My name's Ashley Winkler but everyone calls me Ash. I'm a freelance full-stack product designer, a creative native, an illustrator, an entrepreneur, a miniature maker, a raconteuse, an artist and a constant wo/anderer. I am based in Vienna, Austria and I work remotely.

I'm a business-minded and code-adjacent designer, solving problems with a collaborative approach that's grounded in user experience and strategy. I like to build fast, iterate a lot and question my own personal biases. I design for people not users and value usability, inclusivity, accessibility and equality. I specialise in designing complex and technical products, large scalable design systems and people-focussed digital experiences.

I have been working as a digital designer for over 15 years and freelancing full-time for a diverse range of companies and industries for over seven years.

Experience

03/2023 – now [contract]

Lead Product Designer – Design Systems @ Migros Genossenschaftsbund

Developed a multi-brand design system using Tokens Studio & Variables to enable smooth adoption by over 100 distinct brands within the company.

Established collaboration guidelines between design and development to achieve seamless integration of designs and tokens into production, resulting in a 40% reduction in development effort.

Authored comprehensive design system documentation, encompassing accessibility guidelines, design token utilisation, and detailed component specifications to ensure consistent and efficient design implementation across the organisation.

2021 – 2022 [contract]

Lead Product Designer @ Deepnote

Redesigned the notebook editor to enhance user interaction and optimise workflow, and introduced workspaces to provide a collaborative space for data teams of all sizes to organise, share, and scale knowledge, achieving 96% positive feedback from customers.

Pioneered the adoption of a Chakra-based design system and constructed a robust component framework to enable seamless collaboration between designers and developers.

Collaborated closely with product managers, designers, and engineers to conceptualise and integrate the redesign and its underlying design system, as well as various new product functionalities.

Introduced a remote design operations framework to facilitate efficient design team practices, design system utilisation, and user research and interviews.

Instituted design-level roadmaps and skill matrices to streamline the hiring process, resulting in more efficient recruitment.

Revitalised Deepnote's brand identity and defined standards for a unified brand experience, leading to cohesive brand performance across channels.

2019 – 2021 [founder]

Co-Founder, Design & Product @ Pendect

Co-founded a news startup focused on short, community-sourced news reporting to diversify the news industry.

Participated in all aspects of business development, including fundraising, market research, finance, and operations; successfully raised a Friends & Family round and prepared a Seed round.

Partnered with marketing and engineering to shape and develop product GTM roadmaps and strategies.

Hired, managed, and coached freelancers and external stakeholders.

Defined overall brand design and product strategy, created scalable design systems for both product and website, and designed various brand collaterals and marketing assets.

2018 – 2019 [contract]

Lead Product Designer @ Nextjournal

Led the process for new features from ideation to design, including version control, WYSIWYG editor, article readability, sharing, and runtime settings, resulting in a better user experience and an 8% increase in paying customers.

Facilitated workshops with founders and the core team to define business and product goals and deepen their company vision, resulting in a cohesive brand image and clear product vision.

Redesigned various brand elements, including the logo, website, and other digital assets, to improve brand recognition.

2017 – 2018 [full time]

Product Manager / UX Designer @ Tunnel23

Managed cross-functional teams and stakeholders; oversaw product development from ideation to delivery.

Created product roadmaps and wireframes for complex business management solutions in the telecommunication sector to align with clients on product deliverables and goals.

Led development of product features across a team of designers and engineers.

2015 [full time]

UI/UX Designer @ Identum

Designed multiple websites and digital products for various clients, ranging from small business owners to federal institutions.

Introduced Sketch and Figma to the design team workflow.

Established guidelines and best practices for developer handoffs.

2014 - 2015 [full time]

UI/UX Designer @ Smart Assistant

Conception and design of digital advice web applications for a broad range of national and international clients.

Implemented user research and usability guidelines to improve accessibility of advisors. Created design tool kits to easily adapt forms to customer branding + content.

Established guidelines on how to design for POS hardware systems.

2005 - 2014 [various]

Multidisciplinary Designer

In the first decade of my career, I had the opportunity to work with a multitude of clients. I designed flash websites and magazines, created companies' first websites, intranet solutions + digital products, worked on tools for the visually impaired, designed logos, ad campaigns + packaging design, tried my hand at conference and event management, and took every new opportunity to improve my skillset.