i •am• Lucas
A product designer with a passion for the technical side of UX. I specialize in automation, integrations, and AI-driven systems, architecting solutions that are both powerful for the business and intuitive for the user.
How a user-centered, dual-interface system made automation accessible to HR teams at Remote.
Sr. Product Designer
March 2021 - November 2024
Workflow & Automation: Led the design of the "Workflow Automation" engine, a core B2B SaaS feature that allows HR administrators to automate complex processes like onboarding and approvals. Architected the user-facing logic, designed the UI component system, and worked directly with engineers on API and system constraints.
Integrations & APIs: Designed the "invisible" white-label integration experience for the strategic partnership "Gusto EOR, powered by Remote." Created the service blueprint for this API and webhook-driven product. Also designed experiences for Remote's developer platform and public API documentation.
Design System & UI Craft: Was a key contributor to Remote's design system, "Norma." Proactively established a more agile, continuous review process to improve consistency and reduce design debt across the organization.
How a user-centered, dual-interface system made automation accessible to HR teams at Remote.
Workflow Automation Engine
Lead Product Designer
To save HR teams from drowning in manual tasks by creating an automation tool they'd actually want to use.
The MVP of an automation platform with two "front doors": one visual, one AI-powered. The solution solved real user pains and validated a long-term product strategy, proving that automation doesn't have to be rocket science.
As an MVP with a tight deadline, we didn't have the luxury of a long research phase. To ground our decisions in user needs quickly, I took a pragmatic approach. I dove into Dovetail, synthesizing past interviews and research from various teams across the product.
The findings were consistent: whether in onboarding, time off, or billing, users repeatedly expressed a need to integrate other platforms and automate manual processes. They lacked the developer resources or technical knowledge to build complex solutions themselves.
This rapid research sprint didn't just validate the need for a simpler tool; it clarified my role on the project. It became my job to act as the bridge between our non-technical users and the system's complexity. This pushed me to work even more closely with developers, deepening my understanding of the technical constraints so I could effectively 'translate' them into a simple experience.
My strategy was to meet users where they were. The research showed two distinct mindsets: the hands-on admin who wants control, and the busy manager who wants speed. A single interface wouldn't serve both well. The solution was to create two distinct paths to the same outcome, all powered by a single engine.
Path 1: The Visual Builder.
A "no-code" interface for users who think visually and want to control every step of the process.
Path 2: The AI Assistant.
A conversational interface for users who prefer to just describe their goal in plain language.