interactiveMark.me / Mark Congiusta / product design and user experience leader / About Mark

Objective

As a seasoned design leader with a rich history of building, scaling, and inspiring design teams in both consumer and enterprise software environments, I am passionate about driving design innovation and creating user-centric solutions that put smiles on customers’ faces. Or at least makes them 10x more productive. My expertise lies in strategic design leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and delivering high-impact results that achieve—and surpass— business goals. I thrive in solving complex challenges and cultivating a culture of design excellence. I have a proven track record of enhancing product usability, increasing user satisfaction, and motivating team performance to new heights.

Biography

I spend my days (and the occasional late night) concocting ways to design and build great products for great customers with great people for great reasons. My professional history is a who’s who of outstanding companies, including enterprise software design leadership roles at WorkFusion, Splunk, AWS, and Cisco. Possessing a meandering—albeit interesting— career path, I’ve also done stints in advertising, architecture (the building kind), product design, and web development. Delivering empathetic products that customers are thrilled to use is my passion, and instilling that passion in my team is my job. And I love my job. Additionally, I’m a native New Yorker (the Brooklyn kind) but currently reside in North Carolina for some reason. My educational credentials include a BA in Industrial Design from the University at Buffalo and a Master of Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design to boot.

AI Podcast

I recently visited Google’s NotebookLM AI collaboration tool to add a few bits and pieces about myself and let it generate a full-on podcast conversation between two shockingly human sounding bots about yours truly. It is freaky astounding. While there’s still the odd pronunciation and syntactical hiccup here and there, overall, one would be hard pressed to figure out that this wasn’t an actual audio recording of humans conversing. Apologies for the length, I guess the AI hosts just find me endlessly fascinating. While it’s more fun than functional, it’s still pretty darn cool. Enjoy.

Mark Congiusta · Mark Congiusta's UX AI Podcast

Philosophy

Micromanaging is for people who can’t motivate.
If you aren’t enjoying what you are doing, you’re doing the wrong thing.
Old age is acquired once the pursuit of knowledge is abandoned.
Mistakes are a certainty. Forgiving them is mandatory. Fixing them isn’t optional.
The best thing about design is the empathy that it teaches.
People who claim to have a “secret sauce” are usually just selling ketchup mixed with Thousand Island dressing. Doing good is hard work.
You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. But you can usually get them all with beer and tacos.

Skills

Collaboration: Agile/Lean Methodologies, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Customer Engagement, C-Suite Partnership, Global Team Coordination, Instructional Design, Presentation Design, Public Speaking, Storytelling, Written and Verbal Communication Skills
Design: Branding / Brand Alignment, Data Visualization, Design Systems Development, Design Thinking Facilitation, Desktop / Mobile / SaaS Software Design, Documentation / In-product Help, Information Architecture, Quantitative and Qualitative User Research, Rapid Prototyping, Storyboarding / Wireframing, User-Centered Design
Leadership: Change Management, Coaching, Data-Driven Decision Making, Mentorship and Team Development, Organization Building, People Management, Problem Solving, Strategic Vision and Alignment, Team Leadership
Technical: Accessibility Standards (WCAG), Adobe CS, AI / ML / LLM Integration, API Design and Developer Experience, Data Analytics, Figma, Internationalization, Miro, Pendo, Sketch, UI Development Frameworks, UserTesting.com

What They Say...

“I have never met anyone like Mark. Professionally or personally. He is the total package. To say he is a truly dedicated person would not even come close to illustrating how fully invested he is in what he does. No matter what the situation, Mark will see it through no matter rain sleet, snow, or hail and his skill and patience is something I covet.”
Head of Design, Creative Systems
Meta
“Mark listens. Then thinks. Then develops online strategies and solutions to solve the challenges at hand. Sounds simple, but where Mark is different is that he has a wealth of experience in both traditional and new media. He knows what he is talking about and is able to communicate his vision on all levels.”
CEO and Founder
Overcast HQ
“Mark's got many qualities. But picking just one, it would be his uncanny ability to anticipate situations whether they became problems or opportunities. He was able to see upcoming issues and deal with them without interrupting the flow of the team. When it came to opportunities, whether left-field or distant, Mark pushed and helped us to grasp them.”
Senior Product Designer
Northern Trust
“To describe Mark in a nutshell: Superhuman. I’ve worked alongside, and then under Mark, for over 6 years. In that time, I've seen Mark understand from executive leadership, on what is needed from a strategic design point of view, even if things sounded vague to the rest of us. He's then translated those into actionable insights, rallied the troops, and gotten great design (and design research) done.”
Principal UX Researcher
Broadcom
“Mark is a true advocate for the customer, continuously striving to deliver designs that not only meet but exceed user expectations. His deep understanding of good design principles, combined with an unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction, results in products that are both functional and delightful to use. Mark’s ability to balance business goals with user needs is a testament to his expertise and dedication to the craft. His genuine passion for good design is infectious, inspiring the entire team to pursue excellence in every project. With Mark at the helm, any organization can be confident in achieving outstanding user-centric design outcomes.”
Head of AI/ML
Tempo Software
“Working with Mark is a once in a lifetime experience. If you are lucky enough to experience working with him, you’ll witness him lead and strengthen not just his own team, but also cross-functional ones. He deeply cares about and fosters an inclusive and collaborative environment where team members feel valued and inspired to contribute their best work.”
Director of Product
WorkFusion
“I highly recommend Mark to any organization seeking a visionary and empathetic leader for their design department. His exceptional skills, combined with their dedication to fostering a collaborative and innovative environment, make him an invaluable asset to any team. Working with Mark has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I am confident that he will continue to achieve outstanding results in the future.”
Senior Product Designer
WorkFusion