# Ally Tom > Senior Product Designer at Rakuten Rewards Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/allytom Solving complex problems with systems thinking and holistic solutions. Skills: User-Centered Design | Content Strategy | Information Architecture | Systems Thinking | Workshop Facilitation User Research | Storyboarding | Persona Development | Journey Mapping | Affinity Mapping Sitemaps | User Flows | Sketching | Wireframing | Prototyping | Usability Testing Tools: Figma | Miro | Sketch 3 | Invision | Photoshop | Illustrator | InDesign Pen & Paper ## Work Experience ### Senior Product Designer, Growth @ Rakuten Rewards Jan 2024 – Present - Spearhead the redesign of core search functionality (search bar, autocomplete, and results pages), improving discoverability and conversion across the e-commerce experience. - Designed and iterated on experiments and A/B tests to continually optimize and improve the experience - Lead the migration of store pages to new design system and tech stack, streamlining design operations and enabling faster iteration at scale. - Own navigation and IA strategy across mobile apps and responsive web, delivering consistent and intuitive user journey and creating exposure to new product lines. - Drive cross-functional search quality evaluations with Product, Machine Learning, and Analytics teams; uncovered insights that shaped relevance and ranking improvements, directly influencing the ML roadmap. - Partner with Product and Engineering leadership to define long-term product and design strategy for search, introducing query classification and new behavioral data signals to enhance personalization and engagement. - Mentor junior designers on design process, planning, and stakeholder management, supporting team growth and raising the bar for design excellence. ### Senior Product Designer, Payments and Support @ Rakuten Rewards Jan 2023 – Jan 2024 - Designed new cash back management and payment experience for 500K+ users across UK and US markets, improving transparency, clarity and access to rewards. - Led cross-functional workshops with Product, Engineering, and CX to align on user pain points, technical constraints, and prioritization of high-impact initiatives. Conduct qualitative research to validate design approach and inform improvements - Regularly present and articulate product vision, design strategy, and progress to executive leadership and C-level stakeholders, driving alignment and securing buy-in. ### Senior Product Designer, Search & Discovery @ Upwork Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 | Remote Leading design efforts for a cross-functional team to create and improve Upwork's match experiences through search, recommendations and data standardization so customers can find & discover jobs, independent professionals, and teams. - Design lead for improving search bar interactions, new search engine results pages and UX patterns for recommended results for 200K+ users - Lead end-to-end design efforts for a remote, cross-functional team to create and improve Upwork's matching and core product experiences - Drive user research initiatives, conduct qualitative and quantitative studies to inform product and design decisions - Facilitate and lead design sprints, critiques, product strategy discussions and collaboration workshops with product, UX, engineering, research, and machine learning teams - Advocate for the user and create holistic UX visions that inspire the wider product team to push beyond the status quo - Mentor and lead junior designers in project planning, stakeholder management and career development ### Product Designer @ Upwork Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco Bay Area ### Associate Product Designer @ Upwork Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area ### Freelance Product Designer @ Freelance Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco Bay Area myJupiter | Responsive Web Design | February 2018 - April 2018 Design responsive website and visual brand for baby equipment rental business to build customer confidence - Conduct heuristic evaluations and user research through surveys and interviews to understand use cases and marketplace to identify opportunities and best practices - Establish information architecture and design wireframes for copywriter and user testing for rapid ideation - Design and establish visual design elements such as typography, iconography, and layout - Communicate design rationale, vision, and purpose with data-driven artifacts with CEO to align business and user goals and welcome critical feedback Marlow | Homepage Web Design & Onboarding Flow Design | November 2017 (1 Month) Improved the user experience of the homepage and onboarding process to instill customer confidence and inspire engagement for a new digital career coaching platform. - Managed a team of 3 UX designers and established design strategy, deliverables, timeline, and stakeholder communication - Conducted user research and heuristic evaluations to strategize and inform key design solutions to address business, brand and user needs - Designed wireframes and functional prototypes for user testing and iterations to create final high-fidelity mockups - Communicate design rationale, vision, and purpose with data-driven artifacts with the client to align business and user goals and welcome critical feedback ### User Experience Design Student @ General Assembly Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 | San Francisco Bay Area Seattle Public Utilities Water App | iOS App | 2 Week Conceptual Project Created an app for Seattle Public Utilities to help their customers access their water usage data to encourage conservation - Gathered user insights through interviews and surveys to develop personas and user flows - Led content strategy and data visualization conceptualization to help determine feature prioritization - Designed wireframes and functional prototypes and iterated from usability testing Costume Closet | Mobile E-Commerce Website | 2 Week Project Created an e-commerce brand for a children’s costume rental business targeted towards parents of young children - Conducted interviews, surveys and market research to determine user needs, behaviors, motivations and business trends - Developed user flows and journey maps to guide design strategy - Built mid-fidelity prototype and conducted usability studies to identify issues and refine design through rapid iterations ### Assistant Buyer, Performance Video Investment @ Media Assembly Jan 2015 – Jan 2017 | Greater New York City Area - Developed and executed TV advertisement plans for clients such as E-Trade, Audible.com, Cancer Treatment Centers of America and Autotrader for national and local markets - Communicated with sales representatives to negotiate rates and maintain media buys to assure client goals and budgets were being met ### Executive Assistant & Office Manager @ Show of Force Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 | Greater New York City Area - Provided administrative assistance to multiple executives of an award winning documentary and trans-media production company including calendar management, phone coverage, expense reports and travel plans - Provided additional assistance across multiple departments including development, post production and social media across multiple projects - Organized and distributed company wide correspondence, educational and pitch materials - Managed day-to-day operations for office of 30-40 people ### Client Services Intern @ William Morris Endeavor Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 | Greater New York City Area - Updated and maintained industry and employee contact database daily - Interacted with agents’ assistants and clients regarding company contracts for signing new clients - Scanned and archived client contracts and other sensitive paperwork ### Talent & Casting Intern @ Viacom Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 | Greater New York City Area - Assisted casting director with in casting sessions for various projects such as commercials, “Wallykazam!”, and “Dora and Friends” - Supported Manager of Music & Talent Operations in talent management including scheduling events for talent and employees and organizing gifts for talent and charities ### Distribution Intern @ Focus Features Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 | Greater New York City Area - Analyzed and estimated upcoming weekend box office revenues - Contacted individual theatres regarding bookings and film rental and organized previous bookings - Conducted and presented research on theatrical distribution in Washington D.C. and its impact on the company - Assisted in general administration of office and Distribution Department ### Production Assistant @ Lives of Style TV Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 | San Francisco Bay Area - Maintained and produced fashion and beauty related content for social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress - Developed and pitched stunt marketing events to build awareness for the show - Logged and organized video content for YouTube and On-Air show ### Marketing and Social Media Intern @ Veracity Real Estate Management Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 | Nolita, Manhattan, NYC - Supported real estate management and development company with office administration in a fast paced work environment - Designed brochures and flyers to advertise properties to buyers as well as potential investors - Assisted the CEO in research projects for potential acquisitions ### Receptionist/Office Assistant @ De Novo Legal Jan 2010 – Jan 2011 - In charge of office management for employees working overtime in a fast-paced office - Collected, organized and archived sensitive documents in preperation for the next week ## Education ### User Experience Design Immersive in UX Design General Assembly ### Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Film/Video and Photographic Arts New York University ### Minor in Business in Entertainment, Media, and Technologies NYU Stern School of Business ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/ally-tom - Portfolio: https://www.ally-tom.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/allytom JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/allytom/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13