20+ years defining what to build, aligning leadership on where to invest, and scaling the teams that make it real. Across fintech, enterprise, and e-commerce.
17% → 83%
Platform Adoption Gained in One Quarter
For Recruiters
You need a Director-level design leader. Here’s the short version.
20+ years, Director-level scope, measurable business outcomes across fintech, enterprise, and e-commerce. Everything you need to move fast is one click away.
For Hiring Managers
Your team keeps building. But are you building the right things?
I specialize in fixing that upstream — establishing discovery practices, aligning design with product strategy, and building the systems that keep teams focused on outcomes that matter.
For Founders
You need to build a design function. You’ve never done it before.
I have — six times across fintech, enterprise, and e-commerce. I know how to hire the right people, establish the right practices, and build a design team that earns its seat at the table before you’ve closed your next round.
Every project starts with a problem nobody’s fully defined yet. Here’s how a few of them ended.
The Research That Unlocked a Broken Product Area
Six months without a study. High error rates nobody had explained. One research sprint changed all of that — and the team that ran it.
Explore Work
Nobody Had Redesigned the Credit Card in 70 Years. We Did.
A physical product, a retail pilot, a digital onboarding flow, and proof it moved spending and NPS. This is what happens when design leads the brief.
Explore Work
We Trained a Machine Learning Model Before Writing a Single Design Brief
Capital One had millions of transactions and no product. We validated the data, proved the concept, and shipped — before anyone knew if it would work.
Explore Work
More ProjectsAwait
I get in front of the problem before anyone’s written a brief — figuring out what’s actually worth building, then making sure it ships.
Discovery before delivery.
Building the wrong thing well is the most expensive mistake a product team can make. I built a methodology to prevent it — adopted across 30+ teams at Capital One.
Based in Dallas. Open to remote. If you're building something hard, I'd like to hear about it.
Latika Gulati
Capital One
Michael is the most talented designer I've ever worked with. Working alongside him inspired me to change careers and pursue UX Design. Michael was not only enthusiastic about my career shift but also a dedicated mentor.
Lisa Cheng
Capital One
Michael consistently impressed me with exceptional design skills, strategic thinking, leadership, and a user-centric approach. His attention to detail and commitment to excellence make him a valuable asset to any organization.
