Hey, I’m
Irene Montalban
I’m a Product Designer based in Los Angeles with 6+ years of experience designing 0→1 products and scaling platforms. I specialize in turning complex systems into intuitive, human-centered experiences through thoughtful information architecture, interaction design, and strong visual craft. My approach blends strategy, research, and collaboration, shaping products that are usable, meaningful and aligned with business impact.
Currently open to new full-time or contract roles.
Design Approach
SKILLS
Defining Vision and Direction. I align user needs with business goals by talking with stakeholders and users, and prioritize features by understanding technical constraints early on.
Product Strategy
Validating Informed Ideas. I bring strong experience conducting user interviews and synthesizing insights to quickly validate ideas by prioritizing the riskiest hypotheses for testing.
Rapid-Prototyping + Testing
Research Driven Decisions
Show, Don’t Tell. I use Figma to build wireframes and prototypes as a means to articulate nuanced design interactions and gather actionable feedback.
Collaboration
Listening for Alignment. I actively listen to understand team motivations and foster alignment, and I seek feedback on designs early to ensure they align with team goals.
Projects
EXPERIENCEB2B / B2C / Financial Web Application
Redesigning a member-centric solution that ties diverse systems and members’ products, minimizing the time it takes for Credit Union representatives to navigate between member products and find transaction data by 13%.
Designing an Efficient Information Architecture
B2B / B2C / Financial Web Application
Designing a team-supported experience for Credit Union representatives when accessing and adding to a collection of services for the products in a member’s portfolio resulting in a 22% decrease in time when assisting members.
Optimizing Financial Documentation System
B2B / B2C / Web Application
Designing an actionable assessment dashboard that helps teachers interpret student data, identify learning gaps, and make informed decisions, turning complex data into clear insights and driving a 4% increase in weekly active users.
Streamlining Student Performance Data
B2C / Web
Spearheading research to discover our area of opportunity in the home-buying journey, building features including the home maintenance suggestions feature resulting in a 15% increase in signups.
Designing a Platform to Supports Homeowners
B2C / Web
Research-led redesign of CommunityShare’s student onboarding to amplify equity and belonging by identifying cultural and structural barriers resulting in a 30% increase in student sign-ups and a 2× improvement in return visits.
Inclusive Design for Underserved Students
B2C / Web
Driving product vision and strategy by leveraging user insights, stakeholder goals, and budget constraints to optimize the IM Toolkit’s information architecture, leading to a 65% increase in site visits and an 80% improvement in resource findability.
Redesigning the Information Architecture
B2C / Web
Leading product strategy, user research and ideation, I aligned our users’ problems with The Carle’s business goals and development efforts for features that were feasible within our time constraints resulting in a 20% decrease in customer service calls and phone orders to the bookshop.
Strategizing a Purposeful Shopping Experience
B2C / Mobile
Led the design strategy for a preventive health app, boosting engagement and retention by 7%, by implementing accountability-driven workflows and unifying cross-product experiences, to promote healthy living in a competitive market.
