Open to opportunities

Melissa Smith

@melissasmith5

Message

I build fintech product experiences and design systems with brand precision.

Zimbabwe

Message

What I'm looking for

I’m looking to own end-to-end product design for fintech/SaaS 0→1 teams—building scalable design systems, partnering closely with engineering, and using agentic AI to move fast without compromising craft.

I’m a Senior Product Designer with 5+ years of experience owning end-to-end design across fintech platforms, SaaS MVPs, and 0→1 products in fast-moving remote environments. I lead discovery through developer handoff, often as the sole design voice in cross-functional teams alongside engineering, product, and growth.

I build scalable design systems from scratch—creating design tokens, component libraries, naming conventions, and governance practices to reduce inconsistencies and improve collaboration. I also bring brand thinking into product work, comfortably owning marketing visuals and social content alongside core UX, with a deep focus on trust-building details for North American audiences.

I actively integrate agentic AI tools into my prototyping workflow (Claude, Lovable) to accelerate design velocity without sacrificing craft or rigor. I also teach and mentor as a University Professor, reinforcing design systems thinking and helping designers translate user insights into commercially viable, aesthetically excellent decisions.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

University Professor, UX/UI Design

Current

Sergio Arboleda University

Feb 2024 - Present (2 years 5 months)

Taught end-to-end product design methodology to working professionals, reinforcing design systems thinking, user research, and cross-functional communication. Mentored designers in translating user insights into commercially viable product decisions.

Systems Thinking User Research Usability Cross Functional Communication Mentoring

Senior Product Designer

Guarapo Labs

Apr 2025 - Mar 2026 (11 months)

Built a token-based design system from scratch and led 0→1 feature design across multiple concurrent initiatives as the primary design voice. Integrated agentic AI tools (Lovable, Claude) into prototyping workflows and restructured Figma architecture for scalability.

Design Systems Design Tokens Component Libraries Figma Discovery Wireframing Figma File Organization Component Governance Agentic AI Lovable Claude

UX/UI Designer

Real T

Sep 2023 - Dec 2024 (1 year 3 months)

Led end-to-end UX/UI design for a fintech platform with complex, multi-step financial workflows across web and mobile, designing trust-building user flows. Performed user research to uncover major friction points and owned design-to-development handoff using Figma Dev Mode and Zeplin.

UX UI Design Web And Mobile Design User Research User Flows Information Architecture Zeplin Design QA

UX/UI Designer

Innomake

May 2022 - Aug 2023 (1 year 3 months)

Served as sole designer for multiple early-stage startups, defining information architecture, user flows, and design systems from scratch for each product engagement. Produced brand-consistent marketing and product assets and established style guides and component libraries to reduce prototyping cycles.

Sole Design Ownership Information Architecture User Flows Design Systems Brand Consistency Marketing Design Social Content Ad Creative Style Guide Component Libraries Prototyping

Visual & Graphic Designer

Procaps S.A. & Universidad Autónoma

Jan 2019 - Apr 2022 (3 years 3 months)

Produced high-volume editorial and campaign design work, building expertise in visual hierarchy, typography, color systems, and brand storytelling. Developed the aesthetic foundation that supports later UI precision and marketing design capability.

Typography Visual Hierarchy Color Systems Brand storytelling Editorial Design Campaign Visuals Marketing Design