Portrait of Matthew Cassella smiling, in a black shirt
Senior Director, Product Design

I build design teams and products that move businesses forward.

Leadership × Systems × Craft

Over 20 years leading design across adtech, digital publishing and B2B platforms. I scale teams, build design systems, and tie user experience to measurable business outcomes. A traditional designer with deep AI experience, I now deliver almost 10x faster without lowering the craft.

2 → 12+
Design team scaled at MNTN across a multi-product adtech platform
22%
Lift in platform engagement from product-led growth work
30%
Better design-to-engineering efficiency from a purpose-built design system
200%
Growth in digital subscription revenue at Newsday
How I work

A leader who still opens the file.

I lead by example.

I'd never tell someone how to do something I couldn't do myself. I stay hands-on in Figma and with AI every day. I start from my own designs and design systems as "prompt fuel," generate more options up front, tweak in Figma and feed the changes back to Claude, and review in working front-end code so approved designs hand off right away. See how I use AI.

Concepts from a sentence.

My CEO says I'm the best at creating something amazing from just a sentence or two of explanation. Concept creation is my strongest skill.

Speed with standards.

I have a proven record of designing products quickly and efficiently: a working proof of concept in three months, and a running app in six. Claude has pushed my production speed up almost 10x since.

Humble and always learning.

When I haven't done something before, I say so and I learn it. That openness is how I keep growing, and how I hope my teams do.

Selected work

Leadership, systems, and outcomes.

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MNTN Project
A 0→1 product I led from concept through launch at MNTN, with a purpose-built design system behind it. Full case study available on request.
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Everest design system: color chips, interface controls, and the letters Aa
Design systems · MNTN
Everest Design System
My first project at MNTN: I took over an established system with a lot of gaps and added a release system and a way for teams to collaborate and approve components.
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Newsday redesign shown on desktop, tablet, and phone
Digital publishing · Newsday
Newsday Redesign
Led a 20+ person team through a full platform rebuild: 78% faster page loads, ad viewability up from 15% to nearly 70%, and design-to-development time cut by 62%.
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AI-accelerated design · Claude
My AI Design Workflow
A traditional designer with deep AI experience. I start from my own designs as "prompt fuel," generate more options up front, iterate between Figma and Claude, and review in working front-end code. It has sped up my production by almost 10x.
See the workflow →
How I lead

Design with vision. Lead with purpose.

Build the team

Hire, mentor, and grow designers into leaders. Scaled MNTN's design org from 2 to 12+.

Build the system

Six design systems built across my career, each one speeding up design, engineering, and prototyping.

Lead with evidence

UX research, analytics, and experimentation shape the roadmap, so design decisions tie to outcomes.

Partner at the top

Work alongside Product, Engineering and GTM executives so design shapes strategy, not just delivery.

Career
2022 – Present
Head of Product Design, MNTN

Hired as a Senior UX Designer and promoted to Head of Product Design after about a year for my craft, speed, and ability to turn blue-sky ideas into finished design. Scaled the design org from 2 to 12+, drove PLG initiatives across onboarding, activation and engagement, led 0→1 and AI-powered products, and built the design system. Reduced iteration cycles by 23%.

2008 – 2022
UX & Design Director, Newsday

Led a 20+ person team across design, engineering and QA. Cut outsourcing costs by 56%, lifted engagement 34% through accessibility and responsive design, and won 4× New York Emmy Awards.

2004 – 2008
Early career

Creative Director at Microsoft / Sybari, then designer and senior designer roles at Berwald Creative and Razorshark, and freelance creative direction on projects including DirecTV and BigHip.

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Some of my best work isn't public yet.

Case studies from my current role are shared privately with hiring teams. Ask and I'll send access.

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© Matthew Cassella · Northport, NY
[email protected] LinkedIn