As the design leader for Coupang’s Search organization — a core growth engine of South Korea’s largest e-commerce platform — I drive the design vision, organizational strategy, and customer experience that power millions of daily transactions across web and mobile platforms.

Leadership & Organizational Growth

• Built and scaled a high-performing design organization from zero, hiring and developing product designers and design leaders across orgs.

• Established a systems-thinking culture grounded in measurable design outcomes, integrating design KPIs into company-wide OKRs and executive reviews.

• Partnered with senior leadership across Product, Engineering, and Data Science to shape long-term CX strategy and roadmap alignment for discovery and engagement experiences.

Strategic Design & Business Impact

• Defined the vision for the Search & Discovery experience, transforming query understanding, recommendation, and ranking systems to improve customer satisfaction and conversion.

Cross-functional & Executive Influence

• Collaborated with global teams (Search, Ads, Retail, Marketplace and Catalog Operations) to create a unified customer journey and grow business impact through category growth.

• Mentored senior ICs and emerging leaders, cultivating future-ready design leadership talent capable of driving business and customer outcomes.

Key Outcomes

• Delivered consistent quarter-over-quarter improvements in GMV and profitability through design-driven product innovation.

• Elevated Coupang’s UX maturity by transforming design from a service function to a strategic partner in decision-making.

Founded a boutique UX consultancy providing strategic product design leadership to startups and innovation-driven companies.

Notable Clients:

• Wealthramp (Fintech): UX strategy and platform redesign for a PBS-founded wealth management startup.

• Gameplan.ai (AI/ML): Product concept and MVP design for Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer — acquired by Airbnb in 2023.

• Bios Corp (HealthTech): Designed a Person-Centered EHR system to improve care delivery for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

• AprilComes (Fintech): Built and led a cross-functional team (3 designers, 3 front-end developers) delivering a crypto exchange MVP for the South Korean market.

Impact:

• Guided startups through 0→1 product definition, establishing design culture and process foundations.

• Introduced design systems, prototyping frameworks, and team operations for scalable growth.

Led product design and UX research for Centric PLM, a market leader in product lifecycle management solutions used by global fashion, retail, and consumer goods brands.

Design Leadership & Systems Thinking

• Built and led a multi-disciplinary design and research team to modernize the user experience of a complex enterprise platform with a focus on usability, scalability, and business value.

• Advocated for data-informed design and research-driven strategy, integrating analytics into the design process for measurable business decisions.

• Partnered with product executives to reimagine PLM through 3D and AR integration, positioning Centric ahead of competitors in visualization and collaboration capabilities.

Operational & Strategic Achievements

• Established a comprehensive design system spanning web, desktop, and mobile environments — reducing design debt and accelerating product delivery cycles by 40%.

• Designed 3rd-party plugin experiences and mobile extensions to support field teams, improving adoption across client organizations.

• Collaborated closely with engineering to modernize legacy UX architecture, driving long-term product scalability.

Impact

• Elevated the design’s strategic role within product planning and roadmap prioritization.

• Improved usability and customer satisfaction across major enterprise clients.

• Created a scalable UX foundation that continued to inform future releases.

Directed design and CX strategy for a leading InsurTech marketplace, serving small business owners seeking commercial insurance coverage. Transformed Insureon’s product experience into a data-driven, customer-first platform, driving measurable business outcomes and organizational growth.

Design & CX Transformation

• Owned the end-to-end customer experience, from acquisition to conversion and retention, across web and mobile touchpoints.

• Led a cross-functional organization of product designers, UX researchers, and CX specialists aligned with business KPIs and funnel performance metrics.

• Established a company-wide design system, standardizing UI patterns, brand consistency, and accessibility across all product lines.

Leadership & Business Outcomes

• Partnered with executive leadership to shift design from tactical delivery to strategic influence, embedding UX metrics into OKRs and quarterly business reviews.

• Delivered double-digit increases in application completion and bind rates, directly improving revenue growth.

• Fostered a culture of mentorship and collaboration, growing a cohesive design organization recognized for innovation and efficiency.

Impact

• Scaled design maturity from Level 1 (ad-hoc) to Level 4 (measurable, strategic partner) within two years.

• Improved NPS and customer satisfaction metrics through consistent experience design.

• Enabled Insureon to position design as a key lever in investor and partner discussions.

Served as founding design advisor, defining early product vision, design processes, and visual direction for a B2B SaaS startup.

• Helped founders validate MVP concepts and guided their first design hires.

• Established design workflows to accelerate product-market fit.