# Ryan Milano > Design Engineer | CM @ Apple and Airbnb Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/ryanmilano I am an inter-disciplinary product designer and developer working at the intersection of design and technology. I have been designing products and digital experiences for 15+ years. My expertise is in user-centered design, prototyping, interaction design, user experience, information architecture, design systems, creative direction, and art direction. I have a high awareness of industry trends and standards, and an eye for clean and thoughtful UI design for mobile and web-based applications with a primary focus on delivering beautiful and intuitive interfaces. I also play a key role in interpreting high-level requirements to define UX goals, and rapid prototyping to develop pixel-perfect digital UX. ## Work Experience ### Lead Product Designer (embedded @ Apple + Airbnb) @ Critical Mass Jan 2022 – Present As a designer at Critical Mass embedded with Airbnb's Airfam Products team, I lead design initiatives across the company's internal product suite. I collaborate closely with engineering teams, creating detailed prototypes that seamlessly bridge design vision and technical implementation. My role involves translating high-level business requirements into user-centered products, presenting design concepts to key stakeholders, and iteratively refining solutions to achieve optimal outcomes. ### Lead UX Designer @ SemanticBits is now part of ICF Jan 2018 – Jan 2022 | Remote At Semanticbits, I delivered human-centered design solutions for federal government applications serving tens of thousands of users with diverse technical backgrounds. I prioritized inclusive design principles, ensuring accessibility for all skill levels while employing a mobile-first approach to guarantee optimal user experiences across all devices and platforms. Near the end of my tenure, I streamlined my design workflow by consolidating to Figma, transitioning away from the Sketch, InVision, and Zeplin toolkit I had previously used. ### Senior Designer + Developer @ Notorious111 Jan 2013 – Jan 2017 | Santa Cruz, California My time at Notorious111 (formerly HZDG) exposed me to high-profile client work with brands like Disney, Volkswagen, and Hilton Hotels. The discontinuation of Adobe Fireworks in 2013 led me to adopt Sketch as my primary design tool—a transition that proved pivotal for my interactive design work. I built numerous WordPress and Shopify sites while diving deeper into development, learning modern technologies like React and becoming proficient with terminal-based workflows. ### Designer + Software Engineer @ Photoflex, Inc Jan 2009 – Jan 2013 | Santa Cruz, California At Photoflex, I designed and developed a custom content management system that empowered marketing and sales teams to independently manage our product catalog. I also modernized our email marketing operations by migrating the company from a legacy platform to Mailchimp, and later spearheaded the launch of a Magento-based eCommerce platform to enable direct-to-consumer sales. ### Web Designer @ LearningChange Jan 2006 – Jan 2009 | Chico, California During my studies at Chico State University, I took a Macromedia Flash course taught by a professor who also operated a local digital agency. Impressed by my coursework, he offered me a paid internship—an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I was designing sites in Adobe Fireworks (R.I.P.) and bringing them to life with semantic HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP using BBEdit as my text editor. This role became my crash course in content management systems like Drupal and WordPress, establishing the technical foundation that would shape my career. ## Education ### BA in Web Design California State University, Chico ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/ryanmilano - Portfolio: https://www.nmbl.digital/ --- Source: https://flows.cv/ryanmilano JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/ryanmilano/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13