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John Venters, Senior Design Engineer

Design

Crafting user-centered products, design systems, and accessible interfaces

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Engineer

Building clean, scalable front-end architecture with modern frameworks

Selected Projects

I design the experience and engineer the system behind it as reusable parts, so each new feature is easier to build than the last.

Application

KOA Messaging Center

A custom SMS platform that replaced a $2M/yr third-party vendor, designed and built end-to-end.

View Project
KOA Messaging Center inbox view
KOA Messaging Center template builder
KOA Messaging Center conversation view

Design System

KOA Design System & Component Library

Rebuilt KOA's product foundation from scratch (new design system, new component library, new framework) aligned to brand for the first time in over a decade.

View Project
KDropdown component with combobox and multiselect variants
KOA design token documentation
KOA Design System component library in Storybook

Application

YCH Tools

Transformed an inaccessible data lookup tool into a flagship product experience for one of the world's largest hop suppliers.

View Project
A brewer using the YCH Tools lot comparison on a tablet in a brewery
Lot comparison table view with shared row headings across three lots

Side Quests

A collection of personal projects, side work, and things I do when no one's paying me to. Beyond pushing pixels or writing code, you'll likely find me at a D&D table, playing piano or guitar, immersed in a video game, or throwing a stick for my dog Ollie.

Experience

View Resume

I'm a design engineer with over a decade of experience spanning product design, frontend engineering, game development, graphic design, and military cybersecurity. I take pride in creating thoughtful and inclusive products, paying close attention to the details that enhance user experiences from functional to truly enjoyable. I do my best work at the intersection of design and engineering, translating complex requirements into accessible, scalable interfaces without losing fidelity between vision and implementation.

Senior UX Designer & UI Engineer

KOA · Aug 2024 – Present

Own UX strategy and frontend product design for KOA's core K2 platform, mentoring a UI/UX Developer and partnering with Product, Engineering, and QA across multiple Agile teams.

Led frontend modernization from AngularJS to Svelte & TypeScript, defining migration architecture and building a 40+ component library. Designed and shipped a dynamic pricing system and Customer Communication Hub that replaced a third-party platform, cutting licensing costs by ~$2M annually.

SvelteTypeScriptFigmaDesign SystemsAgileWCAG 2.1

Education

Professional Masters in Games Development

Abertay University · Dundee, Scotland

2021 – 2022

Merit · 3.9 GPA (US equiv.) · Saltire Scholar

Completed while interning at InGAME as a game producer.

Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts, Minor: Computer Science

University of Montana · Missoula, MT

2013 – 2018

Summa cum laude · 4.0 GPA · Horatio Alger Scholar

Completed while working full-time and serving in the Air National Guard.

Certifications

  • Google Analytics Certified·2025·Google via Skillshop
  • CompTIA Security+·2018·CompTIA

Don't take my word for it

A few words from the developers, creatives, and directors I've worked alongside.

Say hello! 👋

I'm open to design engineer, product designer, and UI engineering roles, remote or international. If you're building something that needs both design thinking and frontend execution, I'd love to hear about it.

Based in Missoula, Montana. Working anywhere.

© 2026 John Venters