Maryl Gonzalez
Design Technologist (Front-end & UX/UI)
Design Technologist (Front-end & UX/UI) with 10+ years across product design and branding. Currently Staff Product Designer, AI & Digital Experiences at Smart Plant Network, leading consumer and B2B product design for GardenSage™ and Plant Manager. Figma remains my primary tool for interface design and prototyping, complemented by front-end development, Claude Code, and Codex to build products end to end. Based in Kansas City, KS.
Experience
Smart Plant Network
Contract · Remote · Full-time engagement in current role
Jun 2020 – Present
Staff Product Designer, AI & Digital Experiences
Jan 2024 – Present
- Lead design across GardenSage™ and Plant Manager, partnering with the CEO, product, and engineering teams on consumer and B2B experiences across web, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
- Led the evolution from Smart Plant Home to GardenSage by SmartPlant, including the brand experience, app redesign, and Sage, an AI guide character that makes plant care conversational.
- Designed Plant Manager from the ground up and led its redesign: guided plant-data import, review and approval, plant details, analytics, and reports for garden centers and growers.
- Designed account onboarding, team access and invitations, subscribable trend reports, and plant campaigns for retail partners.
- Drive AI product strategy and end-to-end UX from discovery and experimentation to delivery; mentor design processes, systems, and best practices.
Senior Product Designer
Jan 2021 – Dec 2023
- Expanded from UI/UX into product design across the Smart Plant Home app, web platform, and internal tools; led the 2023 app redesign with a new care calendar and photo-based plant identification in expert chat.
- Introduced GardenGenius, the product’s first AI horticultural companion, and designed the internal admin dashboard for managing content and users.
- Conducted user research, defined core features and user flows, and collaborated with stakeholders and developers throughout the product lifecycle.
UX/UI Designer
Jun 2020 – Dec 2020
- Designed the first Smart Plant Home app from UX flows and wireframes to high-fidelity UI, including the care calendar, ask-an-expert experience, plant details, and local retailers.
- Defined the early visual identity, color system, and logo, and designed responsive web and mobile interfaces with product and engineering teams.
The App Chefs, LLC.
Jun 2017 – Present
Co-Founder · Lead Product Designer & Scrum/Agile PM
- Co-founded an AI-native design & development studio delivering high-quality WordPress, web, and mobile apps for startups and founders.
- Lead product design and the Scrum/Agile process across Discovery, Design, and Development. Now shipping faster by building with Claude Code and Codex.
- Own design & branding, technical SEO, and e-commerce (Shopify/WordPress) engagements end to end.
- Use Figma as the design standard across every project, and on recent builds like the WPBueno Dashboard, extend that system into a living component library in Storybook.
Talexa
Jan 2018 – Present
Founder
- Founded a remote staffing platform connecting skilled Mexican developers and UI/UX designers with US, Canadian, and European IT companies.
- Lead product, brand, and operations, including remote onboarding and immigration assistance.
Universidad de Artes Digitales
Jan 2016 – Jan 2018
UX/UI Professor
- Taught UX and UI design to university students.
Ooyala
Jan 2014 – Sep 2014
UI Designer
- Designed responsive UI/UX layouts across Web, iOS, and Android for a leading video technology platform.
Earlier experience
Skills
Education & Certifications
Universidad de Artes Digitales
Bachelor's in Digital Design
Certifications
Webflow 101 Certification
Webflow University · Online
Figma to Lottie Course
LottieFiles · Online
Empower Women Speakers for Your WordPress Events in Latin America (#WPDiversity)
Ericka Barboza & Jill Binder · In person · San José, Costa Rica
Product Owner Accredited Certification™
International Scrum Institute™ · Online
Mastering Innovation & Design Thinking
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) · In person · Boston, MA
Scrum Master Accredited Certification™
International Scrum Institute™ · In person · Guadalajara
Design Sprint for Voice Interface
UX Digital Summit Guadalajara · In person · Guadalajara
Agile UX Masterclass
UXPin · Online
User Experience and Interaction Design Certification
The Interaction Design Foundation · Online
User Experience for the Web
Open2Study · Online
Cross-Platform Mobile Development with Appcelerator Titanium
DWSoftware · In person · Guadalajara
Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC)
Interlingua México · In person · Guadalajara