Michael Grace / Designer

Michael Grace

Product Design Leader 

Seattle, Washington

Bio

I'm a design leader with over 20 years of experience in the digital space. My passion is creating beautiful, user-centered design by leveraging subject matter expertise, customer data, and testing to inform decision making. I aim to get both the big and tiny details right, create compelling experiences, and collaborate with other smart folks to bring it all together.


My professional career began in the agency world, designing for an array of clients at handful of small and medium-sized agencies. At Resource Interactive (now part of IBM iX), I led a variety of creative projects and managed a talented team of designers, focusing primarily on retail and CPG clients like Home Depot, L.L.Bean, and Proctor & Gamble.


After about 10 years in the agency space, I decided to jump to the other side — the “client” side — of the fence. Moving from Ohio to Wisconsin, I landed at the classic outfitter Lands’ End as an in-house Creative Manager.


After a few years in Wisconsin, I decided a change of scenery was in order. An opportunity presented itself in Seattle, where I was brought on as a Senior Interaction/UI Designer at outdoor retailer REI. It was a great time to further focus on something I love: developing customer-focused business practices and manifesting them with great design.


More recently, I joined the Seattle office at Groupon and worked on notable improvements for their Merchant platform, designing and launching new features for our marketplace's business owners across web, iOS, and Android platforms.


I enjoy traveling, exploring my city, and taking leisurely walks with my dog, Hugo 🐶. He's a huge fan of my current employer, Chewy, where I lead a variety of UX efforts as a Staff Product Designer. I work hard to make our shopping experience delightful to use for pet parents everywhere. (Hugo's job? He's always on the lookout for a big blue box on our porch!)


In my spare time, I also design abstract art prints and other goods for my online shop. Creating art is a long-held passion of mine — something I was doing well before I ever touched a computer mouse. 👨🏼‍🎨

Experience

Staff Product Designer at Chewy · Seattle, WA

October 2021 – Present


Senior Product Designer

October 2020 – October 2021


Creating delightful experiences to make shopping Chewy easier for demanding pet parents. Responsible for leading design across Search and Browse domains, executing foundational features from strategic conception to high-fidelity designs. Establishing a high bar in both strategic and visual design execution across the Core Shopping Product Design organization while also developing strong cross-functional relationships to normalize user-focused, creative processes.


Senior Product Designer at Groupon · Seattle, WA

September 2019 – October 2020


Key designer on high-profile efforts across the merchant platform to better serve business owners by allowing easy management of their Groupon campaigns. Creating modernized, self-serve tools across web and native app experiences. Responsibilities include research, wireframing, prototyping, high-fidelity final deliverables, and creative oversight during technical delivery.


Senior Interaction Designer at Brooks Running · Seattle, Washington

April 2017 – September 2019


Focused on creating user-centric, branded digital experiences for a digital storefront. Provided direction to internal teams and external vendors for a comprehensive site-wide redesign and follow-up usability study. Completed extensive hands-on design work and usability research for a complete relaunch of our checkout experience, extending existing styles, and documenting new design patterns.


Senior User Interface Designer at Recreational Equipment, Inc. · Seattle, WA

October 2013 – April 2017


Tasked with defining and designing functional improvements to the REI.com experience, including acting as design lead for a comprehensive, responsive site redesign. Advocate for creative ideation and user-focused experiences, working closely with various agile teams to foster relationships across the creative discipline and wider organization. Also involved in usability testing as well as mentoring members of the design team.


Creative Manager at Lands' End · Madison, WI

October 2011 – October 2013


Worked on a variety of projects to enhance the user experience across landsend.com. Overhauled site navigation, created new brand and seasonal executions, lead future concepting team, and designed prototypes for user testing. Evolved the overall visual aesthetic of our online experience, establishing visual and functional guidelines for the digital creative team.


Art Director at Resource Interactive (now IBM iX)

2006 – 2011 · Columbus, OH


Conceived, directed, and designed interactive experiences for global brands at AdAge Top 10 agency. Tasked with guiding creative teams to create compelling digital retail and commerce design. Also involved with strategic development, forging client relationships, and directing social media design and tactics. Managed and developed creative direct reports.


Senior Designer at Hyperquake

2003 – 2006 · Cincinnati, OH


Senior member of interactive group in multidisciplinary organization (including interactive and print teams). Designed award-winning web sites, interactive promotional campaigns, games and other digital products for media, corporate and B2B clients.


Designer at U.S. Digital Partners

2003 · Cincinnati, OH


Primary designer in start-up environment. Tasks included site planning, interface design, and template development.


Internship at Warner Bros.

2001 ·New York, NY


Designed and developed various assets for the studio’s online presence, including design and animation for film web sites.