Product Designer · Phoenix, Arizona
I bring clarity to complex systems.
I design dependable software for mission-critical environments, where the work is complex and the details matter.
- Aviation
- Fintech
- Healthtech
- Sports tech
- Mission-critical tools
Designed for the real world.
Complex products, made understandable. Each story follows the decisions, not a textbook process.
Invoice pilots faster
Redesigning a frustrating invoice module to save time and increase operational efficiency for airports and pilots.
Read case study →
A remittance app that retains customers
Designing a competitive mobile remittance app for a niche bank to grow loyalty, cut churn, and increase revenue.
Read case study →Calm thinking for high-stakes products.
I'm Mike Maitlen, a product designer experienced in software used where operational and financial consequences are real.
I'm especially energized by complicated domains: aviation, sports technology, healthtech, fintech, and the tools experts rely on to do consequential work.
- Based in
- Phoenix, Arizona
- Focus
- Product strategy · UX
- Works in
- Mission-critical software
- Currently
- Available for the right opportunity
Rigor without the theater.
I use the process the problem needs. The constant is making decisions visible, testable, and grounded in real constraints.
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01
Start with the stakes
Understand the business, operation, and consequences before drawing the interface.
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02
Design the decision
Give people the right signal, context, and confidence at the moment they need to act.
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03
Make tradeoffs explicit
Partner closely with product and engineering so constraints inform the solution instead of surprising it.
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04
Measure what changed
Connect design work to behavior, operational outcomes, and the business, not output volume.
Am I a fit?
Paste a role or job description. This tool reads it against my experience and generates a tailored breakdown: where I'm a strong match, the domains that overlap, and an honest read on fit.
A small demo of applied AI I built. When you run it, the job description is sent to a Claude model (Anthropic) that matches it against my real, linked work. It isn't stored, and if the model is unavailable it falls back to an in-browser analysis.
Available for the right opportunity