Amanda Howard, Senior Product Designer

I design complex enterprise software, and I build the prototypes to prove it works.

Senior product designer with six years in the field, four of them rebuilding an enterprise talent platform from scratch. Research-led, AI-native, and hands-on with code-based prototypes.

Redesigned, Not Ported: Rebuilding Thrive Apply Around What Recruiters Do

Thrive TRM

How might we bring a legacy feature into the updated product without carrying its problems along?

Role Senior Product Designer, with a PMWhen July to September 2026, design through development, in phasesResult Shipped

Thrive Apply lets firms publish branded job listings, collect applications, and review applicants inside Thrive. Moving it into the updated product wasn't a port: legacy features get redesigned for how people work now, so we started with research. We talked with associates, recruiters, partners, and principals, plus recruiters at other firms who manage their own listings. I redesigned the flow around what they told and showed us, guiding AI through several directions and pushing back on each until it fit the real app, its components, and its users. It shipped in phases through development, and the way I worked with prototypes was adopted by the wider team.

Posting details in the draft stage: review the public page, then publish. The Apply button takes the firm's brand color from its branding settings. Reconstructed from my final design.

Four Decisions I Led

  1. Redesigned, Not PortedNet-new over a re-skin, after weighing every user need.
  2. Applicants Reviewed in ContextReview and process on one screen, not a new tab per application.
  3. Privacy and a Smarter RecordNo probing a firm's database, and consent carries into the record.
  4. Scope CallsSeparate workflows kept separate, and a delighter designed ahead of scope.

Inside the case study: the research that changed the design, each decision in depth, and what I'd warn you about when designing with AI.

Read the Full Case Study

Off-Limits for One Search: Designing a Restriction Nobody Can Miss

Thrive TRM

How might we protect client relationships when a restriction only applies to one search?

Role Product Designer, promoted to Senior Product Designer in April 2026Design September to October 2026Released October 2026, in production

Executive search firms sign contracts that forbid recruiting at certain companies, and getting one wrong can cost a client. Some restrictions apply to just one search, and Thrive had no way to handle them, so teams worked around it by hand. I designed how a project-specific restriction is set up, where it shows up across the app, and what recruiters can still do, and built it out in a code prototype that went through review and handoff to dev and QA.

1 A regular flag: this person might be off limits, so look into it.
2 Restricted for this project: take them off the search now. Reconstructed from my final design, with invented people and companies.

The Calls That Shaped It

  1. A Different Signal for a Different ActionA red strip and banner mean take them off this search now. The regular flag stays small.
  2. Warn, Don't BlockThe warning follows the person into the add dialog, and the recruiter still makes the call.
  3. Words a Recruiter Can Act On"Restricted for this project" inside it, and the project named everywhere else.
  4. Setup Starts with the InvestorNaming the investor fixed the old workaround at its source.

Inside the case study: where the restriction shows up, each call in depth, how I worked with AI, and what I'd do differently.

Read the Full Case Study

Her understanding of the user experience design process and, in particular, her user research skills and workshop facilitation skills are top-tier.

Abdalla Emam, Former Director of Product Design

More Work

Range

Research and Workshops

Journey mapping, interviews, and cross-functional workshops that led a company to rebuild its product.

Systems Thinking

Design that fits the business case, reuses the front-end components, and gives dev and QA something they can build and test.

Teaching

Thirteen years in classrooms and two master's degrees in education. It's why I run good workshops and explain decisions clearly.