# Alex L. > Craft-Driven Visual Designer | Constrained Hardware Platforms | B2C Consumer Interfaces • Roku & IBM alumni Location: San Jose, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/alexl2 I'm a Visual Designer with 8+ years of experience shipping B2C consumer interfaces for millions of users. My work is grounded in fundamental design principles: typography, visual hierarchy, and composition, with a nuanced eye for what makes an interface feel considered rather than assembled. Most of my career has been spent designing for constrained hardware platforms, where BOM differences across device tiers mean every design decision has to account for what the hardware can actually execute. That discipline sharpens your thinking in ways that designing for high-powered smartphones rarely demands. Those same foundations apply across every product surface. The principles that make a complex streaming interface clear and engaging are the same ones that make any consumer product work well. Currently open to Visual Designer roles in B2C product, embedded and connected hardware, and consumer software. ## Work Experience ### Store Sales Specialist @ REI Jan 2025 – Present | San Jose, CA Consistently exceeding membership sales goals while adapting priorities to floor conditions; whether on a stocking shift or a busy register, focusing on what the team and customer actually need in the moment. Recognized by management for leading by example and setting a visible standard for customer engagement across different store contexts. Demonstrated situational awareness across shifting priorities, adjusting focus based on context rather than defaulting to a single playbook. ### Product Designer @ Roku Inc. Jan 2016 – Jan 2021 | San Jose, CA Led visual design for premium streaming experiences across Roku's embedded platform, partnering with design lead on interaction strategy and collaborating with product, engineering, and QA to ship B2C features at scale across a platform that grew from 15M to 55M active accounts during this period. Designed end cards and watch-next recommendations to drive continued content consumption on a platform that scaled from 3.5B to 17.4B streaming hours per quarter, accounting for multiple user behaviors: immediate selection, extended browsing, credit-watching, and idle states Shipped premium subscription experiences for The Roku Channel with HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax, creating visual merchandising that drove user conversion on a channel that grew to reach US households with an estimated 70M people Built content discovery systems with personalized recommendations and dynamic visual treatments, contributing to The Roku Channel ascending to a top 5 channel by active account reach on the platform Delivered scalable visual solutions across Roku's full hardware lineup, designing with awareness of BOM differences between budget and premium device tiers to maintain consistent visual quality within real per-device performance constraints Led visual brand integration with major content providers, translating partner requirements into platform-consistent experiences as platform revenue grew from roughly $57M to over $530M per quarter ### Visual Designer @ EVA Automation, Inc. Jan 2015 – Jan 2016 | Redwood City, California Contributed visual design across an early-stage connected home product, supporting investor-facing materials, product demonstrations, and retail packaging. Created visual designs for investor presentations and product demonstrations, applying clear visual communication to complex hardware concepts Designed a retail packaging system aligned with premium product positioning and brand identity Supported rapid visual iteration workflows for stakeholder collaboration and prototype development ### Visual Designer @ Roku Jan 2012 – Jan 2015 | Saratoga, CA Built the visual design language for Roku's TV operating system from the ground up without an existing framework, establishing patterns designed specifically for constrained hardware during the platform's foundational growth years. Established visual design standards adopted by 50+ major content partners including ESPN, PBS, Disney, and Hulu, balancing partner brand requirements with platform consistency as Roku scaled to over 11M active accounts Built comprehensive design system documentation for Roku TV OS, creating reusable patterns that enabled rapid partner onboarding across a growing platform ecosystem Collaborated on technical implementation strategies addressing FCC requirements, accessibility standards, and international localization while maintaining visual quality Developed interface layouts and content presentation strategies in direct collaboration with product teams, informed by business requirements and user feedback ### Web Designer and Content Specialist at BD Biosciences @ Sexton Design Jan 2009 – Jan 2012 | San Jose, California, United States Web tools and website designer. I also assisted in the daily upkeep of highly technical and scientific information on BD Biosciences’s corporate website. ### Associate Designer @ SolutionSet Jan 2007 – Jan 2008 | Palo Alto, California, United States Brainstormed, conceptualized, and executed a variety of client brand identities, translating them to visually engaging web presences. ### Graphic Design Intern @ IBM SVL Jan 2003 – Jan 2003 | San Jose, California, United States Assisted in maintaining corporate design guidelines for packaging and software projects that spanned multiple enterprise products. ## Education ### BFA in Graphic Design San José State University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/alexlai - Portfolio: https://www.manystyles.co --- Source: https://flows.cv/alexl2 JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/alexl2/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13