Maria is available for hire
Hire MariaMaria Newman
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Location
Los Angeles, CA, United States
Toptal Member Since
July 25, 2022
Maria is an LA-based product generalist with a bias for product design. She has designed and shipped multiple profitable and beloved consumer apps and created desktop web dashboards. She integrates her work with the business and engineering sides of the house. Her experience includes working with clients to design 0->1 products and leverage existing design systems to improve and iterate features. Maria's areas of interest include productivity, travel, health/wellness, and B2B product design.
Work Experience
Senior Product Designer and Manager
2021 - PRESENT
Freelance
- Designed all UI/UX for a dual-sided marketplace. Designed both B2B desktop web and B2C mobile app wireframes. Leveraged a design system to work quickly and integrated with product managers and engineers to implement experiments.
- Directed end-to-end product design for a Gen Z-focused dating app. Performed customer research and industry analysis to identify the problem, led iterative design work in Figma, and served as project manager for the build.
- Designed habit-tracking features in the productivity app Happier, which won a Webby for best interaction design.
- Conducts generative and evaluative user research to gain insight into the app user experience and surface recommendations on which UX flows, UI designs, and features to iterate, fix, or eliminate for all clients.
Technologies: Figma, Adobe Experience Design (XD), UX Design, User Interface (UI), Product Design, UI Design, Responsive UI, Mobile UI Design, Visual Design, User Experience (UX), Web Design, Web, Web App UX, Web App UI, Mobile UI, Mobile UX, Mobile, B2C, Consumer Applications, Mobile Design, App Design, User Engagement, Mobile Apps, Psychology & Mental Health, Habit Formation, Landing Page Design, System Design, Information Architecture (IA), User Journeys, User Flows, User Research, User Validation, High-fidelity Prototypes, Low-fidelity Prototypes, Loyalty Programs, User Workshops, Workshops, Design Workshops, UX Workshops, Ideation Workshops, Discovery Workshops, User Personas, Mockups, UX Wireframes, Interactive Prototypes, Usability Testing, Collaboration, Leadership, Marketplace Platforms, Marketplace Design, Multi-sided Marketplaces, Prototyping, Interactive Design, Dashboards, UX Research, Usertesting.com, Qualitative Research, User Interviews, Storytelling, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Web Dashboards, High-fidelity Mockups, Responsive Web Apps, Data Visualization, iOS, Stakeholder Management, iOS App Design, Android App Design, Android, Design Leadership, SaaS Design, UX Audits, B2B, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), User Workflows, Web UX Design, User Testing, Desktop Web Design, Design, Web UI Design, Web UI, Web UX
Senior Product Designer
2022 - 2023
Hopper
- Led product design for Hopper Homes, Hopper's short-term rental offering that places travelers with lodging around the world. Focused on mobile designs for iOS, Android, and desktop web.
- Was the head designer for 70+ features that improved performance, including a search funnel redesign that increased conversion by 30%, a checkout redesign that increased conversion by 18%, and growth campaigns that increased repeat buyers by 20%.
- Developed MVP designs for Hopper's hotel supply desktop portal, creating an easy-to-use B2B desktop web experience to support Hopper's business goal of signing 100,000 independent hotels to list properties directly on Hopper.
- Delivered work with a focus on a great UX for Hopper Homes and Hotels, balancing goals, design cohesion, and ease of implementation. Owned end-to-end user journey, from ideation to design, copywriting, prototyping, QA to final product.
- Worked autonomously across several cross-functional product development groups with product managers, front- and back-end engineers, and data scientists to prioritize and build new features.
Technologies: Figma, Jira, Launchdarkly, Dashboards, User Research, UX Research, Usertesting.com, Qualitative Research, Quantitative Research, Quantitative User Research, User Interviews, Storytelling, Landing Page Design, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Web Dashboards, High-fidelity Mockups, Responsive Web Apps, iOS, Stakeholder Management, iOS App Design, Android App Design, Android, Design Leadership, B2B, Complex Web Systems, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), User Workflows, Web UX Design, User Testing, Desktop Web Design, Design, Web UI Design, Web UI, Web UX
Founding Product Designer and Product Manager
2019 - 2022
Chani Nicholas Inc
- Designed and launched the iOS app that increased company revenue ten times by performing the PM, UI/UX designer, and marketing lead tasks.
- Carried out other activities such as creating user stories, identifying features, mapping out information architecture, designing wireframes, conducting user research, and more.
- Built the mobile app visual identity and design system in concert with the creative director and illustrators, which resulted in the design system being extensible and still in use today.
- Led the go-to-market strategy execution, hitting user acquisition goals within 24 hours of launch.
Technologies: Figma, Adobe Experience Design (XD), Google Analytics, Mailchimp, WordPress, Google Cloud/Suite, iOS, Contentful, Apple Design, User Experience (UX), Web App Design, Responsive UI, Mobile UI Design, User Interface (UI), Websites, Web Design, Web, Web App UX, Web App UI, Mobile UI, Mobile UX, Mobile, B2C, Consumer Applications, Mobile Design, App Design, User Engagement, Mobile Apps, Psychology & Mental Health, Early-stage Startups, Landing Page Design, eCommerce, User Workshops, User Flows, Workshops, Design Workshops, UX Workshops, Ideation Workshops, Discovery Workshops, User Personas, Mockups, UX Wireframes, Interactive Prototypes, Usability Testing, Collaboration, Leadership, Interactive Design, User Research, UX Research, Qualitative Research, Quantitative Research, Quantitative User Research, User Interviews, Storytelling, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Web Dashboards, High-fidelity Mockups, Stakeholder Management, iOS App Design, Android App Design, Android, Design Leadership, User Workflows, Web UX Design, User Testing, Desktop Web Design, Design, Web UI Design, Web UI
Product Communications
2011 - 2019
Microsoft
- Led the communications strategy as part of the marketing workstream to launch significant products such as Windows, Office, Surface, and many others.
- Worked in synergy with other functions across the company, both horizontally and vertically, to get feedback, reviews, and approvals on writing and communications materials.
- Conducted industry research and analysis, identified trends, and prepared reports for executives on any white space opportunities.
- Presented campaign ideas to executives for feedback and review on strategy and plans.
Technologies: User Workshops, Workshops, Design Workshops, Ideation Workshops, Collaboration, Leadership, User Research, Qualitative Research, Storytelling, Stakeholder Management, Design Leadership, B2B, User Workflows, User Testing, Design, Web UI Design, Web UI, Web UX
Education
2007 - 2011
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications
University of Washington - Seattle, WA
Certifications
DECEMBER 2021 - PRESENT
UI Design Program
CareerFoundry
Experience
Tools
Collaboration That Works
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
1
Share your needs
Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.
2
Choose your talent
Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.
3
Start your risk-free talent trial
Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring