PRODUCT DESIGNER·SYSTEMS THINKER·MAKER

I make complicatedthingsmake sense.

I'm Tahressa (rhymes with Vanessa). Designer by trade. Curious by nature. Currently exploring the intersection of technology, longevity, and really long dogs.

Yes, the words move. No, I couldn't pick just one.

Tahressa wearing a light-blue blazer

WHAT I BELIEVE

Technology should adapt to people. Not the other way around.

SELECTED WORK

A few things worth talking about.

Not every project needs twenty screens and a process diagram. These are the stories that best explain how I think, lead and make.

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Car Buying Hub deal page on iPad and iPhone: Hi Tahressa, a 2024 GMC Yukon Denali at $886 per month, and a checklist of purchase steps with their status
01Complex system / platform thinking

CAR BUYING HUB

Making an entire vehicle purchase behave like one connected experience.

+62%
FINANCING ENGAGEMENT
+126%
ADD-ON ADOPTION
~3×
CREDIT APPLICATIONS VS. TARGET
CAPITAL ONE · FINTECH · PLATFORM · 2024–2025

MARK OF DISTINCTION · 2025

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02AI + automation / prototyping

RE-ENGAGE

Using AI and quick prototypes to align a team before the product was defined.

CAPITAL ONE · AI · AUTOMATION · PROTOTYPING
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Trade-In landing screen on iPhone: Find out what your car is worth, with a ZIP code field and Start your estimate button
03Leadership / influence / systems

TRADE-IN

Changing how the platform itself worked — not just the screens on top of it.

CAPITAL ONE · SYSTEMS · RESEARCH · LEADERSHIP

MARK OF DISTINCTION · 2022

THE WORK IS CHANGING

Design doesn't stop at the interface anymore.

My foundation is design. My practice increasingly moves beyond it. I work across product strategy, systems, research, behavioral design and visual craft — and I'm expanding how I use code, AI and functional prototypes to make ideas tangible earlier.

Not because designers need to become engineers. Because the distance between thinking and making is getting shorter.

  • 01

    FINTECH

    Make complicated money decisions feel a little less complicated.

  • 02

    SYSTEMS

    Get the parts to behave like they belong together.

  • 03

    AI + AUTOMATION

    Decide what the machine should do — and when it should hush.

  • 04

    BUILD

    Make the idea behave early enough to learn from it.

  • 05

    CRAFT

    Still paying attention to the letterforms. Obviously.

PATENTS

5U.S. PATENTS
  • Permissions & co-signer models
  • Cross-platform financial experiences
  • 2023–2025

RECOGNITION

3MARK OF DISTINCTION
  • Car Buying Hub · 2025
  • Trade-In Assessment · 2022
  • Pioneer Award · CRM Vision · 2024

EDUCATION

3DEGREES
  • M.S. Human–Computer Interaction · Iowa State University · 2025
  • B.A. Graphic Design · Texas Woman's University · 2013
  • A.A.A. Graphic Design · The Art Institute of Dallas

TOOLS

Figma · Claude Code · Gemini · VS Code · GitHub · Revit · Unity · Miro · Jira · AI Prototyping · MCP · Design Systems