I’m Maile (MY-lay).
I’m an intuitive Lead Designer with over a decade of experience guiding organizations through complex product transformations. From building UX teams at startups to reshaping product strategy for Fortune 500 companies and Federal agencies, I specialize in uncovering the pivotal research insights that bridge user needs with business goals. Currently, I lead enterprise-scale initiatives on Salesforce’s Professional Services team, directing design strategies that deliver measurable impact through prioritized roadmaps and solution blueprints. My work proves that intentional, research-led design strengthens product ecosystems, accelerates delivery, and drives business growth.
NOTE: Case studies are from 2019 and earlier. Contact me for information about my work at Salesforce and Onfleet.
Two Truths & a Lie
1. UX reduces costs and innovates faster: Great user experience (UX) design not only solves end-user problems and meets their needs, it also reduces company costs and resources.
TRUE!
Reduced development costs: UX results in a decrease in development rework, increased development efficiency, reduced post-launch maintenance, and increase end-user satisfaction in product/service ease-of-use
Reduced support costs: UX design reduces user frustration, improves navigation clarity, strengthens CTAs and error messages, and empowers users to complete tasks quickly and easily.
UX fuels faster innovation by prioritizing user needs from the start. This reduces wasted time on features users don’t want and allows development to focus on solutions that truly matter.
2. UX Design is primarily concerned with prototyping in Figma. Research isn’t necessary to do this work.
FALSE!!
DESIGN: The word ‘design’ in the title tends to confuse some people. However, unlike graphic or visual design, UX professionals focus on ensuring a product or service is easy to use and serves the needs of the people who use it.
This is achieved through a combination of research (user studies and data analysis), creative problem solving, collaboration, and a deep understanding of user behavior, goals, and problems. This includes the consideration of usability principles, behavioral economics, and cognitive psychology. Testing prototypes, from paper sketches to high-fidelity digital mockups, ensures the hypothesized screen structure and flows meet user needs and are intuitive.
RESEARCH is absolutely crucial for UX/Product professionals to understand users, identify problems to solve, make informed decisions, prioritize product roadmaps, and ultimately create products that are successful and easy to use. Design is solving the right problems! To identify those problems, we need research.
3. Product Design and UX Design are pretty much the same. They both require user research and prototyping/testing skills.
TRUE!
The titles “UX Design” and “Product Design” can be confusing, especially for those new to the field. While titles vary between companies, both roles share core skills in creating user-centered products through research, testing, and iteration. Traditionally, “Product Design” focused on physical products, but with the rise of digital products, the lines have blurred.
maile malin 