# Maria Sara Finelli > Lead Product Designer📍The Intersection of Psychology and Design | Building Systems That Speak Human | Product Strategy Location: New York, New York, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/mariasarafinelli I'm Maria, a Lead Product Designer who builds scalable design systems and product experiences that drive business impact. With 10+ years leading product design for B2B SaaS and data-heavy platforms, I specialize in transforming complex workflows into intuitive experiences. I thrive on strategic challenges, from 0-to-1 product development to scaling design systems across teams. Psychology-driven, data-minded, and brand-obsessed. maria-sara.com ## Work Experience ### Lead Product Designer @ Runwise Jan 2025 – Present | New York, New York, United States ### Senior Product and Brand Designer @ Runwise Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 | New York, United States ### Brand Design Lead @ Radar Jan 2023 – Jan 2024 | New York, New York, United States ### Lead Designer @ Refine Labs Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 I redesigned and restructured our company’s website pages, expanding on our internal brand system to align with our new visual direction. I built and reviewed wireframes, prototypes, and designs with our executive leadership team and creative director and ultimately worked with our dev team very closely to execute them. I provided the designs within multiple screen sizes to ensure a seamless, responsive transition between different browsers and devices. ### Senior Graphic Designer @ Refine Labs Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 | United States I designed a monthly package of social media ads varying between 25-45 ads including feed, story and carousel ads for 4-6 clients. These often included short animated sets with micro and macro animations to test performance with imagery and messaging. I met regularly with my team to review the performance data and gather insights about campaign strategies, conversion rates, and influenced pipeline. ### Brand Designer @ Datadog Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 | Greater New York City Area I led the full user experience redesign of “Datadog On...” website episode series resulting in a dramatic subscription list increase as well as the Webinars Hub page. I also collaboratively designed the user interface and experience for the Datadog API, the Documentation page, the Trust Center and Knowledge Center pages. I developed the full brand system for our Datadog Summit Japan & Datadog Summit South Korea events which led to over 500 registrations for each event. In addition, I designed various trade show booths, flyers, and a series of printed and digitally distributed enterprise marketing booklets. ### Designer @ Madwell Jan 2016 – Jan 2019 | Brooklyn, NY I worked in product design for Verizon’s Visible phone app and website, executing and organizing designs for the user flow, as well as developing micro-animations for its interactivity. I collaborated closely with product managers, developers, and their in-house team at Verizon. I also worked on their paid media assets and the art direction for their branded photography. I was the primary designer for Harmless Harvest's ad campaigns and designed a lot of the packaging for our Hulu commercial set (https://vimeo.com/355408483). In addition, I was on the creative team developing Oceanix's brand identity. ### Graphic Designer @ Scalora Brothers Inc. Jan 2011 – Jan 2015 | South Orange, NJ I created print and web advertisements and directed the photography of their work, later to be used in various promotional pieces and social media platforms. ### Graphic Design Intern @ Madwell Jan 2015 – Jan 2015 | Brooklyn, NY I assisted in the design and production of Vita Coco’s Stupidly Simple advertising campaign with the creative team. We developed an OOH ad campaign that took over Union Square station in NYC printed on turnstiles, walls, stairs, and escalators. Other deliverables included cross-media placements such as billboards, shelf talkers, banner ads, cooler clings, and posters. ### Graphic Designer @ i3 Creative Agency Jan 2012 – Jan 2015 | West Caldwell, NJ I designed and coordinated the development of three responsive websites for local businesses. I also designed extended brand and marketing materials for print/online publication. ### Creative Arts Specialist @ Center for Leadership and Service Jan 2014 – Jan 2014 | Kean University I proposed and executed a multitude of projects, including flyers, brochures, and posters that helped promote events and organizations at Kean University. I was also responsible for designing layouts of the bi-weekly newsletter. ### Graphic Design Intern @ Design Studio Jan 2014 – Jan 2014 | Kean University I developed branding, brand extensions, and promotional material for several non-profit organizations such as Community Food Bank of New Jersey, Kageno, Liberty Hall, and NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife. ### Photography Intern @ Rutgers University Student Life Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 | New Brunswick, NJ I managed and organized the database of event photography and stock imagery. I was tasked with photographing on-campus events, campus landscapes, buildings, group photos, and portraits. I was also trained to use and apply advanced photo equipment and post-processing software. ## Education ### Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Psychology Rutgers University Jan 2010 – Jan 2012 ### Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Graphic Design Robert Busch School of Design Jan 2012 – Jan 2016 ### West Orange High School Jan 2006 – Jan 2010 ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/finellimaria - Portfolio: https://www.maria-sara.com/ --- Source: https://flows.cv/mariasarafinelli JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/mariasarafinelli/resume.json Last updated: 2026-03-30