{"id":18,"date":"2019-04-01T22:45:53","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T05:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/wp\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2026-06-19T14:30:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T21:30:51","slug":"resume","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/doon\/resume\/","title":{"rendered":"Resume  \u2193"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"line-height:0.5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/fmalekzadeh\">LinkedIn<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/downloads\/Resume%20-%20Malekzadeh%20-%202026.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/downloads\/Resume%20-%20Malekzadeh%20-%202026.pdf\">PDF download<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"line-height:1.5\">Feridoon &#8220;Doon&#8221; Malekzadeh<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Head of Design with 20+ years leading product and UX organizations at Microsoft, Samsung, AT&amp;T, Smartsheet, and T-Mobile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Experience<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Independent Head of Product Design<\/strong> <br>AI Builder + Innovation Strategist<em><br><\/em>Seattle, WA (USA) <em>&#8211; September 2022 &#8211; Present<\/em><br>Consulting growth-stage startups and companies on strategic initiatives, iterative product fixes, and hiring design talent, resulting in enhanced design capabilities and successful AI integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:16px\"><strong>PathPilot<\/strong> &#8211; Founder + Builder<br>I&#8217;m building <a href=\"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/doon\/pathpilot\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1438\">PathPilot<\/a>, an AI-enabled career copilot \u2014 smart, personalized support for your first, current, or next job.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:16px\"><strong>ServiceNow<\/strong> &#8211; Lead UX Strategist for Agentic and AI solutions<br>Leading the strategy to define the role of AI and Agentic solutions for ITSM platform, ServiceNow. Providing trend research\/analysis, defining guidelines, and designing reference solutions to provide product and design teams to ensure holistic and useful AI experiences. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:16px\"><strong>Magical GPTs<\/strong> &#8211; GPT Builder and Conversation Designer<br>Created and published a series of successful (+60k users and growing) chatGPT-based private GPTs for job seekers, management, and education.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:16px\"><strong>Amplitude<\/strong> &#8211; Head of Design (interim)<br>Assessed and delivered strategies for improving the product experience, enhancing customer satisfaction, and provided interim leadership to the design team during organizational restructuring.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:16px\"><strong>Serve Robotics<\/strong> &#8211; Head of Design (fractional)<br>Led initiatives to enhance driving safety for pilots and improve customer experience, robot visibility issues with new digital and analog solutions, resulting in increased operational safety.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Vice President of Experience Design<\/strong><br>Smartsheet, Bellevue, WA (USA) &#8211; August 2020 &#8211; August 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Led a team of over 50 UX designers, researchers, and strategists to define and build next-generation end-to-end experiences for Smartsheet, resulting in improved user satisfaction and product usability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-small-font-size\">\n<li>Restructured and expanded the team from 30 to over 50 members, enhancing product development processes and increasing project delivery efficiency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Assessed design workflows, identified improvement areas in tools and sprint integration, leading to optimized Agile processes and increased design review efficiency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Spearheaded initiatives in Analytics, Information Architecture, Persona-based design, Accessibility, and Design Systems, resulting in enhanced product functionality and user experience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Associate Vice President of Design<\/strong> <br>AT&amp;T, Seattle, WA (USA) &#8211; June 2019 &#8211; July 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-small-font-size\">\n<li>Led a team of 150 UX designers, researchers, usability experts, product analysts, content strategists, copywriters, videographers, and prototypers through AT&amp;T&#8217;s e-commerce digital (web and mobile) transformation efforts, resulting in improved user experience and streamlined design processes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Set vision and defined charters for the strategic and day-to-day functions of the overall design organization, leading to increased efficiency and clarity in design operations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provided mentoring and feedback to design teams, aligning work with overarching design strategy and organizational goals, resulting in enhanced team collaboration and output.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Defined and drove processes and accountabilities for better design representation and authority in Agile teams, resulting in more cohesive and effective design integration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Established a partnership model of collaboration with design across the product organization, fostering stronger cross-functional relationships and enhancing project outcomes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-dark-gray-color has-text-color has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Head of Design<\/strong><br>Helm (formerly Privacy Labs), Bellevue, WA (USA) &#8211; April 2017 &#8211; June 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Delivered a new data security product from prototype to market in 18 months, enhancing user data protection and expanding market reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-small-font-size\">\n<li>Led branding, industrial design, and packaging design with third parties, ensuring cohesive visual language and brand voice, which strengthened brand identity. Developed all marketing assets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provided strategic design direction, refined feature roadmap, and defined, designed and delivered all elements of iOS and Android mobile applications (wireframes, prototypes, copy, visual design).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer<br><\/strong>OrbSense Technologies\/Cluck, Seattle, WA (USA) &#8211; April 2016 &#8211; April 2017<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Designed and developed a new connected device, Cluck, for the kitchen and connected home IoT space, leading all key aspects of brand development and product definition, resulting in a cohesive and innovative product offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-small-font-size\">\n<li>Led product vision, roadmap, positioning, and definition, conducted market research, identified target demographics, prepared for crowd-funding, managed social media marketing, and wrote and filed patent applications, resulting in a well-defined product strategy and increased market readiness<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Developed branding and logos for the company and product, designed UX and UI for a smartphone application, conducted field testing and user research, and created content for the website and social media platforms, enhancing brand identity and user engagement<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Managed the development of the crowd-funding presence, resulting in increased visibility and potential funding opportunities. More details can be found at: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.malekzadeh.net\/cluck\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">http:\/\/www.malekzadeh.net\/cluck<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Senior Director of UX &amp; Design<\/strong><br>Samsung USA, Seattle, WA (USA) &#8211; April 2014 &#8211; April 2016<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Redesigned the Samsung+ customer loyalty application and drove customer ratings from 2.4 to 4.1+ for the first time since launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-small-font-size\">\n<li>Significantly increasing the active and engaged user base by 12 million monthly active users while maintaining an 80% retention rate<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Implemented an omni-channel Design Thinking approach to enhance customer support experiences, resulting in improved customer satisfaction and streamlined support processes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Principal Design Manager<br><\/strong>Microsoft, Seattle, WA (USA) &#8211; February 2012 &#8211; April 2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lead multi-disciplinary UX teams at Bing to conceptualize, specify and develop ground-breaking user-centric product and service designs<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-small-font-size\">\n<li>Led Social Incubation program, encompassing a group of designers charged with researching, creating and delivering innovative solutions for integration of social data (from Facebook and Twitter) into Bing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Articulated and presented the vision, design objectives, strategy and creative executions to senior leaders and executive management across the organization; developed value proposition and defined core use cases.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Led a small group of designers to redefine cross-product and cross-team monetization experiences for Bing Ads with a focus on Small Businesses (SMBs). <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Design Director \u2013 UX Design &amp; Usability<\/strong><br>T-Mobile USA, Seattle, WA (USA) &#8211; August 2008 &#8211; January 2012<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defined and drove the creative design and delivery processes across product teams (User Research, Product Development, Tech, and Industrial Design). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-small-font-size\">\n<li>Managed intake, project and resource prioritization, capacity planning and forecasting. Managed\/mentored team of 25 UX designers\/researchers (15 FTEs and a contractor team of 10+). <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provided creative leadership and best practices for key initiatives while advocating design value internally.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Spearheaded design effort and team in delivering the first franchise device on the Android platform, the MyTouch 3G. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Redefined the product development process between the design, development and program management teams to successfully deliver T-Mobile\u2019s first franchise device on the Android platform.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provided creative leadership and best practices for key initiatives while advocating design value internally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Earlier Experience<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-small-font-size\">\n<li><strong>frog design inc.<\/strong>, Creative Director, Seattle, WA (USA) <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Vodafone Holding GmbH<\/strong>, Senior UX Manager, D\u00fcsseldorf (Germany)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sapient Corp.<\/strong>, UX Manager\/IA, Munich (Germany)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kabel New Media<\/strong>, Digital Art Director, Munich (Germany)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>red ant media<\/strong>, Senior Designer\/Information Architect, Munich (Germany)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>conception (now Reaze)<\/strong>, Web Designer, Siegen (Germany)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Skills Summary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Product Design<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-small-font-size\">\n<li>Interaction Design<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Conversation Design<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Prompt Engineering<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Information Architecture<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rapid Prototyping<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Usability Testing<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>User Research<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Artificial Intelligence (AI)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Prompt Engineering<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ChatGPT \/ OpenAI<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Anthropic \/ Claude<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>MidJourney<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Perplexity<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pi<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Software<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-small-font-size\">\n<li>Adobe Creative Suite (XD, Fireworks, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Figma \/ Sketch<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Balsamiq, Gliffy, Visio, Pencil<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ChatGPT<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Leadership<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-small-font-size\">\n<li>Leadership, Mentoring &amp; Coaching<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Spearheading Design Strategy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Team Collaboration &amp; Facilitation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Project Planning &amp; Estimation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Organization &amp; Prioritization<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Education <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>SAE Technology College, Cologne (Germany)<\/strong><br><em>Multimedia Design\/Production<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>University of California in Irvine (USA)<\/strong><br><em>Bachelor of Arts in Humanities<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<script>\n  (function (w, d, s, o, f, js, fjs) {\n    w[\"botsonic_widget\"] = o;\n    w[o] =\n      w[o] ||\n      function () {\n        (w[o].q = w[o].q || []).push(arguments);\n      };\n    (js = d.createElement(s)), (fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]);\n    js.id = o;\n    js.src = f;\n    js.async = 1;\n    fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n  })(window, document, \"script\", \"Botsonic\", \"https:\/\/widget.writesonic.com\/CDN\/botsonic.min.js\");\n  Botsonic(\"init\", {\n    serviceBaseUrl: \"https:\/\/api.botsonic.ai\",\n    token: \"f1594a04-1020-4477-b530-ad26fd4f507e\",\n  });\n<\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-6761699d43ca9f43f4ed85b0b6f791de wp-block-paragraph\">Career Interests: AI-related roles and roles calling for digital transformation in their industry (e.g. consumer electronics, edtech, fintech, pharmatech, healthcare, etc). I also love working on products with a software\/hardware interface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LinkedIn | PDF download Feridoon &#8220;Doon&#8221; Malekzadeh Head of Design with 20+ years leading product and UX organizations at Microsoft, Samsung, AT&amp;T, Smartsheet, and T-Mobile. Experience Independent Head of Product Design AI Builder + Innovation StrategistSeattle, WA (USA) &#8211; September 2022 &#8211; PresentConsulting growth-stage startups and companies on strategic initiatives, iterative product fixes, and hiring &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/doon\/resume\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Resume  \u2193&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":246,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/doon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/doon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/doon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/doon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/doon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":72,"href":"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/doon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1514,"href":"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/doon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions\/1514"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/doon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malekzadeh.net\/doon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}