Senior Product Designer with 7+ years of design experience. Most recently leading design for Growth at Step Mobile, inc.
WORK
Case Studies
Past Work
STRATEGY
Understanding the overlap between user goals and business goals to find a solution that enriches the user's experience, and accomplishes what we want as a business.
Leading brainstorming sessions with company leadership
Achieving alignment on major initiatives can be complex, but starting with a structured brainstorming session has proven effective in getting everyone on the same page.
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Within a year of joining Step, the app saw significant growth, introducing new features such as investing, credit reporting, bill pay, and high-yield savings accounts. This rapid expansion highlighted the need for a more scalable onboarding system.
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To address this, I led a cross-functional brainstorming session with company leadership. The outcome was a major overhaul of one key onboarding feature, along with 10–12 smaller optimizations selected for A/B testing.
COLLABORATION
Peer Reviews - How did I do?
Kate Montgomery, Head of Product Marketing at Step
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Throughout the past year, Ethan didn't just engage in product development processes; he assumed a leadership role, spearheading initiatives like getting groups together to brainstorm unmet opportunities with our 18+ audience and lead project retros within the Growth Pod. He led by example, always motivating team members to question assumptions, seek innovative solutions, and actively egage in the creative process.
Jamie Knowlton, Head of Finance and Strategy at Step
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Ethan always brings a great attitude to his work, and I can tell he genuinely enjoys the design process, which injects energy into the whole group. I noticed this particularly while we were designing the visual identity for Step Black.
Dmitry Shulga, Senior Engineering Manager at Step
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One of Ethan's standout qualities is his abundance of creative ideas. He organizes and/or actively contributes to brainstorming sessions, suggesting improvements and innovations that have proven invaluable to the team's projects. His ability to generate a whole plethora of ideas showcases his creative prowess.
Greg Hill, Head of Design at Step
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Ethan's unique superpower lies in his ability to foster collaboration and harmony across various teams, a trait that is vital to our success and rare on our team. His impact extends beyond his responsibilities as a product designer on the growth team because he's able to bring together diverse groups of people to achieve common goals.