Design that connects user experience to business outcomes

I help founders and product teams make critical product decisions through strategic UX, product thinking, and execution that actually moves the business forward.

Clarity before execution

Most products don’t fail because of bad UI.

They fail because teams build the wrong things, in the wrong order, for the wrong reasons.

That’s where I come in.

With 18+ years of experience across startups, scale-ups, and enterprise, I work as a strategic design partner — helping teams decide:

  • What to build

  • What to fix

  • What to ignore

  • And what will actually move revenue, adoption, or retention

Since 2010, I've partnered with growth-stage startups and established brands to bring clarity to product strategy, align execution, and build systems that scale.

I help companies:

Turn vague product ideas into clear, testable product strategy

Great companies don’t fail from lack of ideas — they fail from lack of alignment and validation.

I partner with founders and product leaders to pressure-test raw ideas, identify the highest-leverage opportunity, and translate vision into a strategy the entire team can execute against.

Identify UX decisions that are silently costing revenue

Most revenue leaks don’t look dramatic. They look like small friction points — unclear messaging, confusing flows, misplaced hierarchy, weak onboarding, buried value.

I uncover the subtle UX decisions that quietly suppress conversion, retention, and expansion.

Design systems, flows, and experiences that scale

Most teams design for the next release. I design for the next stage of the company.

I build scalable experience architecture that aligns product, engineering, and business strategy — ensuring the product can evolve without constant redesign or operational drag.

Align design, product, and business goals into one system

When design, product, and business operate in silos, progress slows and decisions conflict.

I bring these functions into alignment by creating a shared system — where user experience, roadmap priorities, and revenue objectives reinforce each other instead of competing.

Zach is a brilliant UX design partner and from the first strategy session we knew he could change the future of our business.

Without question the most consistent feedback we receive is on the simplicity of our product. We can't thank Zach enough. If you are building new tech, learn from our us and add Zach to your team.

Jon
Co-Founder at PayRecs

After Zach was my UX partner while we were evolving the servicing ecosystem at Hopper, particularly around how inbound sales and support were integrated into the mobile app experience.

He consistently paired strong execution with clear strategic thinking—articulating his rationale, incorporating feedback thoughtfully, and aligning design decisions with broader business and customer experience goals. He navigated complex conversations with product and Customer Experience leadership with empathy and clarity, helping drive alignment across teams.

Jim
Product Manager at Hopper

We had the pleasure of working with Zach Smyth on several UX/UI initiatives, and he was an outstanding addition to our team. He brought not only strong execution, but strategic product alignment that made a meaningful impact. We highly recommend him as a UX and product partner and would gladly work with him again.

Ciarda
VP of Product Design at Gartner

After the new experience was implemented, we met with several of our largest clients in New York. Within 15 minutes, everyone was confidently using the product. The clarity and strategic improvements Zach brought made a significant, measurable impact—we couldn’t be more appreciative of his work.

Dave
Founder at Showseeker

How I work

This isn’t “make it look better” work.

Every engagement starts with thinking, not screens.

My process typically includes:

  • Business & product context analysis

  • User behavior and friction mapping

  • Strategic UX decision-making

  • Clear tradeoff documentation (what we don’t build)

  • High-quality UI/UX execution once direction is locked

You don’t just get designs — you get confidence in the direction.

Ways to Work Together

UX Growth Diagnostic

A focused, senior-level analysis of your product to identify the UX & product decisions costing you revenue.

Ideal for:
Founders, PMs, and leadership teams who need clarity before investing more time or money.

Strategic Product & UX Design

End-to-end strategy and execution for new products, complex workflows, or major redesigns.

Ideal for:
Teams building something new — or realizing their current product isn’t scaling.

Fractional Head of Design

Ongoing strategic oversight across product, UX, and design decisions.

Ideal for:
Companies that need senior design leadership without hiring full-time.

A sample of my work — from startup to S&P 500

On-going partnership with Payrecs on future state feature ideation and product concepting to improve discoverability, retention, and engagement.

UX Strategy
UI Execution
Web app

Square co-founder Jim McKelvey’s team approached me to help validate and conceive a new product for a startup that helps people leverage their spending habits.

UX Strategy
UI Execution
iOS app
Web app

Partnering closely with DriveCentric across a number of products, feature sets, and R&D initiatives over years.

iOS app
Web apps
Custom Interfaces
R&D
Product Strategy

Close collaboration with bchex to rethink and redesign their core platforms (chexpass, chex365, & mystory) as a cohesive & integrated experience.

UX Strategy
Web apps
Custom Interfaces
UI Execution

Working with the founder of BetterGood to roll out more intuitive experience, new visual redesign, design system work for the go-to solution for organizations looking to focus on streamlining community engagement.

UX Strategy
UI Execution
Design System
Web app

An on-going partnership with Volunteer Hub to help them create the most comprehensive and user-friendly volunteer management software.

UX Strategy
UI Execution
Design System
Web apps

Top to bottom roll out of new branding and elevated UX/UI design to help CartStack become a state of the art multichannel cart abandonment & customer recovery campaign software

UX Strategy
UI Execution
Design System
Custom Interfaces
Web apps

Partnering closely with Chatsi founder to conceive an innovative new form of shopping AI that cleanly integrates with Shopify

UX Strategy
UI Execution
Design System
Custom Interfaces

Closely collaborating with the Chronicle Medical team to delivering MVPs from concept to dev ready designs

UX Strategy
UI Execution
Design System
Web apps

Partnering with Ellavox founding team to work through complex AI interfaces to redesign and elevate their web app experience while making an intuitive core flow that matched their vision

UX Strategy
Product Strategy
UI Execution
Design System
Web app

Close collaboration inclusive of a evolving Everblue’s new product through UX Strategy. Also provided UX/UI services to help their users monitor and quickly complete the collaboration of home energy rebates

UX Strategy
Product Strategy
UI Execution
Design System
Web app

Partnering closely with one of the top business insight and executive decision making platform on a number of products and feature sets.

UX Strategy
UI Execution
Web apps

Working with the team at ExF to roll out a category-defining brand to the new Gilley’s Casino website.

Website
Conversion design

Conceiving an innovative new AI product for Gloo’s users to harness the power of AI for a Higher Purpose

UX Strategy
MVP Concepts
UI Execution

Collaborating closely with Hoppers’ in-house product teams on design ideation, research, and strategy for their trip insurance products

UX Strategy
UX Research
UI Execution
iOS app
Web app

A mobile overhaul for the category-leading powerlifting app, featuring new features and a progressive design roadmap to boost engagement and user longevity.

UX Strategy
UX Research
UI Execution
iOS app

Going from concept to MVP iOS product for Kindbridge Behavioral Health to aid in treatment of mental health issues and behavioral challenges

UX Strategy
Product Strategy
Design System
iOS app
UI Execution
Design Leadership

Redesigning Labcorp’s digital ecosystem and vision to support growing offerings and products. The result: a clearer experience and lifts across checkout, product searching, and cart performance.

UX Strategy
Design System
Conversion Optimization
UI Execution
Conversion Leadership

Building a new mobile experience for the platform making POS ordering easier, including reimagined dashboards, streamlined order flows, and a new feature that helps restaurants better serve their guests.

UX Strategy
Product Strategy
Design System
iOS app
UI Execution

Rapid transformation and reconstruction of the wealth management platform. Recently acquired by Parlor.

UX Strategy
Design System
iOS app
UI Execution

Partnering with the founding team to conceive an innovative new a cloud-based order management system. Since acquired by Spectrum

UX Strategy
Design System
Design Leadership
UI Execution
Web app

Creating a new visually engaging and high converting website for Snagajob and elevates core product experiences.

UX Strategy
Web Design
UI Execution
Web app

Partnered with Velou to create intuitive experiences to turns static catalogs into agent-ready product data, supercharging ads, search, and personalization as autonomous shopping agents reshape the path to purchasing

UX Strategy
Web app
UI execution
Product design

Ready to make smarter product decisions?

© 2026 ZSmyth LLC

Made in St. Louis MO