Product Design & UX Leader
I turn messy product problems into clear, shippable experiences.
A hands-on player-coach who leads teams, stays close to the craft, and connects customer needs, business goals, and delivery reality.
Design leadership grounded in research, systems thinking, and real delivery.
Working surface · live
CoachPlayer01 · InputsProduct work rarely arrives in a neat sequence.
Selected work
From problem to outcome.
Each case shows the problem, my role, the decisions I made, and the work that followed.
01WB Games
I Turned One Web Store Into a Reusable System
A responsive commerce foundation that could flex across game brands
WB Games hired me for my ability to move between UX and product work. I started by supporting Player Network, then took practical ownership of the direct-to-consumer web store experience across research, design, alignment, and delivery.
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02Chromatic Games
Restarting Delivery for a Stalled Product Organization
Product Ownership and Delivery Operations
As Producer reporting to the CEO, I diagnosed a stalled delivery pipeline, rebuilt the operating model, and guided a successful multi-platform launch. I directly managed 11 employees and one contractor within a 28-person organization and owned the team's operating responsibilities.
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03Proofpoint
Building a Shared Platform Across Six Applications
Platform Strategy and Incremental Adoption
I built and drove adoption of a token-driven design system across a new cloud product and five existing applications. The shared architecture enabled a post-acquisition rebrand to be implemented in minutes.
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What product leaders say
Trusted to bring clarity.
The strongest descriptions of my work come from the people who trusted me with difficult problems.
“Mario's real-world experience allowed us to plan and prioritise our product direction with greater clarity and confidence.”
“Mario's thoughtful approach and willingness to engage across teams supported the Webstore's progress from concept to launch and helped establish a solid design foundation for future iterations.”
“Mario was committed to sharing his knowledge with junior designers and with our client partners. Mario was client-facing for almost every initiative he worked on and had the perfect balance of reliability, creativity, execution, and collaboration.”
How I work
A repeatable path from ambiguity to launch.
I adjust the depth to the problem, but the underlying sequence stays consistent across strategy, UX, and delivery.
Discover
I gather customer, market, operational, and technical evidence before committing to a direction.
Define
I turn what we learned into a shared problem, clear constraints, and the decision the team needs to make.
Design
I explore the system, workflows, and interface until the direction is concrete enough to evaluate.
Develop
I stay close to implementation, resolve edge cases, and protect the experience as details become real.
Deploy
I coordinate the approvals, QA, launch work, and operating knowledge needed to put the product into use.
Player-coach in practice
Leadership that stays connected to the work.
I use management, facilitation, and hands-on design as different tools for helping a team move forward.
Lead the team
I have directly managed employees and contractors, including 12 direct reports within a 28-person organization.
Align the system
I connect executives, product, engineering, studios, legal, localization, vendors, and investment partners around a decision.
Stay in the work
I keep enough proximity to research, flows, prototypes, UI, handoff, and QA to help the team make better decisions.
Experience
A career built across product, design, and delivery.
18 years across gaming, commerce, SaaS, cybersecurity, financial services, and product consulting.
2008 to presentView the full career timeline
Strategic advisor
Founder & Principal Product Strategy Consultant
LootRateLead product, monetization, and platform-strategy engagements for live-game studios and gaming-commerce organizations, including Tebex. Work spans executive research, competitive analysis, behavioral design, commerce UX, value modeling, and roadmap prioritization.
Head of Design
Magic Button LabsReturned to lead brand positioning, go-to-market strategy, and product direction for ScaleKits, a B2B SaaS productivity application.
Player-coach
Lead UX Designer
WB Games BostonLed UX and product design for a direct-to-consumer commerce and identity platform spanning 6 planned storefronts (3 launched publicly), coordinating offshore engineering, payment partners, and 50+ departmental approvals per IP.
View Warner Bros. Case StudyHead of Design
Magic Button LabsJoined as employee #3 and helped shape product concepts, positioning, and cohesive systems across five early-stage SaaS initiatives.
Producer | Creative Manager
Chromatic GamesDirectly managed 11 employees and one contractor within a 28-person organization, rebuilt the studio's delivery model, supported ongoing PC operations, and coordinated the XBOX and Nintendo releases of Dungeon Defenders: Awakened.
View Chromatic Games Case StudySystems leader
Design System Manager
ObserveITBuilt a shared platform system, drove adoption across product teams, and created the technical foundation that made a post-acquisition rebrand possible in minutes.
View ObserveIT Case StudyConsultant
Managing Director
X-SiliumLed product, research, and design consulting engagements, including the branch-wide innovation investment process adopted at Liberty Mutual.
View Liberty Mutual Case StudyLead UI/UX Designer
The Big Studio, LLCLed client-facing product and design work for financial-services organizations including Merrill Lynch, New York Life, and Bank of America.