Samantha Ashley Carbonell • Lead Product Designer

I connect business goals with user needs and help teams create clear, purposeful work with lasting impact. I focus on growing designers, removing obstacles, and guiding projects toward confident, well-reasoned decisions.

My design philosophies are grounded in four primary ideas: craft, execution, team dynamics, and mindset.

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Beauty is function. (Craft)

I believe in the Aesthetic-Usability Effect—design without beauty lacks emotion. I’m an artist at heart, and I design for how things feel, not just how they work.

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Release & refine. (Execution)

Traditional UX steps still have their place, but they can slow progress when overused—so be intentional about when to use them, explore options faster with AI, and get work in front of users sooner to learn from real feedback and refine as you go.

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Operations are key. (Team dynamics)

As AI makes it easier for anyone to ship products to users, operations matter more than ever—helping teams collaborate, stay aligned, make intentional decisions, and ensure work delivers real user and business value.

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Be curious & adapt. (Mindset)

12 years in the industry, one thing is clear—just when you think you’ve figured it out, everything changes. Tools evolve, expectations shift, and the way we work keeps moving. Stay curious, keep learning, and adapt—because growth comes from evolving.

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Case studies:

View my resume

Reach me at [email protected]