SZYGIEL, J.// PRODUCT DESIGNER
README.md · last modified: 2026 · v2.0
#Who I Am

Lead product designer with 15 years across healthcare, automotive, and consumer products. I've been the only designer in the room — owning the research, the system, the decisions, and the outcome.

That's meant building design systems from scratch, running moderated usability sessions, shipping mobile apps on iOS and Android, and now writing production code alongside the design work. The role has always been bigger than the title.

#V2.0 — Currently in Progress

After 15 years, a lot is shifting — not just the tools, but what a senior designer is capable of. I can now take a product from research to deployed code without a handoff. That changes the scope of what lead design ownership looks like.

I'm in the middle of that now, and honestly it's the most energized I've felt about this work in years. I'm building personalized agents, custom skills, and automated workflows that connect the product side of design directly to engineering — tighter feedback loops, less friction, faster production without sacrificing quality.

The stack is Claude Code, MCP servers, custom APIs, and agentic research and review pipelines that I'm actively wiring together. This portfolio is part of that — built and iterated with the same tools I'm exploring.

#Currently Building
  • Agentic research & design review workflows
  • Custom Claude Code skills for repeatable design operations
  • MCP server integrations connecting Figma → engineering pipelines
  • Automated handoff tooling to reduce back-and-forth
  • Personal knowledge systems for faster, better design decisions
#Outside the Screen

I live about an hour outside of Philly — my wife Kate and I have a 2-acre farmhouse that keeps us busy with DIY projects and a garden that's always getting ahead of us.

We share the place with four pugs — Hank (Jug), Sara Lee (Pure), Ralph (Bug), and Russ (Puggle) — and two cats who are unbothered by all of it.

When I'm not at a screen I'm usually outdoors. Hiking, skiing, kayaking, road trips. International travel when I can make it happen — getting somewhere completely unfamiliar is one of the better ways I know to reset.

OPEN COMMS
DOSSIER // SUBJ-001
ROLELead Product Designer
BASEPennsylvania, US
YRS15 active
COFFEE██████████ 100% — CAFFEINATED
AVAILABLE FOR WORK
SKILL RADAR // 2025→2026
255075100VISUAL DESIGNPRODUCT STRATEGYSYSTEMSPROTOTYPINGAI FLUENCYFRONTENDRESEARCH
2025
2026
hover axis to inspect
MISSION LOG
2025.Q2
IN PROGRESSSAL World — kids creative learning app
2025.Q1
SHIPPED████████ — mobile-first dealer platform
2025.Q1
UPDATED████ ███ — design process + prototype handoffs
2024.Q4
DEPLOYEDSAL — agentic portfolio assistant v1
2024.Q2
SHIPPED████ ███ — Design system overhaul
2023.Q3
LAUNCHED████ ███ — Digital Workers concept
SIGNAL // NOW PLAYING
— NO SIGNAL —