Nate Jones

Senior Product Designer

HappyFunCorp | 07.2021 – Present

I thoughtfully and creatively set the design direction of our clients’ products.

• Client saw 83% conversion rate increase
• Healthcare, web3, DeFi, non-profit, parent tech, youth tech, SaaS, & retail clients
• Identify opportunities and flesh out complex ideas

Director of Product Design

Dealer Inspire | 06.2019 – 07.2021

As the inaugural Director of Product Design, I recruited & built the team and led them through process-building workshops to ensure killer & sustainable work.

• Define creative direction for software platform
• Drive 60% decrease in software costs
• Create 37% increase in employee community engagement
• Recruit and build the product design team from scratch
• Art direct 8 products
• Create design system from scratch
• Present at national conference & podcast guest

Psst. Here are some of the products my team or I designed: Conversations, Online Shopper, Prizm, and Metal.

Product Owner

Dealer Inspire | 09.2018 – 05.2019

Before the pandemic, car dealers selling vehicles online was a crazy niche and we got there first.

• Own the product roadmap for critical revenue stream
• Conduct individual user research sessions to validate concepts
• Oversaw discovery, prioritization, and implementation of OEM requirements
• Own the planning & execution of Agile Ceremonies
• Product evangelist at national conferences, on social media, sales calls, RFP responses, and presentations.

Lead Product Manager

Dealer Inspire | 08.2015 – 09.2018

Overseeing three of the four legs of our revenue.

• Own the product roadmap for three (of four) critical revenue streams
• Conduct individual user research sessions to validate concepts
• Ideate flows and designs for new features
• Product evangelist at national conferences, on social media, sales calls, RFP responses, and presentations.
• Defining what automotive digital retailing is with CEO/founder

Director of Enrollment Marketing

Columbia College Chicago | 03.2014-07.2015

Art school kids are unique, so our enrollment marketing had to be too.

• Lead a team of eight 
• Drive the creation of application status dashboards using live Salesforce data
• Design and drive development of recruitment event web app

Associate Director of Recruitment Engagement

Columbia College Chicago | 05.2011-03.2014

Selling the idea of art school to prospective students, parents, and influencers

• Lead team of four
• Validating impact with CRM data

Interactive Design Manager

TCS Education System | 10.2008-05.2011

Designing & developing for students on five campuses across the country.

• Design & develop a scalable content management & digital signage platform
• Design & develop websites for graduate schools, community websites, and an online magazine. 
• Create curriculum for and teach on- and off-site stakeholder education for four institutions on content best practices, technology, and social media strategy.

Interactive Designer

Pearson Education | 02.2007-10.2008

Creating engaging user experiences through identifying business and communication objectives.

Freelance Designer/Front-End Developer

Freelance | 10.2006-02.2007

Conducting diverse variety of graphic design, web design, production artist and information architecture duties for agency.com, Good Studio and Pearson Education, via staffing agencies.

Marketing Director

Abodes, Inc. | 07.2005-09.2006

Designing and purchasing print and internet advertising, writing press releases, designing web sites, managing six company web sites and organizing and implementing events.

Enrollment Publications Coordinator

Otterbein University | 03.2004-07.2005

Responsible for creating copy for and designing all print publications and several web publications for the Office of Admission. Recruiting students from Pennsylvania as well as international students.

Public Relations, Art

Otterbein University | 1999-2003