# Shane Fontane > Growth Design @ Atlassian | Built Grammarly’s First Growth Design Team | PLG Strategist Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/shanefontane I'm a design leader who connects dots others don't see, brings momentum to teams at pivotal moments, and creates environments where people thrive through meaningful work. My professional journey began in NYC's music scene, where I co-founded a talent management startup for DJs while interning at iconic hip-hop studios. At Vonage, as their first designer working directly with the CFO and sales team, I gained invaluable exposure to fundraising, investor pitches, and business strategy. This blend of creative vision and practical business experience led me to raise funding for my startup, Help Each Other, which brought me to California in 2008. At Grammarly, I built their first Growth Design team, partnering with cross-functional leaders to drive the self-serve business through product-led growth strategies. I evolved from solo designer to functional lead, guiding a team of 7 designers, establishing durable pillars of revenue (free trial and premium previews) that became essential to Grammarly's freemium conversion strategy, and contributing to millions in revenue. What I bring: - Strategic vision that spots patterns others miss - Player-coach leadership that adapts to what each person uniquely needs - Positivity that transforms hesitation into energy and momentum - The ability to make design feel necessary, exciting, and alive What I'm looking for: - Fast-moving environments with clear vision - Teams where design drives alignment and momentum - Leadership that recognizes those who bring vision to life - Opportunities to make AI more human and empowering I help teams get unstuck. I help people feel proud of what they ship. I turn instinct into systems, ideas into outcomes, and raw energy into forward motion. Let's build something worth believing in together. 🫶 ## Work Experience ### Lead Product Designer, Growth @ Atlassian Jan 2025 – Present ### Senior Design Manager, Growth @ Grammarly Jan 2022 – Jan 2025 I joined Grammarly as the first designer on the growth team and eventually stepped into a leadership role as we scaled. I helped build and lead a team of product and content designers, and together we contributed to tens of millions in revenue by designing experiences that supported acquisition, onboarding, and monetization. I partnered closely with product managers and user researchers to influence roadmaps, embed research into our decision-making, and accelerate experimentation while reducing risk. Along the way, I helped shape our growth design rituals, facilitated cross-functional strategy sessions, and created spaces like our annual Growth Social and speaker series where the team could connect and stay inspired. I also served as the North America Pride ERG facilitator, helping coordinate initiatives to strengthen inclusion, visibility, and community. ### Senior Product Designer, Growth @ Grammarly Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 ### Product Designer, Growth @ Grammarly Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 ### Staff Product Designer @ Optimizely Jan 2016 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco At Optimizely, I led design across multiple product areas, from developer-focused experimentation tools to enterprise collaboration systems. I partnered closely with PMs and engineers to design Full Stack, our feature flagging and A/B testing platform, and Program Management, a product for team collaboration and reporting in enterprise environments. In my final year, I redesigned the self-serve onboarding experience for Full Stack, more than doubling activation rates and creating new upgrade opportunities within the product. I also designed in-app upgrade paths that helped convert free users into paying customers. ### UX Designer (Contract) @ Blinks, the physical web platform Jan 2016 – Jan 2016 I partnered directly with the founder to define the product vision and business model for a native iOS sticker messaging app to publish on the launch of Apple’s iMessage apps. I led design efforts from concept to App Store release, surveying communities, developing personas, mapping user journeys, wireframing flows, and prototyping high-fidelity UI. Alongside product strategy, I contributed to defining the MVP roadmap, aligning data and feature priorities, and supporting QA throughout development. ### Senior UX Designer @ Scripps Networks Interactive Jan 2013 – Jan 2016 | San Francisco I joined Scripps through the acquisition of Real Gravity, a video syndication startup. My focus was on designing tools for publishing partners, as well as for Scripps' own consumer-facing site, ULIVE, which showcased premium content like HGTV and Food Network. I designed and shipped features including playlist builders, customizable video players, MRSS feed configuration, metadata management, and domain-level whitelisting. I also simplified internal role management workflows and introduced usability testing and A/B experimentation as core validation methods to improve product quality and decision-making. ### Senior UX Designer @ ClairMail Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 | San Rafael, CA At Monitise, I was the design lead for a major overhaul of our white-label mobile banking app and enrollment experience, used by multiple financial institutions across the U.S. I collaborated with internal teams and banking partners to redesign the core UX for transactions, account management, and ACH workflows. To elevate the role of design inside the organization, I developed and led an internal workshop for over 140 employees. The focus was on bringing teams together around shared goals and introducing more collaborative, user-centered ways of working. I also helped bridge communication between Professional Services and our banking clients to align technical delivery with user expectations. ### UX Designer (Consultant) @ Google Jan 2011 – Jan 2011 | San Francisco I worked on the Google Offers team during an early push into local deals and merchant tools. I collaborated with PMs and designers on the merchant-facing platform, including offer creation, campaign setup, and performance reporting workflows. On the marketing side, I designed visual layouts for daily deal emails and supported updates to the Google Offers website. I also contributed to early-stage UX reviews by sharing sketches, wireframes, and low-fidelity mockups with the broader design team. ### UX Designer (Consultant) @ Wells Fargo Jan 2010 – Jan 2011 | San Francisco At Wells Fargo, I led the visual redesign of CEO Mobile Web, a platform used by high-value corporate customers to manage treasury services and approvals on the go. I also redesigned the ACH payments workflow to improve clarity, trust, and usability for large-scale business transactions. Beyond product work, I supported the design team by documenting patterns, creating annotated mockups for developer handoff, and helping identify ways to improve internal collaboration and workflow. ### UX Designer @ Help Each Other Jan 2008 – Jan 2010 I was the first and only designer on a charitable crowdfunding startup focused on helping people raise funds on behalf of nonprofits. I owned everything from product vision and UX strategy to branding, UI design, and user flows. I worked closely with the founder to shape the platform’s features and roadmap, built lean personas, and interpreted user goals into actionable design. I also managed a globally distributed team of contract writers, illustrators, and developers to bring version one of the product to life. ### Presentation Specialist @ Gameloft Jan 2007 – Jan 2008 At Gameloft, I worked with executive teams in New York and Paris to design internal and external presentations for marketing, product, and investor-facing moments. I was the lead designer for keynote presentations, including the GDC Mobile 2008 address delivered by CEO Michel Guillemot. My work supported business development, launch strategy, and brand storytelling for Gameloft's mobile gaming initiatives during a period of rapid platform evolution. ### Senior Designer @ Vonage Jan 2001 – Jan 2007 At Vonage, I led the design of core user experiences for the consumer-facing website, including sign-up flows, customer account consoles, and landing pages. I also supported multiple rounds of investor fundraising by designing pitch decks used across the U.S., Canada, and Europe from Series A through IPO. In addition to product and marketing design, I served as the in-house creative lead for large-scale internal events, including directing the company’s “1 Million Customers” celebration for over 800 employees with a $50,000 production budget. ### Founder @ Parade ATW Jan 2004 – Jan 2005 I founded Parade ATW as a nightlife and arts platform focused on documenting underground culture in New York City. I led content strategy, visual design, and production for the site, which featured hundreds of original articles, artist interviews (including the Beastie Boys), and photo-driven event coverage. I managed a distributed team of writers, developers, and photographers, and directed a series of on-location video shoots for Parade ATW’s original web series. The platform served as both a creative outlet and a launchpad for collaborative storytelling at the intersection of music, art, and community. ### Graphic Designer @ nVision NYC Jan 2000 – Jan 2001 | NYC At nVision NYC, I worked on digital and print design projects for clients including Forbes and Tommy Hilfiger. My responsibilities spanned presentation design, website mockups, and branded collateral. I also photographed products for use in web and marketing materials, supporting both editorial and commercial storytelling. ## Education ### Associates in Recording Engineering Full Sail University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/shanefontane --- Source: https://flows.cv/shanefontane JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/shanefontane/resume.json Last updated: 2026-02-23