Case Studies

When designing products, we rely on patterns—proven solutions to common challenges. Product design case studies follow a similar logic: a structured narrative that presents a problem, the process, and a solution in a compelling, digestible way.

While my case studies follow this familiar arc, they offer a different perspective. Rather than focusing on tactical execution—the what and how of flows, mocks, or systems—I take a step back to examine the why…

Leading Etsy’s Product Revolution

Product Strategy

Change Management

Experimentation

How I transformed Etsy’s Product Organization—eliminating inefficiencies, increasing velocity, and aligning squads around customer impact.

$5B
2-YEAR GMS GROWTH

$818M
2-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH

120%
EXPERIMENT VELOCITY GROWTH

Shaping the Future of Etsy Payments

Strategy

Product Vision

Design Leadership

Defining a long-term strategy and product vision to enhance trust, security, and scalability—ensuring Etsy’s payments ecosystem could support the company’s future growth.

2
IN-YEAR PRODUCT
LAUNCHES

8.4%
1-YEAR SELLER SALES GROWTH

$16M
1-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH

Optimizing Etsy’s Checkout: One Experiment at a Time

Product Discovery

Experimentation

Design Lead Role

A series of small, data-driven improvements unlocked millions in incremental Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS)—proving that relentless iteration drives innovation.

0.07%
CONVERSION RATE GROWTH

0.18%
AVERAGE CONVERTING BROWSER VISIT GROWTH

$6M
GMS GROWTH

Redefining Digital Interpretation at the Art Institute of Chicago

Interactive Museum Design

Digital Interpretation

Digital Storytelling

Through layered storytelling and cinematic interaction design, we reimagined how visitors explore and understand the past—building a digital interpretation platform that now powers over 50 on-site experiences and reaches a global audience online.

4:46 MIN
AVERAGE DWELL TIME

9,537
AVERAGE MONTHLY SESSIONS

6.31%
2-YEAR ADMISSIONS GROWTH

From Cult Following to Billion-Dollar Brand: Designing Milk Makeup

Strategy

User Experience

Prototyping

Designing a fast, expressive e-commerce experience that helped transform a niche beauty startup into a billion-dollar brand. This case study explores how storytelling, prototyping, and customer obsession drove conversion, cultural resonance, and sustained growth.

4.86%
CONVERSION RATE

$101M
2023 REVENUE

$1.2B
OBAGI MERGER

«Michael believes in everyone, he spreads good energy and motivation that boosts creativity and the performance of everyone.» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael leads with clarity and purpose, brings cross-functional teams together, and always keeps the focus on delivering meaningful value to users.» —T. Rooks
«Michael drives people and projects forward with his thinking and ambition. He always pushes a little bit further, and encourages the ‹extra mile›» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael contributes throughout the whole process, filling any shoes needed, but he does so without stepping on anyone’s toes. He’s more than just a great asset, he’s a mentor, source of inspiration, and friend.» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael has been a thoughtful and positive mentor as my career has evolved.» —S. Carmichael
«Michael is truly a standout collaborator and design leader. While at Etsy, he applied innovative design thinking methodologies to drive loyal, happy customers and help the business grow.» —B. Ellis
«As a collaborator, Michael is a fun, dynamic thinker who pushes everyone around him to do their best work.» —B. Ellis
«Our work together forever inspired me, and I continue to reference it on an almost daily basis both at work, and in my personal life.» —B. Ellis
«Michael inspires us with the clarity and insight of his strategic thinking and encourages us as leaders to dig deeper within ourselves.» —VP Engineering, Etsy

colophon

This website is set in Oracle and Writer, typefaces by Dinamo and Pangram Pangram. Titles and decks feature ligatures—single characters that replace two or more letters—enhancing the rhythm and harmony of the text. Quotations are framed with guillemets, a nod to the classical French types that inspired Writer. Hederas mark the end of articles.

The writing, design, and development of this site was done by me.

Dedicated to my first child, Noah, who was born during the creation of this site.

epigraph

«The details are not the details, the details make the product.»

—charles and ray eames

«Good work, done well, for the right reasons, and with the right companions, is one of the great human joys.»

—david whyte

«We should not feel embarrassed by our difficulties, only by our failure to grow anything beautiful from them.»

—alain de botton

«Michael believes in everyone, he spreads good energy and motivation that boosts creativity and the performance of everyone.» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael leads with clarity and purpose, brings cross-functional teams together, and always keeps the focus on delivering meaningful value to users.» —T. Rooks
«Michael drives people and projects forward with his thinking and ambition. He always pushes a little bit further, and encourages the ‹extra mile›» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael contributes throughout the whole process, filling any shoes needed, but he does so without stepping on anyone’s toes. He’s more than just a great asset, he’s a mentor, source of inspiration, and friend.» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael has been a thoughtful and positive mentor as my career has evolved.» —S. Carmichael
«Michael is truly a standout collaborator and design leader. While at Etsy, he applied innovative design thinking methodologies to drive loyal, happy customers and help the business grow.» —B. Ellis
«As a collaborator, Michael is a fun, dynamic thinker who pushes everyone around him to do their best work.» —B. Ellis
«Our work together forever inspired me, and I continue to reference it on an almost daily basis both at work, and in my personal life.» —B. Ellis
«Michael inspires us with the clarity and insight of his strategic thinking and encourages us as leaders to dig deeper within ourselves.» —VP Engineering, Etsy

colophon

The writing, design, and development of this site was done by me.

Dedicated to my first child, Noah, who was born during the creation of this site.

epigraph

«The details are not the details, the details make the product.»

—charles and ray eames

«Good work, done well, for the right reasons, and with the right companions, is one of the great human joys.»

—david whyte

«We should not feel embarrassed by our difficulties, only by our failure to grow anything beautiful from them.»

—alain de botton

«Michael believes in everyone, he spreads good energy and motivation that boosts creativity and the performance of everyone.» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael leads with clarity and purpose, brings cross-functional teams together, and always keeps the focus on delivering meaningful value to users.» —T. Rooks
«Michael drives people and projects forward with his thinking and ambition. He always pushes a little bit further, and encourages the ‹extra mile›» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael contributes throughout the whole process, filling any shoes needed, but he does so without stepping on anyone’s toes. He’s more than just a great asset, he’s a mentor, source of inspiration, and friend.» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael has been a thoughtful and positive mentor as my career has evolved.» —S. Carmichael
«Michael is truly a standout collaborator and design leader. While at Etsy, he applied innovative design thinking methodologies to drive loyal, happy customers and help the business grow.» —B. Ellis
«As a collaborator, Michael is a fun, dynamic thinker who pushes everyone around him to do their best work.» —B. Ellis
«Our work together forever inspired me, and I continue to reference it on an almost daily basis both at work, and in my personal life.» —B. Ellis
«Michael inspires us with the clarity and insight of his strategic thinking and encourages us as leaders to dig deeper within ourselves.» —VP Engineering, Etsy

colophon

The writing, design, and development of this site was done by me.

Dedicated to my first child, Noah, who was born during the creation of this site.

epigraph

«The details are not the details, the details make the product.»

—charles and ray eames

«Good work, done well, for the right reasons, and with the right companions, is one of the great human joys.»

—david whyte

«We should not feel embarrassed by our difficulties, only by our failure to grow anything beautiful from them.»

—alain de botton

«Michael believes in everyone, he spreads good energy and motivation that boosts creativity and the performance of everyone.» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael leads with clarity and purpose, brings cross-functional teams together, and always keeps the focus on delivering meaningful value to users.» —T. Rooks
«Michael drives people and projects forward with his thinking and ambition. He always pushes a little bit further, and encourages the ‹extra mile›» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael contributes throughout the whole process, filling any shoes needed, but he does so without stepping on anyone’s toes. He’s more than just a great asset, he’s a mentor, source of inspiration, and friend.» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael has been a thoughtful and positive mentor as my career has evolved.» —S. Carmichael
«Michael is truly a standout collaborator and design leader. While at Etsy, he applied innovative design thinking methodologies to drive loyal, happy customers and help the business grow.» —B. Ellis
«As a collaborator, Michael is a fun, dynamic thinker who pushes everyone around him to do their best work.» —B. Ellis
«Our work together forever inspired me, and I continue to reference it on an almost daily basis both at work, and in my personal life.» —B. Ellis
«Michael inspires us with the clarity and insight of his strategic thinking and encourages us as leaders to dig deeper within ourselves.» —VP Engineering, Etsy

colophon

The writing, design, and development of this site was done by me.

Dedicated to my first child, Noah, who was born during the creation of this site.

epigraph

«The details are not the details, the details make the product.»

—charles and ray eames

«Good work, done well, for the right reasons, and with the right companions, is one of the great human joys.»

—david whyte

«We should not feel embarrassed by our difficulties, only by our failure to grow anything beautiful from them.»

—alain de botton

«Michael believes in everyone, he spreads good energy and motivation that boosts creativity and the performance of everyone.» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael leads with clarity and purpose, brings cross-functional teams together, and always keeps the focus on delivering meaningful value to users.» —T. Rooks
«Michael drives people and projects forward with his thinking and ambition. He always pushes a little bit further, and encourages the ‹extra mile›» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael contributes throughout the whole process, filling any shoes needed, but he does so without stepping on anyone’s toes. He’s more than just a great asset, he’s a mentor, source of inspiration, and friend.» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael has been a thoughtful and positive mentor as my career has evolved.» —S. Carmichael
«Michael is truly a standout collaborator and design leader. While at Etsy, he applied innovative design thinking methodologies to drive loyal, happy customers and help the business grow.» —B. Ellis
«As a collaborator, Michael is a fun, dynamic thinker who pushes everyone around him to do their best work.» —B. Ellis
«Our work together forever inspired me, and I continue to reference it on an almost daily basis both at work, and in my personal life.» —B. Ellis
«Michael inspires us with the clarity and insight of his strategic thinking and encourages us as leaders to dig deeper within ourselves.» —VP Engineering, Etsy

colophon

The writing, design, and development of this site was done by me.

Dedicated to my first child, Noah, who was born during the creation of this site.

epigraph

«The details are not the details, the details make the product.»

—charles and ray eames

«Good work, done well, for the right reasons, and with the right companions, is one of the great human joys.»

—david whyte

«We should not feel embarrassed by our difficulties, only by our failure to grow anything beautiful from them.»

—alain de botton

«Michael believes in everyone, he spreads good energy and motivation that boosts creativity and the performance of everyone.» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael leads with clarity and purpose, brings cross-functional teams together, and always keeps the focus on delivering meaningful value to users.» —T. Rooks
«Michael drives people and projects forward with his thinking and ambition. He always pushes a little bit further, and encourages the ‹extra mile›» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael contributes throughout the whole process, filling any shoes needed, but he does so without stepping on anyone’s toes. He’s more than just a great asset, he’s a mentor, source of inspiration, and friend.» —S. Zachrisson
«Michael has been a thoughtful and positive mentor as my career has evolved.» —S. Carmichael
«Michael is truly a standout collaborator and design leader. While at Etsy, he applied innovative design thinking methodologies to drive loyal, happy customers and help the business grow.» —B. Ellis
«As a collaborator, Michael is a fun, dynamic thinker who pushes everyone around him to do their best work.» —B. Ellis
«Our work together forever inspired me, and I continue to reference it on an almost daily basis both at work, and in my personal life.» —B. Ellis
«Michael inspires us with the clarity and insight of his strategic thinking and encourages us as leaders to dig deeper within ourselves.» —VP Engineering, Etsy

colophon

The writing, design, and development of this site was done by me.

Dedicated to my first child, Noah, who was born during the creation of this site.

epigraph

«The details are not the details, the details make the product.»

—charles and ray eames

«Good work, done well, for the right reasons, and with the right companions, is one of the great human joys.»

—david whyte

«We should not feel embarrassed by our difficulties, only by our failure to grow anything beautiful from them.»

—alain de botton