Skill

Set design standards

I ensure your product is designed at top standards and maintain design between departments.

Senior Skill

Run product methodologies

I work closely with engineers and stakeholders to define requirements and get things shipped.

Lead Skill

Identify user needs

I validate user stories with key metrics and data through quantitative and qualitative research.

Director Level Skill

Define the product vision

I guide the product to align with the company's strategy through leadership and cross-functional collaboration.

Case

Studies

Director of Product

Volume

In 2022, I joined Volume, a livestreaming application built for musicians. I primarily worked on creator features and led many design improvements alongside the CTO.

Design

I managed and led the design team

Product

I led the product cycles for development

Design & Product Lead

Erento

Read about my data-driven design approach while working at Erento, Europe's largest rental platform. This company set my standards for gathering qualitative and quantitative data for all decisions in product.

Design

I was the sole designer on this team

Product

I led the product cycles for development

Oct 7, 2024: Case Studies in progress: MindKeep and Fanhouse.

Snapshots of more work

I've worked on AI products, online event planning, cooking applications, creator and community products, booking and management applications and a lot more in-between!

Work History

I often work with early-stage startups either during angel investments or immediately after series A.

Volume

Director of Product

2022 - 2024, Remote (USA)

Corporate startup venture. I led the design and front-end engineering team during 6-week product cycles to ship features and improvements. I implemented design systems with their current branding to expedite deliverables, and re-designed multiple features to improve feature experience.

Fanhouse

ACQUIRED

Design Lead

2022, Remote (USA)

Acquired by Passes. I hired and led the design team and directed the company rebranding for larger Creator adoption. I worked closely with the CEO to improve and design new features.

Talentspace

ACQUIRED

Design Lead

2021, Remote (Berlin)

Acquired by Handshake. An online event platform connecting universities, students and companies. I led the design team to improve experiences and implement new features. I re-designed their entire product experience leading up to their acquisition.

Cookpad

Sr. Product Designer

2020, Remote, (Bristol)

Corporate startup venture. A cooking application for creators and their communities. I worked on conversion search design and new design systems.

Erento

Design Lead & Product Lead

2018 - 2020, Berlin

Europe's largest online rental platform. An extensive B2B2C product. I worked as the Design & Product Lead and focused heavily on conversion-led design.

ParkU

Sr. Product Designer

2016 - 2018, Berlin

Privately funded. Shutdown in 2019. A parking application that helps you find, book and reserve parking spaces in urban cities around Berlin. I re-designed the app and booking experience.

Carjump

ACQUIRED

Product Designer

2015 - 2016, Berlin

Acquired by PSA Group. A carsharing aggregation application that lets you book and unlock rentals cars in one space. I worked on private information handling and booking experience.

Various agencies

Art Director

2014 - 2016, San Francisco

Before pursuing product designer, I was an art director at advertising studios.

References

I worked very closely with these amazing individuals-- hear what they have to say about me.

As a natural leader, Rachel excels at mentoring junior designers and fostering a collaborative team environment.

Her exceptional skills and attention to detail have left a lasting impact, with her work continuing to drive results years later. She seamlessly integrates creative vision with data-driven design principles, significantly enhancing user engagement and satisfaction. Her disciplined approach to leveraging data in design is a rare and valuable asset, and her hands-on approach and leadership capabilities make her an invaluable asset to any organization.

Luka Dremelj

CEO, Erento, Pure App

Rachel's blend of design acumen and leadership truly makes her a standout professional in the field. She is an exceptional UI/UX designer and leader.

Her design systems are among the most organized and well-structured I’ve ever seen! She skillfully considers UI flows to ensure seamless user experiences. Always well-prepared for meetings, she effectively leads discussions and directs projects. Additionally, Rachel is highly skilled in research, she conducted numerous user interviews and workshops for Volume, which provided valuable insights and greatly contributed to our redesign project.

Tracy Waudby

CTO, Volume

Rachel's dedication to excellence and ability to lead a team in a fast-paced startup environment are remarkable. Her infectious enthusiasm and energy have made even the most challenging projects enjoyable.

She led our design team and the entire product with a customer-centric, design-first approach. Her leadership has not only encouraged creativity, but also ensured consistent delivery of a top-notch product. Her keen eye for detail and deep understanding of user needs, translated into beautiful and functional designs.

Kieran James

Sr. Product Designer, Talentspace, Picsart

Rachel is a multi-faceted designer and product manager with a level of skill extremely hard to come by.

She can solve complex problems with ease, and carries out her vision with a strong sense of command. Rachel has been endlessly reliable in fast-paced, often high-stress environments. At Talentspace she constantly delivered high-quality designs that led to the satisfaction of our stakeholders and investors.

Munya Mangwana

Sr. Product Manager, Talentspace, SustainCERT

Rachel's self-management, team leadership, and creative problem-solving within constraints were exemplary. She conducted user research to expand our product offering, consistently delivering high-quality work on tight deadlines.

She created our complete design system from scratch, through founder workshops and user interviews and mentored 2 junior designers in user research and design tools/workflows. For Product Management, she developed PRDs, coordinated handoffs between engineering (6) and design (3) teams.

Khoi Le

CEO, Fanhouse

Rachel's diligence on getting feedback from end users, stakeholders, and the technical team ensured the team had all the information needed to implement projects.

Her keen eye on her designs made sure the user experience was prioritized when implementing her vision. This seamless blend of product and technical understanding allowed for very little holes during the production.

Jimmy Bobowski

Director of Technical Operations, Volume