DMDirector of Product Design

Design teams that move the business.

I’m Donny Merrill. I build and lead product design teams that turn customer problems into products people use and businesses grow from — sitting side by side with engineering, and judging design by what it does for the business.

See the work How I lead

Springville, UtahSaaS · AI · Connected devicesOpen to Director roles

Designers, product managers and UX writers led at Fishbowl

9MO→5WK

Customer onboarding time at Fishbowl after the redesign

+84%

More campaigns going live at Revive Media with Convoy and Compass

0→1

Founded and built Legrand’s first UX team

01Selected work

Case studies

Three companies, three stages: an AI-assisted ad platform, a SaaS launch, and a first UX team for connected hardware.

Convoy campaign builder with progress navigation and Compass panel

Revive MediaAI · Ad tech2026

Convoy & Compass

Sales reps were abandoning campaign creation mid-flow. We found a confidence gap, then closed it with an AI forecast and a clear path to launch.

+84% campaigns live · −2 days to launch

FishbowlSaaS · Onboarding2024

Self-serve onboarding

Implementation relied on sales calls and could take nine months. My team rebuilt it as a guided, game-like checklist customers run themselves.

9 months → 5 weeks

FishbowlDesign system · WCAG2024

One UI across three platforms

Web, iOS and Android were built by three teams and looked like it. We shipped one Figma component library, a new brand-aligned UI and accessibility fixes.

3 platforms · 1 system

LegrandHome automation · 0→12012–2019

Equinox & My Home

Founded Legrand’s first UX team and shipped award-winning smart-home control across in-wall touchscreens, iOS and Android.

Design for Experience award, UX Magazine

02Leadership

How I lead

The full approach

Side by side with engineering

I sit with engineering instead of handing off specs. Design decisions get better, and ship faster, when the people building them are in the room.

Design is judged by the business

Activation, adoption, retention, expansion, margin. I know which levers a design decision actually moves, and I hold my teams to them.

Grow the people, the work follows

I hire for trajectory, give real ownership early, and make continued learning part of the job, not a perk.

03References

From the people I’ve worked with

All references

Donny believed in me right out of college, demonstrating exceptional trust, support, and an empowering management style that fostered independence and growth.

He was key in helping to move our SaaS product forward; leading the UI/UX team, working closely with the product group, providing subject matter expertise, being a sounding board for this engineering director (and his team) and always making himself available.

Together, they delivered phenomenal work, including a complete redesign of an outdated UI and the creation of hundreds of new features. Their professional and efficient approach not only elevated the user experience but also saved countless hours of potential mistakes.