Stephen Perkins

Stephen Perkins

Design | Team Building | Advice in Austin, TX

About

I design things—digital things, strategic things, sometimes existentially confusing things. For the past 13+ years, I’ve worked in finance, healthcare, and enterprise tech, which sounds impressive, but really just means I’ve learned to turn jargon into tools people actually want to use. If you’re into clarity, impact, and a bit of humor, we’ll get along.

Work Experience

2024 — Now
2024 — 2024
Austin, TX

Managed a team of 4 designers on SoftwareAdvice and UpCity. Led a full redesign of product and category pages to boost SEO, drive organic traffic, and make it easier for customers to find the software they need.

2024 — 2024

Helping startups clarify vision, nail down strategy, and jumping in where needed to bring designs to life.

2021 — 2024
USA

Led a team across product, brand, content, and operations design. Delivered major launches like Profiles, Access Management, and Data Governance while pulling off a complete rebrand. We turned complex data products into experiences people love.

2020 — 2021
Austin

Created UX research programs, drove design for Access Management and integrations with Slack and Teams, and contributed to AI development on the Atlas project.

2017 — 2020
USA

Built and managed a team of seven creatives and launched 50+ projects for names like Discover, EY, and AAA. By year four, design was driving nearly half of our revenue.

2016 — 2017
2015 — 2016
Dallas

Led design on enterprise solutions, from BVoIP to a “Northstar” vision for device management—aiming to make complex tech feel straightforward.

2014 — 2015
Plano

As part of the Intuit Labs team I built the first mobile tax filing app, a client matchmaking tool in QuickBooks, and a CRM for CPAs to manage their client load more effectively.

2013 — 2014
Santa Monica

As the founding designer, I integrated customer feedback into every design aspect, making our app exceptionally user-friendly and conducting extensive market research to stay user-centric.

2012 — 2013
Digital Designer at The Media grind
Santa Monica
2012 — 2012
Design Intern at Supercool Creative
Santa Monica, CA

Education

Projects

2023

Our team enhanced data permissions management, introducing features like exclusive pipeline access, enhanced stability, and stringent data privacy controls, ensuring secure and informed operational decisions.

2023

Profiles simplifies building customer 360 profiles through identity resolution, user features, and a comprehensive customer table, drastically cutting down development time and effort.

Side Projects

2024
Steve at 📺 As Steve on TV

The complete catalog of Steve’s across media.

2024

Leashes for reactive dogs. Because, let’s be real, your dog’s the one walking you—might as well make it look good.

2024
✨ AI Powered Design Documentation Tool • in progress
2017

Founded Weird Street to connect skilled small business owners with top professionals, creating a vibrant marketplace and community that tackled everyday business challenges effectively.

Awards

2024

RudderStack is the leading warehouse native CDP. With RudderStack's end-to-end platform and flexible, powerful tooling, data teams can easily collect, unify, and activate customer data to drive growth for the entire business

Contact

Substack