# Chris Sledge > Senior Product Designer, Safety @ Discord Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/chrissledge I'm a product designer with a knack for connecting people, systems, and opportunities that others might miss. At Discord, this perspective helped us transform Discord into a safer and more engaging place, earning industry recognition along the way. I thrive on making systematic improvements that scale – whether it's a new feature or a new team framework. I love helping teams unlock their potential to create products that reshape how the industry thinks about complex challenges. Off the clock, I stream on Twitch, cook tasty things, and smooch my dog: Hazel. ## Work Experience ### Senior Product Designer @ Discord Jan 2023 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area • Designed the "Ignore" feature, driving 14.5% increase in user self-remediation actions while increasing core engagement metrics • Led discovery research and strategy development for the safety team, securing 3 high-priority roadmap initiatives • Launched teen safety features resulting in 28% increase in blocks and 23% increase in reports while maintaining neutral impact on core metrics. Contributed to 137 press mentions with 93% feature coverage • Created and scaled a design consultation program from concept to 13 shipped projects within 6 months, doubling Trust org's feature delivery capacity • Elevated E2EE project from UI request to comprehensive product strategy through strategic design brief and principles, earning executive recognition ### Senior Product Designer @ Independent Jan 2014 – Present | Washington D.C. Metro Area • Offer product design mentorship, critique, process optimizations, and other services depending on client needs ### Design Mentor @ adplist.org Jan 2022 – Jan 2025 | Remote • Mentor 2–4 designers weekly, achieving 100% success rate in securing interviews at major tech companies • Created personalized growth plans for junior/graduate designers to measure and monitor growth ### Senior Staff Product Designer @ Viasat Inc. Jan 2023 – Jan 2023 • Led design initiatives for Global Fixed Broadband team, focusing on service reliability and customer experience improvements ### Senior Product Designer @ Twitter Jan 2021 – Jan 2023 | Remote • Designed the "About Tab", a new profile feature that drove a 4% increase in expression metrics • Led inclusive design initiative for profile pronouns, driving strategic alignment through clear option analysis and proactive partnership with LGBTQIA+ ERG stakeholders • Designed an in-app appeals flow, creating a throughline between enforcement actions and remediation ### Senior Product Designer @ NerdWallet Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco, CA, United States • Designed and launched new credit card comparison experience driving 11.84% increase in net conversion (~$10m annualized revenue) • Scaled this experience across multiple product verticals, establishing new revenue streams for these orgs ### UX Designer @ Booking.com Jan 2017 – Jan 2020 | Amsterdam Area, Netherlands • Led end-to-end development of a universal payment component, standardizing transaction experience across all company services and platforms • Contributed foundational payment patterns to company design system, enabling self-service implementation by product teams ### Designer @ Brunch Digital Jan 2014 – Jan 2017 | Washington D.C. Metro Area I optimized the user experience of digital products through user research, surveys, and prototyping. I led discovery meetings, branding processes, and design reviews with clients including Accenture Federal, The National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, and the Washington Performing Arts Society. ### Marketing & Creative Intern @ SACC-USA Jan 2014 – Jan 2014 | Washington, D.C. Produced marketing materials for SACC-USA’s coming events including print brochures and custom logos. Provided strategic analysis of their existing Wordpress site. Developed a fully responsive, mobile ready template for SACC-USA’s eCurrents newsletter using HTML/CSS. ### Information Management & Graphic Design Intern @ American Red Cross Jan 2014 – Jan 2014 Assembled creative, accessible, well-designed and informative infographics and data visualizations in Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator. Produced graphics in accordance with ARC guidelines. Trained members of the information management team on Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator. ### Trade & Industry Analysis Intern @ U.S. Department of Commerce Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 | Washington D.C. Metro Area Contributed written analysis and preliminary research on rare-earth elements, plasma etch equipment, and the space industry to be used in Defense Industrial Base (DIB) assessments. ### Commercial Advising Intern @ Embassy of Brazil Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 Applied knowledge of Brazilian culture/graphic design skills to create a printed tourism guide to Brazil, which was distributed to travel agencies worldwide. Conducted market research on Brazilian agriculture and eco-tourism to facilitate Brazilian exports. ### Summer Intern/Intervention Specialist @ Center City Public Charter Schools Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 Familiarized faculty and students and staff with educational software, including PowerSchool, Dreambox and Raz-Kids. Designed, drafted, and reported campus grades, attendance other relevant data using MS Excel. ### Public Relations Intern @ UNICA - União da Indústria de Cana-de-Açúcar Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 Conducted research on E10/E15 legislation changes (200+ page report), and designed a report layout to showcase the research findings. Translated documents and spreadsheets from Brazilian Portuguese to English as needed. ### Technological Consultant/Interior Photographer @ Prudential Connecticut Realty Jan 2008 – Jan 2010 | Westport, CT Provided technical assistance for personal computers, including regular maintenance, program installation and networking assistance. Shot and edited professional photographs for houses displayed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) using Adobe Creative Suite. ## Education ### Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in International Relations and Affairs American University Jan 2011 – Jan 2015 ### Minor in International Business American University Jan 2011 – Jan 2015 ### User Experience Design General Assembly Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 ### Developmental and Child Psychology in Biology Centro Universitário Filádelfia Jan 2010 – Jan 2011 ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/chrissledge - Portfolio: https://www.chrissledge.com/ --- Source: https://flows.cv/chrissledge JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/chrissledge/resume.json Last updated: 2026-03-25