Northstar intake
Reframed a 14-step operations intake into a guided workspace, giving support teams a shared view of risk, owner and next action.
Product designer / systems thinker
Mara
Vale
I make complex digital work feel clear, useful and quietly human.
01 / Profile
Useful by design.
For the past eight years, I have helped teams turn dense workflows into products people can understand on the first try. My practice moves between framing the right problem, prototyping the sharpest answer and making the final details hold together.
02 / Selected work
A few signals.
Ledger language
Built a content and interaction system for explaining money movement, helping a new payments product feel legible before it felt powerful.
Care plan, in focus
Designed a calmer planning surface for clinicians balancing recurring tasks, patient context and a crowded working day.
03 / Experience
Good work, in context.
Fieldwork Studio
Lead product designer
2022 — Present
- Lead discovery and product direction across workflow tools used by distributed operations teams.
- Established a critique practice that connects content, interaction and visual design earlier in the process.
Common Thread
Product designer
2019 — 2022
- Designed responsive web products from first research session through launch and iteration.
- Partnered with engineers to build a flexible component language rather than a static screen library.
Studio Lumen
Junior designer
2017 — 2019
- Supported brand, UX and digital projects for organisations making technical subjects more approachable.
04 / Capabilities
How I contribute.
Frame
Research synthesis, service mapping, product strategy and clear problem statements.
Shape
Information architecture, interaction design, prototyping and content systems.
Connect
Critique, facilitation, stakeholder alignment and close collaboration with engineering.
05 / Education
Grounded in making.
BDes, Communication Design · Brighton School of Art · 2017
06 / Contact
Let’s make the complex clearer.
For thoughtful teams, interesting constraints and the next useful question.
mara.vale@example.com