# Benji McCurdy > Designer & Builder | AI-Augmented Product Design | Systems Thinker Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/benjimccurdy I design and build at the intersection of craft and AI, using tools like Claude and Cursor to ship at a pace that used to require a full team. Over 15 years I've worked across health tech, veterinary genomics, e-commerce, and financial services, leading design organizations, defining product vision, and shipping end-to-end from system strategy to the pixel. I've redesigned products from the ground up (Signos), scaled startups from $20M to $100M ARR (Embark), built patented retail technology (Bread Financial), and prototyped physical bank branches to test real workflows (Fifth Third). I'm at my best when I can own the problem deeply, move fast, and hold the quality bar myself. ## Work Experience ### VP of Design @ Signos Jan 2021 – Jan 2026 | San Francisco, CA Redesigned the product from a passive CGM dashboard into a behavior change system built around insights, habits, and measurable impact. Personally designed core features including AI-native meal logging, metabolic insights, progress visualization, and the B2B population health dashboard. Built AI-augmented design workflows using Claude and Cursor that compressed prototyping cycles from 2-3 weeks to under 90 minutes. Scaled 3x web and landing page output without adding headcount. Increased engagement +233% (6 to 14 min/day), improved NPS by 36 points (22 to 58), and grew session conversion from 2% to 5.1%. Created a unified design system and token infrastructure adopted across 90% of product surfaces. Delivered a full brand identity from scratch, establishing the visual language across product, marketing, and web. Built and led a cross-functional design team of 6 with 98% retention. ### Head of Design @ Embark Veterinary Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | Boston, MA Owned design across three simultaneous surfaces: consumer genetic results, eCommerce conversion funnel, and a clinical veterinary platform serving 2,000+ facilities. Designed the vet dashboard around "60-second triage," glanceable risk flags organized by clinical significance. Based on field research with practicing veterinarians who needed to assess breed-specific health risks during live appointments without slowing down their workflow. Rebuilt the eCommerce IA and product comparison experience, contributing to a 2x conversion rate improvement and 30% increase in checkout completion. Worked across the full purchase journey from discovery through post-purchase genetic results delivery. Led a complete company rebrand and produced marketing campaigns that drove $8M in direct revenue. Scaled the design org from 1 to 10 across product, marketing, and eCommerce with 98% retention. Helped grow the company from $20M to $100M ARR. ### Sr. Experience Design Manager (UX) – Best in Class @ Wayfair Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | Greater Boston Led Wayfair's best-in-class team, a dedicated group responsible for auditing edge cases across all product vehicles, researching best practices, and rolling improvements up to the global design system. Designed and shipped trust metrics on product display pages that increased conversion by 1 basis point across the platform. Built a walling, wallpaper, and flooring calculator tool that drove $3M in incremental conversion. Identified high-priority product categories tied to company goals and created net-new UX patterns where the design system had gaps. Facilitated mobile app roadmap strategy workshops across product and engineering. ### VP of Design & Innovation @ Fifth Third Bank Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Cincinnati, OH Led high-profile innovation sessions for Fortune 500 executives at P&G, Boeing, GM, and Johnson & Johnson, delivering 10-year trend analysis and strategic foresight. Built a full-scale prototype bank branch to test teller workflows in-situ, research that directly informed the retail branch redesign program. Designed a starter credit and debit card product for college students, enabling credit-building without high debt exposure. Prototyped next-gen ATM-to-app integration, improving the connected banking experience across physical and digital touchpoints. ### Product Design & Innovation, Lead @ Cardinal Health Jan 2015 – Jan 2018 | 4305 W Dublin Granville Rd, Dublin, OH 43017 Led in-field discovery research across retail, hospital, and closed-door pharmacies to map real workflows and inform scalable product strategy. Built an innovation pipeline framework to evaluate, prioritize, and prototype new healthcare product opportunities. Designed early-stage concepts for pharmacy fulfillment, logistics, and patient experience in regulated clinical environments. Ran sprint-based design sessions inside client spaces, iterating rapidly from ethnographic observation to testable prototypes. Built a global design system for consistency across internal healthcare platforms. Mentored a new innovation team in Lean, Agile, and human-centered design practices. ### Innovation Strategist - UX/UI Lead @ Bread Financial Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 | Easton Town Center Designed a retail associate leaderboard that drove a 25% lift in credit card account openings across partner retailers. Built and operated a reconfigurable innovation lab for 350+ retail clients including J. Crew, Victoria's Secret, and Abercrombie & Fitch, resetting the space to mirror each brand's storefront for executive tours. Designed and helped launch a patented RFID checkout system where customers move a cart next to a kiosk that simultaneously scans every item, eliminating the checkout line entirely. Owned 5 products end-to-end across sales, design, and tech strategy. Collaborated with close to 200 associates across the company on innovation initiatives. Developed and presented bi-weekly innovation classes for a Fortune 500 company. ## Education ### B.A. in Strategic Communications The Ohio State University ### B.A. in Japanese The Ohio State University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/benjimccurdy - Portfolio: http://www.augustmane.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/benjimccurdy JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/benjimccurdy/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13