Turning ambiguous problems into strategy that moves the needle.
I'm Stephanie — a product designer working at the intersection of research, AI, and digital commerce. Over the past few years at Discount Tire, I've founded and led a cross-functional design team, driven measurable revenue impact, and helped shape what it looks like to bring AI into a design practice thoughtfully.
About
On AI and Design. One of the areas I've invested in most heavily over the past couple of years is figuring out how AI actually changes the way we design — not just in theory but in practice. I use Claude to accelerate market research and competitive benchmarking at the start of every project, saving roughly 12 hours of work before I've even opened Figma. In early discovery, I lean into Figma's generative features to go from zero to a detailed, multi-flow prototype in hours rather than weeks.
Beyond my own workflow, I've designed AI-powered features for ecommerce, and I think a lot about what good AI design actually looks like from a user perspective: when to surface it, when to stay out of the way, and how to build trust with people who aren't sure they trust it yet.
Outside of work, a lot of my drive comes from swimming — I've been in the water my whole life, from collegiate swimming to competing today as a masters swimmer with multiple Arizona state records. I'm based in Gilbert, Arizona (a Colorado girl at heart), and spend my time outside the pool with an energetic Australian Shepherd, painting, and traveling with my husband.
Selected Work
Waitlist Experience
With 4 out of 5 customers arriving as walk-ins, unpredictable wait times created frustration for customers and operational challenges for stores. I led the design strategy for a new waitlist experience giving customers greater transparency.
Case Study
Air Pressure Check
With more than 15 million annual visits, Aircheck is one of Discount Tire's most valuable customer touchpoints. I led discovery efforts to identify pain points and inform a pilot concept improving efficiency and conversion.
Case Study
Service Appointments
Service appointments are a key revenue driver in Discount Tire's digital experience, but the mobile booking flow showed drop-off. I led UX strategy across the end-to-end flow through multi-phase research and experimentation.
Case Study
Treadwell Comprehension
Treadwell is Discount Tire's personalized tire recommendation engine. I worked across research and design to address trust and comprehension gaps, redesigning the entry point and validating improvements through A/B testing.
Case Study
Atlas of Creative Tools
Choreographer Liz Lerman approached the Herberger Online team to bring her workshop to a larger student audience — a creative team effort pushing the boundaries of engaging hybrid student experiences.
Case Study
Holmes 2.0
Reimagining ASU's proprietary learning management system so creative-degree students and faculty never have to touch Blackboard — an interaction design effort across student and instructor experiences, part of an IRB-approved study.
Case StudyRésumé
Principal Product Designer with 12+ years of experience leading complex digital experiences across retail and e-commerce. Founded and led a cross-functional design innovation team that generated over $97M in incremental revenue by applying systems thinking to solve ambiguous problems and align teams around user-centered outcomes. Combines deep interaction design expertise with strategic leadership, cross-functional influence, and a passion for inclusive design and mentoring.
- Led end-to-end product design across web, mobile, and in-store experiences, driving strategy from concept through delivery while aligning scope, priorities, and cross-functional tradeoffs.
- Founded and led the Conceptual Design Team, an innovation group of designers, researchers, product specialists, and stakeholders.
- Led 0-to-1 design of an enterprise omnichannel waitlist spanning customer, employee, and business experiences, using service blueprints and storytelling to secure executive alignment.
- Led UX for an enterprise operating model redesign across digital and retail systems; a regional pilot improved efficiency by 14% and reduced cost-to-serve by 6–9%.
- Mentored a team of 5 UX designers, elevating design quality, consistency, and team autonomy through coaching and critique.
- Delivered end-to-end digital and brand design for clients across industries, combining design strategy, website design and development, visual identity, photography, video production, and multimedia marketing assets to bring ideas from discovery to launch. Clients include ASU Biomimicry Center, Stryker, Research Collective, and local Arizona businesses.
- Led FDA-compliant human factors research, designing and executing formative and summative usability studies that informed product design.
- Facilitated stakeholder workshops and transformed research insights into prototypes, iteratively validating solutions through usability testing.
- Taught visual design and UX in the InnovationSpace product development studio, mentoring multidisciplinary teams through research, prototyping, and product development.
- Facilitated Design Thinking workshops and guest lectured on interaction design, coaching students in human-centered design and collaborative problem-solving.
- Taught typography and visual design, mentoring students in hierarchy, composition, and design craftsmanship with a focus on detail and execution.
- Led design for 20+ online courses and a platform rebrand serving 12,000+ annual enrollees, establishing design standards across cross-functional production teams and reducing help desk tickets by 30%.
Education
M.S. in Human Factors Engineering
Arizona State University, 2017–2019
B.S. in Visual Communication Design
Arizona State University, 2012–2016
AI Competencies
Product Design
Research Methods
Publications
A Heuristic Evaluative Framework for Self-Regulated Learning Design — Roscoe, McNicol, Bhat & Craig, HFES 2020
Guidelines for Mobile Health Applications — Abts, McNicol & Branaghan, ISHFEHC 2019
Let's talk.
Open to remote opportunities in AI-augmented design, digital commerce, and strategic UX.
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