Michelle Matthews

Product designer, Los Angeles, CA
mmatthews85@gmail.com / 347-852-8466
Experience
Independent
Product designer and fractional design lead
2025 to present

Confidential: wearable and companion app, from research through beta and a design system. BetterSleep: growth squad lead on onboarding and retention. Imagine Pediatrics: virtual and in-home pediatric care for children with special health care needs. Kalya: meditation app pilot from design through production. Quilt: grief support community MVP. Radical Health: brand identity and marketing site.

Brightline
VP of design and research
2021 to 2025

Pediatric mental health care. Led the redesign and shipped it in 9 weeks: completion from 35% to 65%, account creation from 16% to 29%, member trust from 4 to 8.75 out of 10. Built the design function (team of 10), research practice, and design system, and led the rebrand.

Headspace
Design lead, healthcare
2019 to 2020

0-to-1 design for Headspace's first clinically validated product, a 12-week coaching program for chronic migraine. Designed its modular content system, ran a service dress rehearsal and Cedars-Sinai co-design, and worked on the headspace.com redesign.

Soothe
Head of user experience
2018 to 2019

First design hire for a two-sided wellness marketplace. Research surfaced a trust problem that led to a rebrand and redesign around safety.

Heal
Lead product designer
2017 to 2018

In-home primary care. Consumer apps on iOS, Android, and web, a provider iPad app, and an internal EHR.

Selected freelance
Product and growth design
2009 to 2017

Tone It Up: 0-to-1 fitness app, 100k+ paid subscribers. Storybook: redesign, 56% more content starts. Ferly: 60% lift in conversion.

Education
MSW, NYU Silver School of Social Work
BA, English and Gender Studies, SUNY Buffalo
Taught UX and inclusive design at UCLA
Before design: social worker and journalist
Strengths
End-to-end product design
Mixed-methods research
Interaction and visual design
Design systems
Content design and plain language
AI-assisted prototyping
Designing for trust
Contact
347-852-8466
Los Angeles, CA