Senior UI/UX Product Designer

Joel Connell

I architect systems, not just screens.

16+ years turning dense, technical requirements — enterprise SaaS, developer tools, and embedded engineering systems — into interfaces people want to use.

View my workGet in touchLinkedIn ↗Résumé ↓
16+Years
50+Projects
SystemsThinking
Research-ledApproach

The through-line in every project

01

Understand the real problem

Research, interviews, and systems modeling before pixels — I dig for the friction users actually hit.

02

Design the system, not the screen

Information architecture and reusable components that align teams and hold up as products scale.

03

Validate & ship

Prototype, usability-test, refine, and drive adoption into production.

Selected Work

Four projects, one obsession: clarity from complexity.

01 · DevTools / Enterprise UX

Enabling developers to act on code quality data

Problem

Parasoft's Development Testing Platform (DTP) collected vast amounts of code quality data, but its dashboards and reports were difficult for developers to use. The core challenge was translating complex, raw data into a clear, actionable UI that helped users quickly identify issues and take action — increasing engagement and the platform's overall value.

Approach

Led discovery workshops with product managers and engineering teams to define user needs, map business use cases, and identify core pain points; researched industry design and interaction models to inform strategy

Result

Shipped a configurable dashboard and data-explorer system that made code quality data genuinely actionable for developers

Read the full case study →
Dashboards and Data Explorers preview

02 · DevTools / Enterprise UX

Redesigning a clunky widget configuration flow

Problem

DTP offered a powerful array of widgets and settings, but the existing flow for adding them to a dashboard was clunky and confusing. Users struggled to understand the full range of options, limiting how much value they could get from the product. The challenge was to make adding widgets intuitive, visually clear, and efficient.

Approach

Ran a heuristic evaluation of the existing flow to pinpoint key usability issues

Result

Transformed a frustrating widget flow into a seamless one that helped users tap into the platform's full power

Read the full case study →
Adding Widgets preview

03 · Enterprise SaaS / Sales Enablement

Making product value tangible across industries

Problem

Parasoft's sales team struggled to demonstrate the value of their software — the existing demo app didn't resonate with diverse audiences and failed to clearly map the product to specific business problems. The challenge was to design a new app that could be configured on the fly to highlight different value propositions across industries and roles.

Approach

Met with sales and product managers to diagnose the root problem and understand pain points during live demonstrations

Result

Gave the sales team a dynamic demo platform they could configure on the fly to tell an industry-specific value story

Read the full case study →
Sales Demo Web App preview

04 · E-Commerce

Modernizing Fandango's checkout to cut friction and errors

Problem

Fandango's existing checkout flow had significant usability issues and a dated look and feel that was directly hurting conversion. The challenge was to completely redesign the e-commerce checkout to be modern, intuitive, and frictionless — reducing user errors and increasing successful purchases.

Approach

Audited the existing checkout flow to identify specific usability issues and bottlenecks

Result

Reduced checkout errors by 20%

Read the full case study →
Checkout Redesign preview
Joel Connell, Senior UI/UX Product Designer

Based in

Burbank, CA

Available for

Full-time & Contract

About me

Designing clarity
from complexity.

I don't just design screens — I architect systems. I'm a Senior UI/UX Product Designer with 16+ years of experience specializing in complex enterprise SaaS, developer tools (DevTools), and embedded engineering systems, including automotive ECU frameworks. I combine an academic foundation in Human Factors Psychology with expert-level Information Architecture to transform dense, highly technical data into intuitive, adoption-driving interfaces.

My expertise spans the full design lifecycle — from research and prototyping through building design systems and component libraries that increase delivery efficiency and consistency. I have a proven track record architecting scalable Figma design systems that streamline cross-functional handoffs and align multi-disciplinary engineering teams, and I excel at translating complex requirements into intuitive experiences alongside product, engineering, and stakeholder teams in agile environments.

As a modern practitioner, I actively look for ways to optimize the design-to-production lifecycle — pairing scalable enterprise Figma design systems with AI-native prototyping workflows like Claude, Claude Code, and v0 to accelerate discovery, generate clear documentation, and ensure smooth, friction-free engineering handoffs.

Let's work togetherView my workDownload résumé

Capabilities

Skills & Expertise

Sixteen-plus years of building the muscle memory that turns dense technical requirements into shipped, adoption-driving products.

Core Design & IA

  • Information Architecture
  • Systems Modeling
  • UX Design
  • UI Design
  • Wireframing
  • User Flows
  • Interaction Design

Research & Evaluation

  • User Research
  • Usability Testing
  • Heuristic Evaluation
  • Data-driven Design Analytics

AI-Native Workflows

  • Claude
  • Claude Code
  • Figma MCP
  • v0
  • Digital Prototyping

Technical & Leadership

  • Agile Leadership
  • HTML/CSS
  • Web Accessibility (WCAG)
  • Cross-functional Strategy

Tools I use daily

FigmaClaude Codev0GeminiGoogle AI StudioNotebookLMUXPilotFigJamMiro

Cognitive lens

I approach design through a Human Factors Psychology lens — analyzing how users think, navigate, and process information to build structural models that solve real business problems.

Systems thinking

I don't design one-off screens — I architect scalable design systems and information architectures that align multi-disciplinary teams and hold up as products grow.

AI-accelerated delivery

I pair enterprise Figma design systems with AI-native prototyping — Claude, v0 — to rapidly validate concepts, generate documentation, and create friction-free engineering handoffs.

Get in touch

Let's make something
worth using.

Whether you have a role to fill, a project to explore, or just want to talk about design — my inbox is always open.

Say hello

Email

joelconnell@gmail.com

LinkedIn

linkedin.com/in/joelconnell