Influence-first Career Growth

Marina, here. By day, I lead the design of financial products at JPMorgan Chase. By night, I coach ambitious UXers on how to accelerate their careers. Over 2,000 careers accelerated so far! And I also write UX Mentor Diaries → a must-have resource for UXers striving to build influence and boost their career growth. Join 35,000+ readers for unconventional UX insights and actionable career tips. If you have an awesome product you’d like to share with designers, hit me up!

U X e r _ S I N C E _ 2 0 0 1

From Fortune 500, to early stage startups

Over the last two decades, I’ve worked with companies of all sizes – shaping UX of the next-generation financial services (American Express); simplifying onboarding experience for the mainstream crypto users (21.co, 21Shares, Amun); designing effective e-commerce experiences for famous brands (Starbucks, Intel, Tabasco); streamlining the fundraising process with powerful search tools (Foundation Center); revamping a professional medical digital library (WebMD/MedScape); modernizing extranet experience for engineers (Otis); prototyping and building a chatbot-based grad school application system, and much more.

W H A T _ I _ DO

Fractional Design Leadership for Startups

Empower your startup with fractional UX leadership: I’ll help you build a dynamic design team from the ground up, setting them on a path to self-sufficiency and outstanding performance.

Private UX Mentorship + Career Coaching

Private personalized UX guidance and career coaching for everyone – from budding designers and researchers to top-tier director-level pros.

Winnie Lau avatar
Winnie Lau
American Express
As a leader, Marina is very supportive, encouraging and brings the best out of others. She leads with compassion and is always there to help.
Jim Emerman avatar
Jim Emerman
Executive Director, Civic Ventures
Marina was so much more than just a design director. Of course, her design sense and knowledge of industry standards and technical skills are beyond superb. But her dedication to the company and her in-depth understanding of the art and science of the web make her an indispensable asset. She's strategic as well as tactical in her understanding of what the web can do for a company and she has all the skills needed to make this happen. She is loved by her colleagues, a great team player and a joy to work with.
Terry Nagel avatar
Terry Nagel
Encore.org
Marina is an excellent designer, who brings great creativity and artistic ability to every project. She has extensive experience with online communities and knows what works and doesn't work. I recommend her highly. She is very talented and a pleasure to work with.
Brian Aznar avatar
Brian Aznar
VP of Engineering, 21Shares
Marina is one of the most thorough, skilled, knowledgeable and pleasant product design heads I have ever worked with. Her capabilities, viewpoints and attitudes towards design and product design are some of the most sensible and comprehensive I have ever encountered in a peer / partner. She possess strong knowledge over her craft and management in general and she is also a joy to work with. I hope our paths cross again soon.
Rob Wiesenberg avatar
Rob Wiesenberg
CEO, Contegra Systems
Marina is an invaluable resource to our organization. She has an outstanding ability to understand design from a user-centric perspective. Marina also brings a strong technical knowledge, excellent management skills and is a pleasure to work with.
Jack Paccione avatar
Jack Paccione
UX Director, American Express
Throughout our time working together Marina never missed a beat. She excelled at all she did, was a strong advocate for good user centered product design and delivered with excellence. Her knowledge in the field, patience to understand the problem, and effortless ability to prove her value to partners, made her an exceptional leader in this space. I highly recommend her to any team and organization that is lucky enough to add her.
David Bank avatar
David Bank
VP of Communications, Civic Ventures
Marina helped take Civic Ventures' web efforts to a new level, launching our flagship site and introducing a host of innovative solutions to longstanding challenges within the organization. She did all this with exceptional energy and good humor and an ability to juggle many tasks at once. She was a joy to work with!
M E N T O R S H I P

UX mentor since 2011

Over the last 10 years, I’ve mentored hundreds of UXers – both aspiring and experienced, privately and in a bootcamp setting. Many of them happened to be career switchers. Today, many of my students are happily employed in UX or Product roles across Fortune 500, start-ups and academia.

Cailtlin James
UX Academy
My experience working with Marina was hands down the most valuable attribute of this program. She is knowledgeable, straight to the point, and very detail oriented. She helped instill confidence in my design skills and has a knack for honing in on your strengths. She kept me engaged and motivated throughout the program and was a wealth of knowledge. I felt empowered after every session, and am grateful to have been paired with her.
Kevin Paz
UX Design mentee
Working with Marina has been a great experience! She's helped me recognize and leverage my strengths as a designer. Her candid but uplifting feedback has helped me improve the work that I'm doing.
Rocio Reyes Morales
A turbo-charged UX career boost. Marina is the right person if you want to get great insight into careers in UX, product design, and design thinking. She has deep craft expertise and gave me solid straightforward advice as I am searching for my next career move. She is also very warm, kind, and engaging I could tell she really listened and cared even during our first session. Great mentor.
Sylvie Howton
Marina was incredibly helpful, showed expert insight, and was honestly just really fun to work with. I left feeling more confident!
Saahari Kumar
Marina provided invaluable, personalized advice for my resume and portfolio. Her expertise and dedication were evident. She took the time to understand my career goals, and didn't just provide generic advice but dug deep into my resume and portfolio, offering specific suggestions to make them stand out. She were patient, approachable, and willing to answer all my questions, no matter how small or complex. I recommend her mentorship to anyone seeking to enhance their professional profile. I am grateful for the guidance I received and look forward to continuing to grow and thrive under her mentorship.
Cailtlin James
UX Academy
My experience working with Marina was hands down the most valuable attribute of this program. She is knowledgeable, straight to the point, and very detail oriented. She helped instill confidence in my design skills and has a knack for honing in on your strengths. She kept me engaged and motivated throughout the program and was a wealth of knowledge. I felt empowered after every session, and am grateful to have been paired with her.
Kevin Paz
UX Design mentee
Working with Marina has been a great experience! She's helped me recognize and leverage my strengths as a designer. Her candid but uplifting feedback has helped me improve the work that I'm doing.
Austin
UX Design mentee
Marina is awesome. She was able to meet with me very quickly to meet for the first time and get the process going. I walked away with tons of food for thought after our first meeting. She created a development plan with exercises and concrete tasks, helped me identify gaps in my skills/knowledge, and has communicate extremely well with me. I am grateful I get to learn from her!
Patrick Hildebrandt
Marina has been an exceptional mentor who excels at identifying and addressing your weaknesses while also highlighting your strengths. With her guidance, I have been able to significantly enhance my ability to showcase myself and my work through my resume and portfolio. I'm incredibly grateful for the support and encouragement she has provided me throughout our mentorship.
Nicholas Minosora
Marina is a fantastic mentor. She has deep industry knowledge, innovative ideas, and genuinely cares and motivates you to succeed in your goals. She has an ability to quickly identify strengths and connect them with opportunities. I'm very grateful for my sessions with Marina. Highly recommended.
Spending 30 minutes reviewing my resume and discussing my career path with Marina was a tremendous experience. Her insights and recommendations are excellent takeaways.
I booked a resume revamp session with Marina, and it was extremely insightful. Marina's years of experience and expertise in the field comes through. She took the time to go through my resume and website before the session, and had questions ready for me. She managed the time well, giving me the space to talk about my career goals and gave valuable actionable pointers. Although the session was only booked for my resume, we went over my website as well as she managed to save some time for it. I've been working on the improvements and have receive positive responses already. Thanks Marina!
Austin
UX Design mentee
Marina is awesome. She was able to meet with me very quickly to meet for the first time and get the process going. I walked away with tons of food for thought after our first meeting. She created a development plan with exercises and concrete tasks, helped me identify gaps in my skills/knowledge, and has communicate extremely well with me. I am grateful I get to learn from her!
Patrick Hildebrandt
Marina has been an exceptional mentor who excels at identifying and addressing your weaknesses while also highlighting your strengths. With her guidance, I have been able to significantly enhance my ability to showcase myself and my work through my resume and portfolio. I'm incredibly grateful for the support and encouragement she has provided me throughout our mentorship.
Absolutely delighted with Marina's mentorship! Marina has an uncanny ability to provide constructive feedback that is not only insightful but also tailored to your specific goals. What truly sets Marina apart is her warm and personable approach. Her guidance has provided me with a clear direction and actionable steps to reach my goals. I highly recommend Marina. She is not only a mentor but also a true leader who genuinely cares about your growth and success.
Petra Bennett
Marina was very knowledgeable about her field. She answered all my questions!
Ayobami Adelugba
Oh my goodness, the session exceeded my expectations! Firstly, Marina's friendly demeanor made me feel incredibly comfortable and receptive to her guidance. This created an atmosphere where I was open to all of her insights and didn't feel any sense of judgment. Secondly, the feedback and recommendations provided were practical and included suggestions that I wouldn't have thought to include in my CV. She also shared relevant examples to illustrate her recommendations, which made it easier for me to relate to. As a result, I left the session feeling more confident than when I initially entered. Marina is absolutely amazing!
Mithun Sanghavi
I would definitely recommend Marina as mentor for anyone who is getting into UX design or deciding related career path. She is very positive and encouraging which was very valuable trait and make you feel at ease and get the best of your sessions. She is also willing to share resources and advice for things that maybe holding you back in your career journey. Thanks Marina!
Peter Nguyen
UX Academy
I have been so incredibly fortunate to have Marina as my mentor during UX Academy! Her wealth of knowledge and fantastic ability to effectively impart that knowledge has made my journey into UX design an amazing experience. She knows how to bolster your strengths and guide you to find your voice as a designer. I can never thank you enough, Marina!
Absolutely delighted with Marina's mentorship! Marina has an uncanny ability to provide constructive feedback that is not only insightful but also tailored to your specific goals. What truly sets Marina apart is her warm and personable approach. Her guidance has provided me with a clear direction and actionable steps to reach my goals. I highly recommend Marina. She is not only a mentor but also a true leader who genuinely cares about your growth and success.
Petra Bennett
Marina was very knowledgeable about her field. She answered all my questions!

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