Hey! That’s me.

I'm Kalei, a senior product designer based in SE Wisconsin. My creative journey began in my mother's craft room, where early explorations in visual arts and design sparked a lifelong passion for bringing ideas to life. Those formative experiences with various mediums—from drawing to scrapbooking—laid the foundation for my human-centered approach to design today.

Designing experiences
90%
Reading romantasy
85%
Sewing
70%
Quilting
80%
Home DIYs
35%
Playing tennis
50%

My working process.

Design is many things, but linear isn't one of them. What sets great product designers apart isn't rigid adherence to process, but the ability to pivot gracefully when user needs shift, stakeholder priorities change, or technical constraints emerge
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Hard work fuels execution, but curiosity fuels innovation. This combination of disciplined craft and adaptive thinking is what allows me to create products that don't just meet requirements, but genuinely improve people's lives.

01.

Research & discovery

In the initial stages of any initiative, thorough research and discovery form the foundation for success. I collaborate closely with my core team—including the Engineering Manager, Product Manager, and Tech Lead—to develop a comprehensive product brief. Together, we define clear success metrics, establish measurable goals, and create a shared vision for how the final feature should look, function, and feel to users.
02.

Concept development & ideation

Using the product brief as my north star, I begin the design exploration and ideation phase. During this stage, I gather inspiration from various sources and generate diverse concepts for how the user experience could evolve. I explore multiple design directions, considering different approaches to solving the core user problems identified in our research. Throughout this iterative process, I actively seek feedback from key stakeholders.
03.

Prototyping & testing

Once I achieve general stakeholder alignment on the design direction, I transition into prototyping to test our core hypotheses. I create interactive prototypes that allow us to validate key assumptions about user behavior, workflow efficiency, and feature functionality before committing to development. This phase is crucial for moving beyond internal opinions and stakeholder preferences to gather genuine user insights.
04.

Launch & continuous improvement

In the final stage of the design process, my concepts have undergone rigorous testing, development, and quality assurance. However, launch represents the beginning of a continuous improvement cycle rather than an endpoint. Post-launch, I actively monitor user feedback, analyze usage metrics, and identify opportunities for enhancement .By maintaining this cycle, we create products that not only solve immediate user problems but evolve to deliver increasing value over time.

My numbers say it all

We all know how important data-driven decisions are, so take a look at my stats!

5+

Years of industry experience

30+

Projects launched

4

Awards received

Engineer endorsed

What really sets Kalei apart is not just her talent, but her mindset. She gets the importance of clean, user-friendly design and always thinks a few steps ahead. Whether it's refining tiny elements most people might miss or ensuring consistency across the board, she brings a thoughtful, intentional approach to everything she touches.

Shariq Ali Asadi

Senior Software Engineer

My experience

I've had the pleasure of working for companies across a variety of industries and I'm always interested in new and exciting opportunities.

Sept 2023 - Present

Senior Product Designer

Spekit

As a team lead on the Learning Squad, I spearheaded multiple strategic initiatives, including the successful implementation of AI-powered content recommendations and an ML-driven chatbot called Sidekick.
As a team lead on the Foundations Squad, I led the design implementation for integrations with Google Drive, SharePoint, Confluence, and Slack.
Drove measurable improvements in user engagement and content discovery, helping exceed key business metrics.
Aug 2021 - Sept 2023

Product Designer

Spekit

Led the creation and implementation of a comprehensive design system that reduced technical debt by standardizing components and deprecating legacy patterns.
Implemented systematic quality controls and documentation that streamlined designer-developer handoff, resulting in improved UI consistency and accelerated development cycles across the platform.
May 2020 - Aug 2021

UX Designer

Modern Hire (Acquried by Hirevue)

Led strategic initiatives to modernize hiring processes through AI-powered interviewing solutions, automated candidate workflows, and predictive analytics, while implementing data-driven pre-hire assessments to enhance candidate evaluation.
Nov 2019 - May 2020

UX Design Intern

Modern Hire (Acquried by Hirevue)

Elevated product quality by implementing UX standards through detailed user journey mapping, maintainable design system documentation, and data-driven research frameworks.
Jan 2019 - Nov 2019

Digital Marketing Intern

Modern Hire (Acquried by Hirevue)

Spearheaded end-to-end website optimization initiative, conducting comprehensive UX/UI and technical audits to identify critical improvements.
Implemented data-driven solutions that resulted in a 57% increase in traffic and enhanced user engagement metrics.
Download my CV

Let's talk

Have an opportunity for me? Get in touch so we can create something great together.

Contact me
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