# ilana rothman wiggum > Product Design Leader Location: United States, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/ilanarothmanwiggum I make everything simpler, faster, and above all, better. With both creative and strategic vision, I put my natural instincts and abilities to good use as an effective Product and Design leader. With over a decade of experience solutioning and building and leading product and design teams and projects, as well as 13+ years of valuable experience from my former career in communications and video production, I have developed a unique perspective, diverse skillsets, and a battle-hardened ability to build engaging, user-friendly, market-relevant products that deliver impactful results. ## Work Experience ### Senior Director of Product & Design @ Switchfly Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 | San Francisco Bay Area • Served as acting Head of Product during critical period of corporate transformation; identified and secured stakeholder buy-in for new go-to-market strategy capable of adding $100M+ in annual recurring revenue and supporting sustainable growth; defined a 3-year roadmap to enable a transition towards a true SaaS business model and drafted playbook outlining how we could pivot without jeopardizing our legacy customers and existing revenue streams; helped sign and launch our first new customer in 5 years, an industry-leading employee recognition company • Identified, championed, and shipped several key initiatives • Directed interdisciplinary team of Product Managers, Product Designers, and UX Designers to prioritize user-centered mindset, impact and data-driven methodologies and lean principles through every stage of product development lifecycle • Established and nurtured robust practice of market and user research, a/b testing, usability testing, consumer feedback loops, and cross-functional workshops encouraging innovation and strengthening quality of solutions • Continuously worked to establish and improve a design system and pattern library for an extremely complex white label SaaS travel booking platform which needed to gracefully flex to accommodate diverse global language, currency, and payment method capabilities, varying international compliance requirements and accessibility standards, scores of inconsistent 3rd party data and content sources, and thousands of potential UI/UX variations due to client-configurable branding, copy, feature sets, and business rules • Collaborated closely with newly established Data Science team to define roadmap and oversee development of innovative AI/ML powered personalization capabilities ### Director of Product Design* @ Switchfly Jan 2020 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco Bay Area • Developed and led the Product Design and UX research strategy for the company, including the implementation of UX research, testing, and design system frameworks • Worked with Engineering leadership to optimize workflow efficiencies between Product Design team and Agile scrum teams • Oversaw the development and delivery of all design and UX research assets, including UI designs, prototypes, graphics, animations, UX writing, and research reporting •Provided leadership and mentorship to a team of designers and researchers, nurturing their growth and ensuring the delivery of high-quality research and design deliverables that enabled successful collaborations and solution implementations * Served as Acting Director of Product Design from March 2020 to February 2021 ### UX Lead @ Switchfly Jan 2017 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area • Acted as principal designer and director of all UI/UX efforts for launch of greenfield Air booking engine for SaaS travel platform, overseeing all stages of product lifecycle • Integrated new designs and functionality into complex suite of existing products, technology and third-party APIs and partners, ensuring balance of user needs, client requirements and the business’s goal of creating a scalable white label product • Evaluated best practices for integrating design into Scaled Agile Framework, serving as only designer to be a dedicated member of a scrum team • Wrote, ran and analyzed user research, benchmarking and usability tests to identify pain points and UI preferences, validate hypotheses, and inform design decisions • Initiated and spearheaded effort to establish and maintain a design system and pattern library and educate company on merits of design thinking • Managed and mentored junior designers on growing team, encouraging lean UX methodologies and a culture of proactive and collaborative problem-solving ### UX/UI Designer @ Switchfly Jan 2015 – Jan 2016 | San Francisco Bay Area • Singlehandedly designed and oversaw early implementation of greenfield R&D initiative: a highly configurable B2B2C e-commerce platform enabling airlines to offer dynamic merchandising and navigation experiences driven by market, user segments, sales channels and device type • Supported ongoing sales efforts by improving the way we created prospective client-themed demo sites, reducing the turnaround time by 75% • Took on added responsibilities of Product Manager for several months upon key team member’s departure, prioritizing our backlog to meet changing business goals, researching and documenting existing and proposed functionality, defining business requirements and acceptance criteria, QA-ing feature iterations and logging bugs ### User Experience Designer @ SparkSF Jan 2014 – Jan 2014 | San Francisco, CA » Designed event calendar and user account feature by identifying opportunities to increase member acquisition and engagement through online survey and contextual user interviews » Created highly interactive prototype in Axure, allowing for in-depth client feedback, usability testing and heuristic evaluation » Presented multi-tiered recommendations for site improvements that scaled to accommodate both current and future organizational resources and priorities ### Market Research Assistant @ Haynes & Company Jan 2014 – Jan 2014 | San Francisco, CA » Observed, collected, and organized product and customer data of 4 global retail brands for market research consultancy representing independent investors » Interviewed sales associates regarding sales, inventory and personal opinions towards brand while maintaining appearance of being a normal shopper ### Product Manager & Content Producer, Serendipity Series @ Message Bus Jan 2012 – Jan 2013 | Corte Madera, CA » Designed, coordinated and facilitated experience of monthly speaker series and networking event for local entrepreneurs and members of the tech and start-up community » Filmed, edited, publicized and created branding strategy for video highlights posted online ### Shopping Valet for eBay Now @ eBay Inc Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 | San Francisco, CA » Served as one of the first few employees for a new personal shopping service offered by eBay » Helped take project from its initial testing and private beta phases to its successful public launch » Provided crucial feedback to the company’s engineering, marketing and operations departments » Endeared new customers to unfamiliar product by individualizing their shopping experience and providing excellent customer service » Conceptualized and participated in guerilla marketing efforts ### Field Coordinator / Production Assistant, "Cut" (pilot) @ MTV / Ellen Rakieten Entertainment Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 | San Francisco, CA ### Director of Communications @ CNE Media Jan 2008 – Jan 2010 | San Francisco, CA » Managed all publicity and public outreach efforts; initiated and maintained positive relationships with press and community contacts; acted as company spokesperson and point of contact for customer comments and queries; oversaw the creation of all customer, industry and press-facing copy » Established and implemented internal communication protocols that ensured consistent and effective cross-departmental collaboration » Managed accounts with multiple external business partners; facilitated the ongoing exchange of detail-rich assets and information, providing satisfying interactions and mutually-beneficial results » Drove the development of business-level marketing programs and branding strategies » Generated new revenue streams by producing targeted promotional material, increasing reach and accessibility of online products, and identifying new markets and alternative distribution channels for existing content ### Producer/Director, Behindkink.com @ CNE Media Jan 2006 – Jan 2010 | San Francisco, CA » Launched and managed a dynamic interactive video blog devoted to exploring alternative sexuality that served as the company’s primary branding vehicle » Created educational and entertaining content that provided opportunities for social interaction and community involvement, generated new traffic, improved customer retention, and increased the overall profitability of the company’s network of membership-based websites » Produced, directed, shot, edited, and published 3 - 5 weekly short-format videos » Managed 2 full-time videographer/editors ### Writer / Producer / Director, "An Open Invitation" (feature-length film) @ Private Media Group / CNE Media Jan 2009 – Jan 2010 | San Francisco, CA » Wrote, produced and directed company’s first 2 feature films, the most recent of which was nominated for 13 industry awards, including best feature and best director » Worked closely with foreign distribution company to establish collaborative working relationship and develop marketing strategy for international distribution of award-winning film; created and managed $80K production budget; hired and managed a 30-person production crew and 20 principal cast members; coordinated and secured shooting locations, wardrobe, props, production equipment and gear ### Producer, Docudrama television pilot for Showtime Networks, Inc. @ Kink Studios / Showtime Networks Inc. Jan 2009 – Jan 2009 | San Francisco, CA » Successfully pitched a reality television show concept to Showtime executives and secured funding for pilot episode » Coordinated and allocated all internal and external production resources to ensure that a reality-style shoot within the office would not compromise the company’s ability to function as normal » Acted as Story Producer in the field and in post-production; helped conceptualize compelling story lines; tracked and responded to developing beats and changing realities; formulated interview questions and scenarios that drove the action forward and maximized its dramatic potential ## Education ### User Experience Design Immersive in User Experience Design General Assembly Jan 2014 – Jan 2014 ### Bachelor of Arts in Cinema and Media Studies Wellesley College Jan 1998 – Jan 2002 ### Branson High School Jan 1994 – Jan 1998 ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/ilanarothman - Portfolio: http://www.ilanarothman.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/ilanarothmanwiggum JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/ilanarothmanwiggum/resume.json Last updated: 2026-03-25