Updog Studio is led by Ioane* Delacruz, a Senior UX Designer with a focus on high-impact roles in early stage start ups and large companies alike.

* Pronounced (ee-oh-ah-nee)

Professional Summary

Senior Product Designer with 12+ years of experience leading end-to-end UX/UI design for enterprise products and pre-seed startups. Proven track record of implementing scalable design systems, conducting user research, and driving product strategy across multiple verticals. Specialist in transforming complex business requirements into intuitive user experiences that drive measurable business outcomes.

Core Competencies

  • Design Leadership: Design Systems, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Stakeholder Management, UX Strategy
  • Research & Testing: User Testing, A/B Testing, Heuristic Analysis, User Journey Mapping, Jobs-to-be-Done
  • Design & Prototyping: Sketch, Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, Webflow, Zeplin
  • Technical: HTML/CSS, Responsive Design, Design Tokens, Front-end Development

Professional Experience

Director of Design | Myyellow.ai

January 2025 - Present

  • Led 0→1 product design for Yellow's real estate transaction platform, architecting the full buyer experience across inspection, insurance, appraisal, and closing — ensuring every high-stakes outcome (loan denial,
    coverage gap, failed inspection) routes to a clear next step with Personal Assistant visibility throughout
  • Built and scaled a multi-sided design system serving buyer, Personal Advocate, and Buyer's Agent interfaces, establishing shared component libraries and UX copy standards that accelerated feature delivery across the platform
  • Designed Yellow's closing timeline framework and escalation system, establishing the product principle that no high-stakes outcome — loan denial, failed inspection, coverage gap — is ever a dead end, with clear next steps and PA visibility at every branch
  • Built Yellow's UX copy infrastructure from scratch — including a voice and tone system, copywriter agent prompt, and Chief of Staff brand guidelines — creating a replicable content standard across buyer, PA, and agent surfaces

Senior UX Designer | Squeeze

June 2020 - Present

  • Established and scaled a comprehensive design system across 8 verticals, reducing design-to-development time by 40% and improving cross-team velocity
  • Led 10+ user testing sessions resulting in 50% improvement in time to quote
  • Implemented data-driven design processes, resulting in increases of user engagement metrics across key features
  • Built and maintained a scalable UX research repository, enabling informed decision-making across product teams

Founder & Design Consultant | Updog.Studio

March 2016 - Present

  • Provided end-to-end UX/UI consultation for pre-seed startups, with 80% securing additional funding
  • Developed comprehensive design systems and brand guidelines that scaled with client growth
  • Conducted competitive analysis to inform product strategy and market positioning
  • Established efficient design-to-development handoff processes, reducing implementation time

UX Designer | Lamark Media

May 2017 - June 2020

  • Architected internal marketing tools that increased team efficiency by 60% and enhanced customer experience
  • Led the redesign of core products, resulting in 40% improvement in key conversion metrics
  • Collaborated with stakeholders to align design solutions with business objectives and technical constraints

UX Designer & Front-End Developer | Luxury Yacht Group

May 2016 - May 2017

  • Designed and developed responsive web applications serving 5,000+ monthly users
  • Created and implemented modular design system, reducing development time by 35%
  • Led user research initiatives that informed feature prioritization and product strategy

Lead UX Designer | REConsole

May 2015 - April 2016

  • Owned end-to-end design process for product features
  • Implemented user testing program that increased feature adoption
  • Developed comprehensive brand guidelines and design system documentation

Designer | COG1

August 2012 - February 2015

  • Designed interactive experiences for enterprise clients including Google, Uber, and Workday
  • Developed and implemented modular design processes for large-scale projects
  • Created user flows and prototypes that reduced design iteration cycles
  • Collaborated with development teams to ensure pixel-perfect implementation

Education

The Art Institute of California - San Diego
BS of Graphic Design

2007 - 2011

The Art Institute of California - San Francisco
AS of Web Design & Interactive Media

2011 - 2012

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