Hi, I'm Kailyn! 👋🏼 Based outside of Portland, Oregon, I am a Product Designer with 6+ YOE in tech (B2B agency & startup), excited to leverage my technical background and strategic mindset to achieve business results.
My strengths are found in my abilities to communicate across silos, empathize deeply with users, and make sense of ambiguity. I use the design process to visualize ideas and propel cross-functional teams forward with confidence.
How can I help? Email me or connect on LinkedIn.
Selected projects
These projects demonstrate my abilities to make strategic design decisions, collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, and take initiative.
Steered the direction of a startup's legacy software redesign
How I used UX discovery methods to explore and prioritize opportunities for the redesign of a startup’s legacy warehouse operations software
Slashed the timeline for a SaaS product MVP by 6 weeks
How I applied my strategic business sense and knowledge of design systems to enable scale for a startup’s product development team
Sparked high-value, user-centered product iterations
How I took the initiative to lead a guerrilla diary study and amplified the voice of the user in the product development process
Archive
These projects don't have case studies, but I can certainly speak to them.
Mobile-responsive module for quickly moving secondhand inventory
My design process for this module of a SaaS product revealed that misalignment was hiding behind a seemingly simple set of requirements. I untangled the mess through visualization, iteration, and cross-functional communication.
User-centered catalog identification experience, featuring computer vision
Before the redesign, warehouse associates had to use a restrictive wizard to connect secondhand inventory with the brand's catalog. Now, users are empowered to apply search and filters, while still benefiting from the guidelines of a linear flow.
Mobile app for book discovery; matching with machine learning
I coordinated a cross-functional team of designers, engineers (including offshore), and marketing professionals to bring a client's vision to life. The design process for the Flip app included flow mapping, wireframing, user interviews, and quality-assurance testing.
Customer journey map & user research for an adoption agency
One client project brought me and my design team to empathize with the needs of an adoption agency's customers, families seeking to adopt a child. We conducted various research activities, including interviews with families and user personas, to create well-informed current- and future-state journey maps.
Coding & styling for a healthcare portal and dynamic reports
For this early-career project, I applied my coding skills in two ways. First, I used HTML and CSS to style the frontend of Precision Analytical's new internal web app. Second, I learned C# and installed a JavaScript package to implement their marketing team's designs for patient hormone test reports.
Wireframes & styling for an insurance portal
New to the world of city-county insurance services, I pored over a plethora of project documentation to inform my design process for the new web portal of Oregon CIS. I created over 100 wireframes, conducted stakeholder review, and implemented a frontend style guide with HTML and CSS.
Testimonials
Full testimonials can be found on my LinkedIn profile.
Kailyn is an MVP. As the first UX Designer in her org area, she built a high-impact design practice from the ground up and led all aspects of design discovery and delivery for Trove’s first SaaS solution.
Shaun Ellis
Head of Digital Experiences & Brand @ Trove
Kailyn is an excellent designer and always listens to what Engineering and Product have to say when making her designs. She always has the user in mind and pushes Engineering to not take shortcuts and create more user-friendly features whenever she can.
Cody Barnes
Sr. Software Engineer II @ Trove
She has elevated our designs not just aesthetically, but through thoughtful user research and continual communication, made the UI streamlined in all the right ways for our users and for Trove’s operational efficiency. She also established a cohesive design system that allowed our development team to work with clarity and pace.
Roger Wang
Senior Full-stack Engineer @ Trove
For the projects we collaborated on, she offered valuable insight that supported efficient and clear documentation and UX copy. Kailyn is a great teammate and very thoughtful in her cross-functional work.
Nathline Caristil
Technical Writing Manager @ Trove
We were greatly assisted by her design approach: Every reusable component was easily described in detail, with custom props highlighted to bring our attention to how each component should behave in various settings. Implementing her designs was a developer's dream.
Andrew Bray
Frontend Developer @ Trove
Kailyn has exceptional perceptions of design and puts meaning behind all of her actions, words and designs. If Kailyn has said something or decided on a design, it is guaranteed to be a well-thought out decision with evidence, facts or analytics behind it. Her level of detail and precision is not something I was familiar with until I had worked with her. I have had 0 issues working with her designs to create code implementations.
Dmitry Ionan
Sr. Software Engineer @ Trove
She always made it a priority to empathize with our users and discover ways to lighten the process burden, unlocking efficiency and scale for teams using the software. Her designs were thoughtful, incorporating feedback on ideal user interaction and applying a visual appeal to a software that in most of the industry comes off as boring and difficult to manage. Kailyn is an absolute rockstar.
Stanley Harris
Sr. Director of Operations @ Trove
Kailyn is one of the most thoughtful designers and managers I've worked with. She was an excellent example when it came to meeting stakeholder needs, delivering products on time, and providing a strong user experience. She was consistently raising the bar for UX and always looking to make our work more inclusive and thoughtful. She made our design team a safe environment for us.
Aleah Young
UX/UI Designer @ Buildable
Kailyn excels in the rapid iteration of designs, always ensuring that our users remain at the forefront of every decision. Her approach to design is both thoughtful and strategic, as she consistently asks insightful questions that reveal the underlying needs of our users. This user-centric mindset has been pivotal in creating intuitive and user-friendly designs that resonate deeply with our audience.
Branko Raic
Lead Product Manager @ Trove
A key milestone she achieved was improving our UX for our ESL staff. She worked collaboratively with real warehouse users by coordinating group prototype reviews, interviews, individual surveys, UATs, other user tests, and follow-up retrospectives.
Sergio Mendoza-Medrano
Training Supervisor, Warehouse Operations @ Trove
Kailyn’s approach to her role within the DEIB committee was marked by an unwavering dedication and a deep passion for fostering a workplace environment that is truly inclusive.
Ruel James
Director of People Operations @ Trove
I cannot recommend Kailyn highly enough. Having watched her build a design org from the ground up, it’s easy for me to commend her work ethic and skills. Beyond that, I have always been deeply impressed by her drive to create a safe and happy workspace. Even at our busiest, I always had a staunch ally against overwork and burnout; never missing deadlines, but instead strategically rescheduling to give the team room to breathe and do our best work.
Grey Patterson
Lead Software Engineer @ Buildable