Joey Sbarro

Designer Profile

I’m a thoughtful, systems-minded designer who cares about creating ethical, high-impact solutions. Blending strategic thinking with a collaborative mindset, I help teams align user needs with business goals to deliver meaningful, effective experiences.

Experience

Associate Director, Experience Design – Propeller Communications Healthcare Digital Marketing Agency, February 2024 – Present
Client – Merck agile digital team focused on innovating products for pharma reps
-Led and managed the UX roadmap, ensuring alignment between cross-functional teams to drive cohesive user experiences and strategic product development
-Established a structured discovery and user research process within a tightly regulated environment, reducing project churn and enabling more efficient stakeholder collaboration
-Collaborated with legal teams to navigate complex compliance requirements, streamlining approval workflows and minimizing delays in product deployment.
-Redesigned the IVA template, introducing innovative UX enhancements that drove a 200% increase in usage, significantly improving user engagement and adoption
-Architected and maintained a scalable design system, standardizing component usage and accelerating creation of new products through clear documentation and reusable frameworks
-Advised on practical and appropriate implementation of AI/ML methods on internal and client-facing projects, and helped prepare the team for the impact of machine learning on UX

Associate Experience Design Director – Real Chemistry Healthcare Digital Marketing Agency, January 2023 – February 2024
-Guided merger of two design teams, informing new team structure and adjustment of internal processes with an eye towards scalability and efficiency, and helped grow team by 30%
-Managed the day to day of a user experience team, counseling and up-skilling designers in use of UX tools and processes to improve the overall efficiency, and capabilities of the team
-Directed brief, approach, and process for work to ensure proper execution of projects
-Contributed to design and development of company intranet and internal resources
-Mentored designers and other agency employees; creating, coordinating, and facilitating industry and networking events via a leadership role in a business resource group for individuals new to working in agency, corporate, or pharmaceuticals
Clients include: Pfizer, Novartis, Merck, Abbvie, Amazon, Galderma, Astra Zeneca, CVS, Janssen

Senior UX Designer – Real Chemistry Healthcare Digital Marketing Agency, April 2021 – January 2023
-Facilitated workshops to uncover audience needs, business objectives, and align teams
-Championed user research and analytics to internal teams and clients; authoring research plans, recommending and implementing data tracking software, and performing user interviews and tests, ensuring efficacy of proposed designs

UX Designer – Real Chemistry Healthcare Digital Marketing Agency, August 2020 – April 2021
-Optimized conversion for digital products using knowledge of UX Heuristics and best practices, in cases (such as the VYNDAMAX website redesign) up to 178%
-Facilitated cross team and stakeholder alignment by creating and presenting user flows, site maps, and robust wireframe prototypes to communicate design decisions and ensure they were adhered to from project conception through to launch
-Created reusable, templated documents, presentations, and internal design systems to allow for a scalable workflow and produce efficiencies; reducing extraneous efforts by 50%

UX Designer and Mentor – Uncommon, Website redesign for a non profit building coding hubs in Africa to help empower impoverished communities, February 2020 – April 2021
-Researched potential users and the non-profit space to generate narrative informing insights
-Utilized rapid prototype tools to design solutions meeting needs indicated by user research
-Developed visual design that reflected Uncommon’s personality and resonated with user base
-Mentored students in Uncommon’s UX Design program; guiding, evaluating and giving feedback on their designs and processes

Freelance UX Designer – August 2019 – Present
Uncovering business and user needs, recommending ideal design process, and designing feasible solutions for independent clients such as:
–Purple Ant – Laid IA and UX foundation for platform to allow users to meaningfully consent to share home monitoring data in exchange for discounts on home insurance premiums
-Singing With Molly – Website redesign with a focus on conversion optimization resulting in 35% increase in web platform sales

Photographer – Freelance Artist and Marketing, May 2008 – Present
-Guest lecturer and studio critic at Michigan State University and University of Michigan on the topics of portraiture and artistic narrative
-Curated visual and performative art exhibitions; including layout of show, coordinating administrative details, and show promotion
-Created content and materials for high profile digital media and skin care companies