UX that ships and scales
I'm Emiliano Zapata, NYC‑based UX designer (remote‑friendly). I turn complex ideas into intuitive products that users love—and businesses grow with.
Selected Work
Pergolade Blade Pro
Role: Lead UX Designer (end-to-end)
Redefining a premium configurator-led buying journey across desktop + mobile
RailBuild
Role: Lead UX Designer
Streamlining construction procurement for three audiences (Homeowners, Architects, Contractors)
FidemDD Website Redesign
Role: Product Designer
Redesigned financial services site → improved credibility, increased lead generation by 35%
CityPups Dog Adoption Tool
Role: UX Designer
Applied Google Ventures Design Sprint to create a matching tool prototype in 5 days—demonstrating rapid ideation and user testing under tight constraints.
Birder
Role: UX Designer
An app to identify and explore birds all around the world.
Modernizing the Life Insurance Quote Engine
Role: Senior UX Designer
Redesigning a legacy quote engine to improve conversion rates and user trust through progressive disclosure.
About
10+ years delivering revenue-ready digital products. I specialize in rapid prototyping, design systems, and AI-accelerated workflows that bridge the gap between design and development. Outside of design, I’m constantly experimenting with new creative tech.
How I Work
Discover → Define → Design → Validate → Launch & Learn
Discover
Discover
Research & Insights
Understand users & opportunities through research and analysis.
• Market & competitive analysis
• Stakeholder alignment sessions
Define
Define
Strategy & Planning
Turn insights into clear direction.
• Information architecture
• Success metrics & KPIs
Design
Design
Prototyping & Iteration
Bring ideas to life with user-friendly solutions.
• Interactive prototypes
• Design system components
Validate
Validate
Testing & Refinement
Refine with real feedback.
• A/B testing & analytics
• Continuous user feedback
Launch & Learn
Launch & Learn
Deploy & Optimize
Ship and optimize continuously.
• User onboarding flows
• Performance monitoring & optimization
"Great design isn't just about visuals, it's about creating experiences that genuinely resonate with users and drive meaningful business outcomes."
What Others Say
Trusted by teams at startups and enterprises who value design excellence
Paola Palacios
Senior UX Designer
"I've had the pleasure of working with Emiliano twice... He's scrappy, resourceful, and a true go-getter... Emiliano is entrepreneurial, adaptable, and always brings his best to the table."
Alex Johnson
UX Designer
"Working with Emiliano was an inspiring experience... His ability to empathize with users and translate their needs into actionable insights makes him a standout UX designer..."
Samantha Lee
Product Designer
"I had the opportunity to work alongside Emiliano on a digital product redesign... His creativity and problem-solving skills are invaluable assets..."
Resume Highlights
Designing the Future. Faster.
Senior Product Designer | Emerging Tech & AI-Prototyping
I bridge the gap between "what if" and "what is." With 5+ years of experience and an AI-augmented workflow (Lovable, Cursor, UX Pilot), I move from abstract concepts to functional prototypes 40% faster than traditional methods.
My focus is on creating high-fidelity, inclusive, and physics-based experiences that align business strategy with human joy.
Core Strengths
Emerging Tech & Prototyping: High-fidelity storytelling, interaction design, physics-based UI (Google Antigravity), and functional prototyping (Figma to Code).
Design Strategy: Navigating ambiguity, future-visioning, design sprints, heuristic analysis, and systems thinking.
Inclusive Design: Deep knowledge of WCAG 2.2 AA standards, accessible interaction patterns, and user-centered research.
Collaboration: Cross-functional facilitation, stakeholder alignment, and agile delivery.
Professional Experience
- Freelance | Senior Product Designer (Emerging Tech) (Jul 2022 – Present)
• Rapid Prototyping: Leverage Lovable and Cursor to move from concept to functional prototype 40% faster than traditional workflows, allowing stakeholders to "feel" the product earlier in the cycle.
• Strategic Facilitation: Utilize UX Pilot to synthesize complex stakeholder requirements during workshops, turning ambiguous goals into concrete, actionable roadmaps in real-time.
• Experimental UI: Explore physics-based interactions using Google Antigravity and spatial design principles to create immersive, "future-state" user interfaces.
• Interaction Design: Reworked a vehicle-tracking application, utilizing motion and simplified UI to increase engagement by ~30% and reduce cognitive load.
• Global Accessibility: Built bilingual (EN/ES) content architectures and inclusive design systems that opened products to LATAM audiences.
- Americaneagle.com | UX Architect & Strategist (Jun 2021 – Dec 2022)
• Enterprise Strategy: Guided experience design for 15+ complex web projects, balancing creative exploration with practical delivery for 1M+ daily visitors.
• Inclusive Design Leadership: Introduced and implemented a WCAG 2.2 AA playbook, ensuring "joyful and usable" experiences for guests of all abilities.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Led workshops with product owners and engineers to align on UX roadmaps, ensuring technical feasibility without sacrificing design quality.
- Trianz | Senior Product Designer (Feb 2021 – Mar 2021)
• Design Sprints: Drove a week-long intensive design sprint for a medical SaaS platform, rapidly iterating on wireframes based on real-time feedback.
• System Design: Authored a reusable component library that streamlined the handoff process, reducing development time by nearly one-third.
- FidemDD Financial Advice | Product Designer & Developer (Aug 2020 – Jan 2021)
• End-to-End Delivery: Led the full redesign and frontend implementation (React) of a financial services platform, increasing qualified traffic through clearer storytelling.
• Data Visualization: Translated complex financial data into intuitive, human-centric dashboards that provided clarity and emotional security for users.
Technical Toolkit
AI-Augmented Strategy
Prototyping & Build
Design & Motion
Research & Ops
Education & Certifications
- • B.A. Business Communications & Graphic Design – Baruch College
- • UX Design Immersive – General Assembly (Best Project Award)
- • UX/UI Career Track – Springboard (Capstone: Mobile App)
Languages
English (Native) • Spanish (Fluent)