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Cotality / OneHome
A UCI capstone: two AI features that make home search less overwhelming for buyers and less repetitive for agents, tested with 21 people.
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Product Designer · Software Engineer
Designing systems people actually trust.
Bozeman, MT · Open to Product Design and Design Engineering roles · Remote or West Coast
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01Work
Products, not just screens
The problem, the decisions, the evidence, and what changed.
Product DesignPrivate
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Design Tutor
A live AI design tutor I researched, designed, and built solo. It asks for your thinking before offering its own, then maps which decisions came from you and which came from AI.
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SoundCloud UX
86% of people expected a feature that only 8% could use. A five-person research project that found it, fixed it, and proved a +45% lift in an 85-person A/B test.
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Built this portfolio too View the production design system
The same Next.js components, design tokens, responsive rules, and accessibility patterns documented there are running this site in production.
02Approach
What every chapter taught me
Design didn't come from one continuous track - it came from graphic design, freelance client work, a startup, and years running IT operations under pressure. A Master's in Human-Computer Interaction & Design from UC Irvine, wrapping up this September, is what made it rigorous.
Visual craft comes first
A BFA in Graphic Design and years of freelance client work taught me typography, layout, and visual communication - the craft everything else builds on.
Built to ship, not just to look right
Front-end development and a coding bootcamp mean I design with the build in mind - I know what's expensive to change once code exists.
Startups teach the real version of the idea
At DropTrip, research, design, and engineering all landed on the same small team - there was no separate phase to hide a bad assumption behind, so usability testing had to happen early and often.
Design for the moment something breaks
Managing SLAs and coaching a team through outages means I design for the support burden first: clear status, a graceful escalation path, and enough context that whoever picks it up next isn't starting from zero.
03About
I was on the other end of the system before I ever designed one
For nearly nine years at Zoot Enterprises, I was the one picking up the phone when a system failed under pressure - first as a service desk technician, then leading an ops team past 20 people. That's why I design for failure first: what happens when an agent is unsure, a handoff loses context, or someone's already frustrated before they open the app.
Design was running underneath it the whole time - freelance work since 2013, a design degree finished on the side, and DropTrip, a startup I co-founded. I'm back in it full-time now as a Software Engineer on Zoot's Advanced Projects team, building interfaces for financial institution clients, with my Master's in Human-Computer Interaction & Design from UC Irvine wrapping up this September.
Personal fact: I own a 1,000+ vinyl record collection, and have strong opinions about the pressings. If you're interested, check out what I'm currently listening to and the newest addition to the shelf.
I also keep something running on the side - most days there's a commit somewhere that isn't on the clock.
Education
Master's, Human-Computer Interaction and Design
UC Irvine, Donald Bren School of ICS
B.F.A., Graphic Design
Montana State University-Bozeman
Full Stack Development
Montana Code School
Skills
Design
Product DesignInteraction DesignVisual & Graphic Design
Development
Front-End Development (HTML/CSS/JS, React/Next.js)AI-Assisted Engineering
Process
Prototyping (Figma, Sketch, code)Rapid PrototypingUser-Centered DesignUsability Research
Systems
Design SystemsAccessibility (WCAG)Wireframing & Flows
Leadership
IT Operations & Incident ResponseCross-functional Leadership
Growth
Mentorship & Coaching
Tools
FigmaSketchGitHubVercelClaude CodeMidjourneyAdobe Creative SuiteJiraConfluence
Career Timeline
May 2025 - Present
Software Engineer, UI - Advanced Projects Team
Zoot Enterprises
Translate business requirements into responsive, user-centered interfaces informed by UX research and design thinking, reducing client revision cycles. Build and maintain client-facing applications for financial institution clients using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Git.
Jun 2022 - May 2025
IT Service Operations Team Lead
Zoot Enterprises
Oversaw a service operations team that grew past 20 tier 1-3 technicians, with direct responsibility for the career development of a core group of 8, maintaining 95%+ SLA compliance while representing the team's priorities to leadership. Applied project management to reduce average ticket resolution time through proactive pattern recognition.
Jan 2022 - Dec 2022
Teaching Assistant, Web Design
Montana State University-Bozeman
Led web design lab sections and workshops on color theory, typography, and HTML/CSS for 40-50 students over the year, mentoring many one-on-one through project development.
Oct 2017 - Jun 2022
Service Desk Technician, Tier 1 & 2
Zoot Enterprises
Performed Linux and Windows system administration with sysadmin-level access across 50+ production and test environments for external financial services clients, resolving production outages under pressure.
Aug 2016 - Apr 2023
WordPress Administrator
Susan Wicklund Fund
Executed responsive WordPress redesigns and used Google Analytics to guide performance optimizations, while maintaining themes, plugins, and security for the organization's site.
2016 - 2017
UI/UX Design Intern
Murdochs
Led web page and e-commerce redesigns grounded in user research and usability testing, and produced digital and motion graphics for marketing campaigns.
2013 - 2016
UI/UX Designer | Co-Founder
DropTrip
Co-founded and led design for a startup web application - conducting user research, building wireframes and prototypes in Sketch, and working closely with engineers to ship a cohesive design system. Won 1st Place at Startup Weekend Bozeman and was later named Innovator of the Year by the Prospera Business Network.
Oct 2013 - Present
Freelance Graphic/Web Designer
Self-employed
Nine-plus years of independent client work spanning startups like IgniteFeedback, CrossTx, and Verafi - WordPress builds, custom themes, and website refreshes aligned with brand strategy.
04Contact
Let's build something people will love to use.
I'm looking for Product Design and Design Engineering roles where research, interface craft, and implementation all matter. Remote works, and I'm also open to the right West Coast team - if that sounds like yours, I'd love to talk.
shawnmfarnum@gmail.comWrapping up my Master's in Human-Computer Interaction & Design at UC Irvine this September, and building side projects in code on the weekends.
