SEAN
FINNELL
Product
Designer
Based in NYC
Full-stack product designer and strategist
focused on new product innovation and growth.
Depths in interaction and content design,
with a strong eye for visual craft.
Open to full-time, fractional or contract opportunities
Selected Case Studies
Estimated reading time 15-20 minutes each.
Hey, I'm
Sean.
Back when GeoCities ruled the Internet, I built my first website at 9 years old and experienced the thrill of designing something others could experience. In the years since, I've learned that great design is more than pixels: it's making the right trade-offs, using the right words in the right moments, and interactions that feel effortless.
A decade in consumer startups honed my storytelling, resourcefulness, and product sense. I design at every altitude, from micro-interactions to service blueprints. Intuitive and adaptable, I thrive in both the ambiguity of 0-to-1 product design and the experimentation of 1-to-100 growth design.
Areas of
Expertise
User Research
Product Strategy
Interaction Design
Content Design
Growth Design
Product Strategy
Interaction Design
Content Design
Growth Design
Visual Design & Design Systems
Brand Identity
Information Architecture
Conversation Design
Service & Experience Design
Brand Identity
Information Architecture
Conversation Design
Service & Experience Design
How I
Work
Throw out assumptions and align on defining success.
I approach every problem from first principles. I start by understanding what users actually need, what constraints we have, and which metrics matter. True alignment only happens when design, product, engineering and growth teams all define success the same way.
Map the user journey and the operations that enable it.
I've designed both user-facing journeys and the backstage systems that deliver them. That means mapping frictionless interactions end-to-end while architecting the processes, tooling, and handoffs that keep the experience coherent across channels and sustainable at scale.
Design with conviction, test with humility.
I translate user insights and business constraints into opinionated design decisions, then validate them fast. Every interaction, flow, and piece of copy is a testable hypothesis. I ship quickly, measure what matters, and iterate based on real-world data.
Sweat the details.
In the consumer world, polish is the price of entry and trust is built in micro-moments—the right word in an error state, a smooth loading transition, accessible interactions. I obsess over the small moments that make an experience feel effortless and human.
Timeline
Co-Founder
99 Questions Journal
New York, NY | 2023–present
Director of Product & Design
Y7 STUDIO
New York, NY | 2021–2023
Product Designer
SPINCO
Toronto, ON | 2020–2021
Co-Founder
MINDSET brain gym
Toronto, ON | 2018–2020
Manager, Growth & Design
New City Gas
Montreal, QC | 2015–2017
Web Designer
Freelance
Montreal, QC | 2010–2015
