# Paige Sáez > R+D, Product Engineer | Teaching at CCA | Building Little Cities | Former Aurora Solar, All Turtles, Hot Studio Location: United States, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/paigesez I am a hands-on Product & UX design leader with 15 years of experience. A champion of customer-centric design with a track record of driving design strategy in complex problem spaces. ## Work Experience ### Head of Research and Design @ Hamlet Jan 2025 – Present | Oakland, CA ### Adjunct Professor @ California College of the Arts Jan 2025 – Present I teach Design Research at CCA, equipping the next generation of product designers with practical UX research skills that drive innovation. My students learn interviewing, design thinking, usability testing, and AI-powered research methods, leveraging emerging tools to analyze data, generate insights, and streamline workflows. The course emphasizes real-world application, ethical research, and collaboration, integrating AI in research while maintaining human-centered design principles. With guest lectures from industry experts, students gain exposure to cutting-edge practices. As a Principal Product Designer and UX Researcher, I bring hands-on experience from B2B SaaS, enterprise, and startup environments, preparing students for the evolving landscape of product development. ### Human @ Little Cities Jan 2018 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area As the Founder and principal Product Designer at Little Cities, I help teams turn complex ideas into intuitive, scalable products. I'm a generalist rather than a specialist, preferring right-sized work, lean UX, and experimentation to bridge the gap between business goals, user needs, and product execution. With deep expertise in product design and user research, I take a hands-on approach—rapid prototyping, UX strategy, and research-driven design—to create products that feel effortless, even when the systems behind them are anything but. Who I’ve Worked With Startups: I’ve helped fast-moving teams at Carrot, Replika, IFTTT, Designlab, Alphaclone, and Honeycomb.io define product vision, conduct right-sized research, iterate quickly, and scale design operations. Enterprise Companies: I’ve led design and research initiatives at Cisco, Intuit, Aurora Solar, and Yammer, driving UX strategy, AI-powered experiences, and workflow optimization. Agencies + Studios: I’ve collaborated with leading creative agencies and studios like Metalab, All Turtles, Wieden+Kennedy, Hot Studio, Avatron, and Tangible UX to craft innovative digital experiences. For well over a decade, I’ve been designing AI and ML-powered products, working with teams at Cisco DNA, Replika, Global Viral Forecasting, Alphaclone, and more, ensuring that AI-driven experiences are transparent, ethical, and delightful. In addition, I teach Design Research at CCA, guiding students in honing practical product design and UX skills while exploring AI-driven research methods. I love tough design challenges, especially in complex or emerging tech spaces. If you’re building something new and need a partner in product design, UX, or research-driven innovation, let’s talk. ### Human @ Makerlab Jan 2009 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco Bay Area Co-founder. Led strategy and design for numerous products and multi-media projects including Wherecamp, Windowseat App, 2ndLine, IFTTT, Meedan, Nasa, Yammer, and Citibank. ### Principal Product Designer @ Aurora Solar Jan 2023 – Jan 2024 I spearheaded a multi-year effort at Aurora Solar to redesign the HelioScope product line, focusing on enhancing usability for scaling teams in global markets. By implementing user-centered design principles and collaborating with cross-functional teams, I successfully addressed critical usability issues and improved the overall user experience. ### Principal Product Designer @ All Turtles Jan 2020 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco Bay Area ### Senior User Researcher @ All Turtles Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area ### Lead Product Designer @ Cisco Jan 2017 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area Led ongoing product discovery workshops and quarterly inter-departmental design sprints with customers. Produced an inspiring north-star product vision prototype shared by leadership globally. Created user flows, wireframes, and final designs to help explore concepts, drive research, and validate alignment between user needs and business goals. Managed and mentored three junior designers. ### Lead UX Designer @ Honeycomb.io Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 | San Francisco, California, United States Guided product strategy, including discovery and definition, through user research with customers to validate hypothesis-driven product exploration. Created user flows, wireframes, final designs, and prototypes for product iterations. ### UX Design Director, Curriculum & Content Designer @ Designlab Jan 2015 – Jan 2017 | San Francisco Bay Area First employee. Created the flagship Bootcamp program UX Academy and a new revenue stream. Increased new student enrollment by 5x revenue per student, resulting in a 10x increase in total annual revenue. Defined internal team processes and managed contract and vendor resources. Led company-wide rebrand in 2017. Built and managed a remote three-person product design and content team. ### Senior UX Designer @ Tangible UX Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 | San Francisco Bay Area Multiple contract roles including Intuit, Seagate, Fanatics, and Lattice for iOS/Android product design and responsive web design. Embedded onsite with product development teams for long-term engagements. Established product strategy, including discovery and definition through user research with customers. Created UX and visual design deliverables to explore concepts, drive research, and production-ready designs. ### Senior UX Designer @ Sauce Labs Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 ### Senior UX Designer (Contract) @ 2ndLine.tv Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 ### Senior UX Designer @ Hot Studio Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 (Acquired by Facebook) Led discovery and definition for product feature sets to launch MVPs and inform further iterations. Turned concepts and ideas into product designs that addressed strategic and tactical goals and met end-user needs. Partnered with stakeholders to lead teams in product strategy and iterations. ### Interactive Strategic Planner @ Wieden + Kennedy Jan 2008 – Jan 2010 Strategy, design, and research for brand, marketing, and product initiatives. Sole interactive strategist serving all accounts of W+K Portland covering Nike, Old Spice, EA, Laika, and Procter & Gamble. ### Creative Technologist @ Wieden + Kennedy Jan 2010 – Jan 2010 ### Information Architect @ ISITE Design Jan 2008 – Jan 2009 User experience design, information architecture, visual design, and content design for early-stage web and mobile product companies including Zipcar, and Melissa's Monthly. ### Interaction Designer / Information Architect @ Planet Argon Jan 2007 – Jan 2008 User experience design, information architecture, visual design, and content design for early-stage web and mobile product companies including Alphaclone, and Contiki. ### Community Advocate @ Platial Jan 2005 – Jan 2006 Community outreach, content marketing, content design, content strategy, user research. http://platial.typepad.com/ http://readwrite.com/2010/03/02/what_does_it_mean_to_make_5_million_maps_platials http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platial ## Education ### Master of Fine Arts - MFA in Visual Studies Pacific Northwest College of Art ### B.S. in Architecture & Social Design Portland State University ### Bachelor of Fine Arts - BFA in Art + Design Alfred University ### Associate's degree in Foundation in Arts Pratt Institute ### Bachelor of Fine Arts - BFA Alfred University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/paigesaez - Portfolio: http://paigesaez.org - Portfolio: http://www.makerlab.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/paigesez JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/paigesez/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13