# Joe R. > Product Design Leader | Intelligent Experience | UXAI Assembler Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/joer Joe Rapoza: Design Leader & Pragmatic Innovator The Principle: Good Design is Good Business As a veteran product design leader, I guide digital products from concept to launch with a steady focus on real user needs and measurable business outcomes. My experience as a small business owner taught me that good design must be financially sustainable. I pay close attention to cost, timing, and resource constraints, ensuring every decision supports both user value and the bottom line. The Mindset: Curiosity Over Stress I approach ambiguity with curiosity rather than stress. Where others see technical "stop" signs, I see invitations to innovate. I don't let a lack of resources define the quality of the output; if the tool doesn't exist, I’ll build it. My career is defined by the grit required to move products forward when the traditional path is blocked. Innovation in Action I have a track record of "finding a way" when systems or teams aren't yet in place: The "Whatever It Takes" CMS (ReacTV/Zatso): As the 6th hire at a startup, I was told the production platform was 18 months away. I didn't wait. I taught myself Perl and CGI to build a custom CMS and worked with Unix admins to automate site deployment. We scaled instantly, generating the company’s first-ever revenue months before the official platform was built. The Proto-SPA (Enterprise SaaS): While designing for a major financial institution, I needed to validate complex UX without backend access. I bypassed the server by architecting a "No-Backend" data layer using JavaScript arrays (populating them with U.S. Presidents as mock users). This created a functional Single Page Application (SPA) experience years before the term existed. Strategy & Leadership Over the past 15+ years, I have worked across product strategy, UX, and interaction design in both fast-moving startups and large enterprise environments. When processes are inefficient, I refine them. When goals are unclear, I seek alignment. I don't just observe new tools—like AI—I explore how they can improve a team’s ability to deliver faster, better results. My work is guided by one simple principle: Make products that solve real problems, work reliably, and are genuinely useful to the people who rely on them each day. ## Work Experience ### Product Design & AI Business Integration @ Unknown Jan 2024 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area • Led the development of an AI-driven content strategy for a digital platform, utilizing predictive analytics, audience segmentation, and engagement optimization to drive a 300% increase in subscriber growth, demonstrating deep fluency in data-informed experience design. • Created frameworks at the intersection of neuroscience, systems thinking, and self-mastery to support better decision- making, unlock creative innovation, and elevate leadership performance within cross-functional teams. • Enabled job seekers and career transitioners by teaching AI-powered job search strategies and automation tools, increasing callback rates and fostering confidence in high-stakes, high-competition environments. • Pursued advanced professional development in AI, product strategy, and user research to further deepen expertise in designing ethical, scalable, and intuitive AI-enhanced user experiences. ### Senior Content Design Manager @ Charles Schwab Jan 2021 – Jan 2024 | San Francisco, California, United States Recruited by the Content Director of this leading financial services company for my design and content experience. In this role, I managed a team of 15 UX content designers, overseeing initiatives enhancing design system documentation and accessibility standards. Supported cross-functional teams to streamline workflows, improve user experiences, and hasten product output using design tools, best practices, and AI. • Team Leadership and Collaboration: Directed and mentored a team of 15 UX content designers, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration, which enhanced design system documentation and accessibility guidelines, reducing design time by 23%. • Streamlined Design Processes: Developed and implemented flow diagrams and wireframes, accelerating the initial design phases by three weeks and successfully transitioning the design system to Figma, ensuring faster product delivery and seamless team integration. • Documentation Optimization: Revamped design system documentation by reducing redundancies by 36%, resulting in improved team efficiency, increased productivity, and heightened team morale. ### Product Design Manager, AVP @ Wells Fargo Jan 2014 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco Bay Area Hired by this multinational financial services company serving over 70 million digital customers. As a Product Design Manager, I led a multidisciplinary team of 15, including Product Designers, Content Strategists, Visual Designers, and Interaction Designers. My role centered on ensuring high design standards through agile practices and leveraging customer insights to create seamless digital experiences. • Cross-Functional Team Leadership: Managed a team of 15 design professionals, driving high-quality outcomes through close collaboration with product owners and adherence to agile methodologies. • Customer-Centric Design: Analyzed customer insights, metrics, NPS data, and verbatims to inform design decisions, successfully reducing friction and enhancing experiences for 70 million digital customers. • Rapid Prototyping and Usability Testing: Directed the creation of hi-fidelity prototypes using proven design patterns, enabling usability studies that delivered rapid feedback and iterative improvements. • Streamlined Development Collaboration: Partnered with system architects and developers to optimize workflows, reducing production noise and shortening time-to-build by 25%. ### UX Designer and Researcher @ Public Library of Science Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 Hired by the Director of new R&D department at PLOS, a nonprofit publisher of open access scientific research. In this role, I conducted UX research and design for innovative tools that improved how researchers and readers engage with scientific articles. My work focused on developing user-centered solutions to support the organization’s mission of making scientific knowledge accessible. • Tool Development and Beta Launch: Researched, designed, and launched the beta version of Open Evaluation, a tool for reviewing and commenting on post-publication scientific articles, enabling the collection of valuable user data for potential organizational integration. • Web and Data Visualization Design: Designed and coded a micro-site for Open Evaluation, creating mock-ups, graphics, and charts to visually present collected data, ensuring clarity and user engagement.  • Proposal Development and Wireframing: Researched and authored a comprehensive proposal for a future project, delivering detailed wireframes and proof-of-concept designs to demonstrate viability and user impact. ### Senior Product Designer @ Wells Fargo Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 | San Francisco As a contractor with Wells Fargo’s Wholesale Internet Solutions group, I contributed to the design and development of Treasury Management tools for Enterprise clients. Focusing on creating modern, user-friendly solutions to support the onboarding needs of large organizations like Costco, Pepsi, and Starbucks. • Client Relationship Tools Design: Produced detailed schematics for digital tools enabling efficient relationship and account management for large corporate clients, ensuring alignment with user and business needs. • Prototype Development and Usability Testing: Designed, prototyped, and tested client sales forms, user profiles, entitlements, document presentation and signing processes, and account management features to enhance usability and streamline workflows. • Responsive and Mobile-First Design: Collaborated with product teams, developers, and designers to create and inform design systems, implementing mobile-friendly, responsive designs optimized for smartphones and iPads. ### Design Manager and Associate Creative Director @ Alibris Jan 2009 – Jan 2012 | Emeryville, CA Alibris / Monsoon Commerce is a media marketplace and SaaS company specializing in e-commerce solutions for online marketplaces and retailers. As Associate Creative Director, I led the design, creative direction, and front-end coding for multiple projects, spanning web design, interaction design, and SaaS product development. My contributions drove significant revenue growth and elevated the company’s visual identity and user experience across platforms. • SaaS Product Innovation: Designed and implemented the AutoBuy SaaS tool and API for Amazon, generating $3 million in recurring monthly revenue through a customer-focused, iterative design process. • Strategic Rebranding and Visual Refresh: Directed the rebranding and visual design refresh of the Timberline SaaS tool for media sellers, enhancing the product’s scalability and aligning the design team with forward-thinking strategies. • Web and E-Commerce Design: Supported graphic and web design, as well as front-end coding, for the Alibris Marketplace, Half Price Books, and Waterstones UK white-label e-commerce sites, ensuring seamless user experiences across channels and platforms. • Interaction Design Leadership: Created interaction design flows and clickable prototypes in a rapid environment, effectively communicating user interactions for new cloud-based SaaS products. • SEO and Performance Optimization: Identified, defined, and implemented best practices for site performance improvements, boosting SEO and enhancing usability across internal and partner sites. ### Web Designer/Developer @ TCGplayer Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 TCGPlayer, the largest marketplace for collectible trading cards like Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering, was acquired by eBay in 2022 for $295 million. As an early design and front-end development contributor, I worked directly with founder and CEO Chedy Hampson, helping to accelerate the company’s growth, improve user experiences, and boost its market presence. • Navigation System Redesign: Designed and implemented a new site header and developed an “Amazon-like” navigation system for seamless browsing and filtering of products, enhancing usability and driving customer engagement. • Prototyping and Design Delivery: Produced high-fidelity mock-ups in Adobe Photoshop and Fireworks and created clickable prototypes to effectively communicate user interactions and design flows. • Front-End Development: Hand-coded HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to deliver production-ready solutions based on detailed team specifications, ensuring functionality and alignment with project goals. ### Principal Interaction Designer @ StubHub Jan 2008 – Jan 2009 ### Senior Interaction Designer @ JPMorganChase Jan 2006 – Jan 2008 | Emeryville, CA Washington Mutual, later acquired by JPMorgan Chase, was a leading financial services company serving retail, small business, and commercial banking clients. Hired by the VP and Design Manager of Interaction Design, I leveraged my extensive banking expertise to deliver pioneering digital experiences and web solutions. • Pioneering Mobile Banking Design: Designed and developed an on-device prototype for the first-ever UI-based mobile banking app using Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and SMS features. This innovative app, launched before the iPhone era, allowed customers to check balances and transfer funds seamlessly. • Real Estate Platform Launch: Designed and launched a new website for WaMu’s Real Estate Owned (REO) properties, providing an enhanced user experience for prospective buyers. ### UI Designer and Information Architect @ Wells Fargo Jan 1999 – Jan 2006 | San Francisco, California, United States In my role as a UI Designer and Information Architect at Wells Fargo, I led a team of 7 designers to create user-friendly interfaces for portal software and Web applications. I facilitated early discovery sessions to align with business strategy and requirements, ensuring a consistent user experience. Additionally, I developed prototypes, sitemaps, and application flow diagrams to support project deliverables. • Dedication and resilience: Completed a near-impossible, year-end deadline for front-end screens 2 days before the holiday break. Referenced my final UI designs and hand-coded 24 screens in HTML/CSS, plus essential graphics in less than 48 hours. The front-end team had already left on vacation, so my direct manager and I completed the work so development could start in the new year. ### Web Manager and Front-End Architect @ Zatso Jan 1998 – Jan 1999 | San Francisco ## Education ### BA in English in Postmodern literature and cinematography University of Hawaii at Manoa ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/joerapoza - Portfolio: https://joerapoza.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/joer JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/joer/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13