HELLO, I’M TARA
AT WORK
I love what I do and honestly can’t imagine doing anything else. Building beautifully functional experiences for people, alongside good people, is everything for me. I’ve been lucky enough to work across publishing, healthcare, commercial real estate, tech startups, and more than a decade in the shopping and deals fintech space.
Most recently I started my own contracting agency, specializing as a fractional product design lead for overloaded in-house teams. I embed with cross-functional teams and help define strategy, direction and use my vast skillset to tackle the difficult problems that need extra support across product and marketing.
AT HOME
I’m a Chicagoland native and a Midwesterner through and through. I’m also a proud twin mom to two very active, very imaginative boys, which means summers around here are all swimming, park-hopping, and a truly unreasonable amount of frog-catching.
I have a deep passion for anything creative, which shows up in unpredictable ways. Some days I’m refinishing furniture, other days I’m painting portraits for my Etsy shop. When I’m not doing that or chasing my boys, you’ll probably find me deep in a fantasy novel (Brandon Sanderson is my go-to), trying out a new game, hanging with family and friends, or down at our local brewery playing pinball.
I thrive on connection, good people, and exciting projects. If that sounds like your team, I’d love to talk.
Leadership
Designing experiences, and the organizations that ship them
Over a decade leading design at RetailMeNot and Raise taught me that quality starts upstream, in how teams, systems, and strategy fit together. I design the organization, not just the interface.
Empowering the people I work with
The work I'm proudest of is the people. I lead by mentoring and coaching designers into leaders, building real relationships, and creating teams where everyone can do their best work.
Building from curiosity
Curiosity is the engine. I was born with a love for art and design that fuels my everyday. I'm constantly learning, researching and evolving the way I create and connect to the design world.
Method
Process + Thinking + Style
Start with the business, not the pixels.
I stay in lock step with PMs, Eng and leadership on the roadmap so design shapes what we work on, not just how it looks. That means translating design work into the language the business already measures: velocity, handoff cost, roadmap capacity. When I'm aligned upstream, my recommendations are things the org can actually act on.
Build the process into the system, and AI into the process.
I follow the double diamond at the core, but leave room for flexibility based on project needs. I build my process as a living system in Figma so designers know how we work and engineers and PMs know what to expect every time. AI is woven through every step of it: research and synthesis, early concepting, initial UX writing and tone, accessibility checks at each stage rather than caught late, prototyping, and rapid design. It covers exploration at volume so I can put real range in front of a team early and get a fast read on direction.
Stay in the work, and get out of the way.
I'm not a micromanager. I'm clear about the what and the why, then I let designers find their own solutions, because that's how judgment gets built. I stay close enough to the craft to make the calls that matter. AI covers the volume. The creative calls stay mine. Reviews are continuous and low-stakes rather than a single high-pressure gate, which keeps the bar high without the surprises.
Process
Using AI with Intention
What fuels my process? Claude (Design, Code and Co-work) paired with Figma + Figma Make are my go-to's for research, analysis and early concepting.
AI accelerates the groundwork
Research, competitor analysis, drafts, variations and research synthesis at speed.
AI proposes, I choose
It lays out the options based on my input, creative direction and strategy: I pick and drive the solution.
I make the high stakes call
Trust, safety, and tradeoffs stay with me.
Career
10+ Years of Experience
2026 — Present
Better Together Design
Lead Product Designer · Founder
Provide end-to-end product design and design leadership to companies of all sizes as a fractional and contract Lead Product Designer.
Clients: Raise Marketplace, GCX, Bolt.new, Red Apron Recipe Club
Bolt.new — Lead Product Designer, Display Ad Program
- •Partnered with design leadership to establish and scale Bolt.new's display ad program from concept to launch.
- •Built an AI-assisted concepting workflow using Claude Design and Figma Make, boosting creative output by ~50%.
- •Designed a slot-based Figma component system enabling 80+ testable ad variations across multiple formats and swappable product mockups.
- •Defined creative strategy, visual direction, and tone of voice tailored to SaaS, small business, and entrepreneur segments.
Raise.com — Lead Product Designer (6-month contract)
- •Partnered with the Head of Product and Design to unblock roadmaps and accelerate web and design system build-out.
- •Designed core web experiences including brand landing pages, category pages, gifting, onboarding, and modal flows, redesigning onboarding to cut friction with tailored paths for new and returning users.
- •Integrated MoonPay crypto payment flows across web and native apps, reducing checkout to a single click.
- •Lifted trust signals and SEO performance through site architecture, structured breadcrumb navigation, and ADA compliance.
- •Expanded the design system with component guidelines, change logs, and accessibility standards.
2022 — 2025
RetailMeNot
Product Design Manager
Led and managed a team of product and marketing designers, owning end-to-end UX across web, iOS/Android, CRM, and browser extension.
- •Managed product and marketing designers owning end-to-end UX across web, iOS/Android, CRM, and browser extension.
- •Founded global design system (NED), cutting design-to-dev handoff time by 50% across 6 product teams.
- •Led data-driven home screen redesign and unmoderated prototype testing, driving full 100% rollout due to strong engagement gains.
- •Architected growth initiatives including Instant Cash Back on gift cards, accelerating payout timelines from ~45 days to instant.
- •Spearheaded full brand refresh and defined foundational UX patterns scaled company-wide.
- •Partnered with executive leadership on product strategy while mentoring design staff at all levels.
- •Integrated generative AI tools (Claude, Gemini, Copilot) to streamline research synthesis, prototyping, and ideation.
2014 — 2022
Raise
Creative Director, Product & Marketing
Grew from Visual Designer to Creative Director and the primary design voice across all product lines over 8 years.
- •Advanced from Visual Designer to Creative Director, serving as the core design voice across all offerings during an eight-year tenure.
- •Architected the design department ground-up, creating Raise's initial comprehensive design system alongside standardized operational workflows.
- •Directed end-to-end UX for a multi-sided marketplace, converting complex organizational goals into unified B2C and B2B user journeys.
- •Cultivated and coached a high-output team of design professionals.
2003 — 2007
Illinois State University
Education
WANT TO SEE MORE OF MY WORK?
Check out my Archive that houses fifteen years of brand, campaign, email, and illustration work. Or visit my Etsy shop — to see my latest hand-made creations.