About
Full-Stack Product Designer • UX Consultant • Design Ops • Design Mentor • Speaker • Problem Solver
I enjoy solving complex problems for power users – empowering people to do more with less. I live by the 80-20 rule: in agile product design, the right 20% of effort can unlock 80% of the value. That practice goes back to my undergrad studies in innovation, where I was drawn to ill-defined problem spaces (the ones without a clear brief or definition) and help early-stage businesses find product-market fit.
Early in my career, I co-founded Latero Labs — a Vancouver-based development agency that transformed business ideas into innovative technological solutions. Our team had some fun at a hackathon and won first place at Angelhack Seattle in 2012. I’ve since gone solo but I look back fondly at those times and still provide them with design support.
Speaking & Mentorship
- Juice Labs hosted at RED Academy Vancouver, 2019
- Entrepreneurship workshop at the C3 Leadership Conference hosted by C3 Korean Canadian Society, 2019
Design Thinking
Education
Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada
BSc. in Interaction Design
4-year design program in the School of Interactive Arts & Technology (SIAT) at SFU
Italia Design Field School
1-year competitive entry professional program for fourth-year design students to conduct field research in design, ethnography, innovationm, and culture. (Group “Cinque”, 2008, SFU)
Minor in Communications
in the School of Communications at SFU
Experience
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Senior UX Product Designer • LandSure Systems • 2024 - Present
Leading the shift to Figma-based design system for a First Nations Land Registry platform; Raised the quality of build with clear documentation and QA activities to support the team. Set WCAG 2 accessibility standards.
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Senior UX Product Designer • Blanka • 2023 - 2024
Owned end-to-end feature design alongside product leadership • work has measurably lifted conversion and reduced churn. Established a design system to stay aligned with new branding.
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Senior UX Product Designer, Design Lead • Tribe Property Technologies • 2020 - 2022
Grew and led the design team; establish the design language and support the growth strategy. Solve customer pain points through journey-mapping for a multi-department property platform.
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Senior UX Product Designer, Design Lead • Finhaven • 2019 - 2020
Hired and mentored a UX team; set design vision and critique process while shipping new product lines for a fintech platform.
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Senior UX Designer • Invoke Co. • 2018 - 2019
Redesigned BCAA's insurance purchase flow (+105% quote starts, +67% conversion) and led UX for D-Wave's quantum-cloud onboarding experience.
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Design Lead • XeraFlop Technologies • 2015 - 2018
Design and build out omni-channel e-commerce to support in-store and online ordering on a self-serve white-labelling platform.
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Head of Interaction Design • Investments Illustrated • 2010 - 2012
Led a small design team; created The Big Picture™, a proprietary financial data-visualization chart still in use by financial advisors today.
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Independent Practice • Karen Lo Design Consulting • 2009 - Present
20+ clients across fintech, health care, government, and emerging tech, including BC Children's Hospital, Sanctuary AI, D-Wave, Lululemon, and BCAA.
Tools
Design Thinking
Before we arrive at a solution, we must first check that we're fixing the right problem. The design thinking process is shaped like a double diamond with each half:
- diverging: broadening possibilities
- converging: honing in focus
As the project progresses, we get closer to a viable solution that addresses the true customer/user needs until we finally launch and refine.