A design leader who builds.
Over a decade of experience in crafting meaningful experiences with a deep commitment to empathy and data-driven design
- She consistently delivers high-quality work at speed, while maintaining strong attention to detail. What sets Michelle apart is her intellectual curiosity combined with her professional judgement.
Marlène Lannigan
Chief Product Officer, Jotson
Michelle is an exceptional product designer with both an eye for visual design and a high technical IQ. She works tirelessly to improve the product and the organization, with a kind professionalism that unites the team.
Peter Neufeld
Team Lead, Ecoation
Michelle is responsible, dependable, and always goes the extra mile. She has the ability to create a culture that promotes trust, teamwork, and excellence. We would re-hire her immediately if she returned to South Africa.
Mark Fowles
Director, Codeo
Her willingness to adapt, take on new challenges, and continue delivering excellent work through such a demanding project has been exceptional and I think the results speak for themselves.
Curtis Ruetz
Tech Lead, Jotson
She prioritizes product development and helping the engineering team, and still meets marketing deadlines. She takes ownership and pride in any project she takes on.
Bryana Ginther
Product Owner, Ecoation
Design in action
Selected work, explored in depth from the questions that shaped it to the decisions that brought it to life.
All
E-commerce
Research
Product Design
AI
UI & UX
Front-End Development
Jotson
How do you get people to volunteer detailed information about their home for no reward? Thirteen questions, one at a time, answering back with a personalized statistic after every one. 95% average completion, and no prize at the end.
Product Design
UI & UX
Ecoation
Greenhouse growers could see every pest in their operation - whitefly, spider mites, disease, sticky traps - just never two of them at once. But the real value was in seeing how those issues related to one another.
Product Design
UI & UX
Research
Debonairs Pizza
People were opening the app and carefully choosing a store that couldn't bring them pizza. I redesigned store selection on an existing ordering platform for one of South Africa's largest fast food chains, working from Hotjar sessions, in-person testing, and twelve mapped use cases. Checkout bounce fell 14.55%.
UI & UX
Product Design
E-commerce
SPAR
A national grocery retailer whose weekly specials drive the entire business. I redesigned how shoppers find and browse those specials online, working to metrics defined upfront with the client. Page views rose 120%.
UI & UX
E-commerce
Product Strategy
Product Operations
Design Systems
AI Workflows & Agents
Product Design
User Experience Design
User Research & Testing
Team Leadership
Prototyping in Code
What I bring to the table
I design products, bring them to life, and create systems that make teams faster. AI multiplies the output; judgment directs it.
Behind the work
Thirteen years, two continents, multiple industries. A quick look at how I actually operate.
I've spent thirteen years in product design, including a year as COO of a software company. I've grown a design function from just me into a team I hired and led, and today I'm the lead designer
on two products.
I build my own things too. A conversation analysis iOS app, shipped solo and live on the App Store. An autonomous system that does monthly client work while I direct the taste. Working with AI daily has taught me its real shape: it overbuilds and underthinks, so someone has to stay in the loop for the leverage to be real.
Analog girly :)
Via Ferrata '26
My first standing desk '23
Let's talk.
I'm open to design and product leadership roles. Say hello.
A design leader who builds.
Over a decade of experience in crafting meaningful experiences with a deep commitment to empathy and data-driven design
- She consistently delivers high-quality work at speed, while maintaining strong attention to detail. What sets Michelle apart is her intellectual curiosity combined with her professional judgement.
Marlène Lannigan
Chief Product Officer, Jotson
Michelle is an exceptional product designer with both an eye for visual design and a high technical IQ. She works tirelessly to improve the product and the organization, with a kind professionalism that unites the team.Peter Neufeld
Team Lead, Ecoation
Michelle is responsible, dependable, and always goes the extra mile. She has the ability to create a culture that promotes trust, teamwork, and excellence. We would re-hire her immediately if she returned to South Africa.Mark Fowles
Director, Codeo
Her willingness to adapt, take on new challenges, and continue delivering excellent work through such a demanding project has been exceptional and I think the results speak for themselves.Curtis Ruetz
Tech Lead, Jotson
She prioritizes product development and helping the engineering team, and still meets marketing deadlines. She takes ownership and pride in any project she takes on.Bryana Ginther
Product Owner, Ecoation
Design in action
Selected work, explored in depth from the questions that shaped it to the decisions that brought it to life.
All
E-commerce
Research
Product Design
AI
UI & UX
Front-End Development
Jotson
How do you get people to volunteer detailed information about their home for no reward? Thirteen questions, one at a time, answering back with a personalized statistic after every one. 95% average completion, and no prize at the end.
Product Design
UI & UX
Ecoation
Greenhouse growers could see every pest in their operation - whitefly, spider mites, disease, sticky traps - just never two of them at once. But the real value was in seeing how those issues related to one another.
Product Design
UI & UX
Research
Debonairs Pizza
People were opening the app and carefully choosing a store that couldn't bring them pizza. I redesigned store selection on an existing ordering platform for one of South Africa's largest fast food chains, working from Hotjar sessions, in-person testing, and twelve mapped use cases. Checkout bounce fell 14.55%.
UI & UX
Product Design
E-commerce
SPAR
A national grocery retailer whose weekly specials drive the entire business. I redesigned how shoppers find and browse those specials online, working to metrics defined upfront with the client. Page views rose 120%.
UI & UX
E-commerce
Product Strategy
Product Operations
Design Systems
AI Workflows & Agents
Product Design
User Experience Design
User Research & Testing
Team Leadership
Prototyping in Code
What I bring to the table
I design products, bring them to life, and create systems that make teams faster. AI multiplies the output; judgment directs it.
Behind the work
Thirteen years, two continents, multiple industries. A quick look at how I actually operate.
I've spent thirteen years in product design, including a year as COO of a software company. I've grown a design function from just me into a team I hired and led, and today I'm the lead designer
on two products.
I build my own things too. A conversation analysis iOS app, shipped solo and live on the App Store. An autonomous system that does monthly client work while I direct the taste. Working with AI daily has taught me its real shape: it overbuilds and underthinks, so someone has to stay in the loop for the leverage to be real.
Analog girly :)
Via Ferrata '26
My first standing desk '23
Let's talk.
I'm open to design and product leadership roles. Say hello.
A design leader who builds.
Over a decade of experience in crafting meaningful experiences with a deep commitment to empathy and data-driven design
- She consistently delivers high-quality work at speed, while maintaining strong attention to detail. What sets Michelle apart is her intellectual curiosity combined with her professional judgement.
Marlène Lannigan
Chief Product Officer, Jotson
Michelle is an exceptional product designer with both an eye for visual design and a high technical IQ. She works tirelessly to improve the product and the organization, with a kind professionalism that unites the team.Peter Neufeld
Team Lead, Ecoation
Michelle is responsible, dependable, and always goes the extra mile. She has the ability to create a culture that promotes trust, teamwork, and excellence. We would re-hire her immediately if she returned to South Africa.Mark Fowles
Director, Codeo
Her willingness to adapt, take on new challenges, and continue delivering excellent work through such a demanding project has been exceptional and I think the results speak for themselves.Curtis Ruetz
Tech Lead, Jotson
She prioritizes product development and helping the engineering team, and still meets marketing deadlines. She takes ownership and pride in any project she takes on.Bryana Ginther
Product Owner, Ecoation
Design in action
Selected work, explored in depth from the questions that shaped it to the decisions that brought it to life.
All
E-commerce
Research
Product Design
AI
UI & UX
Front-End Development
Jotson
How do you get people to volunteer detailed information about their home for no reward? Thirteen questions, one at a time, answering back with a personalized statistic after every one. 95% average completion, and no prize at the end.
Product Design
UI & UX
Ecoation
Greenhouse growers could see every pest in their operation - whitefly, spider mites, disease, sticky traps - just never two of them at once. But the real value was in seeing how those issues related to one another.
Product Design
UI & UX
Research
Debonairs Pizza
People were opening the app and carefully choosing a store that couldn't bring them pizza. I redesigned store selection on an existing ordering platform for one of South Africa's largest fast food chains, working from Hotjar sessions, in-person testing, and twelve mapped use cases. Checkout bounce fell 14.55%.
UI & UX
Product Design
E-commerce
SPAR
A national grocery retailer whose weekly specials drive the entire business. I redesigned how shoppers find and browse those specials online, working to metrics defined upfront with the client. Page views rose 120%.
UI & UX
E-commerce
Product Strategy
Product Operations
Design Systems
AI Workflows & Agents
Product Design
User Experience Design
User Research & Testing
Team Leadership
Prototyping in Code
What I bring to the table
I design products, bring them to life, and create systems that make teams faster. AI multiplies the output; judgment directs it.
Behind the work
Thirteen years, two continents, multiple industries. A quick look at how I actually operate.
I've spent thirteen years in product design, including a year as COO of a software company. I've grown a design function from just me into a team I hired and led, and today I'm the lead designer
on two products.
I build my own things too. A conversation analysis iOS app, shipped solo and live on the App Store. An autonomous system that does monthly client work while I direct the taste. Working with AI daily has taught me its real shape: it overbuilds and underthinks, so someone has to stay in the loop for the leverage to be real.
Analog girly :)
Via Ferrata '26
My first standing desk '23
Let's talk.
I'm open to design and product leadership roles. Say hello.