# Gunther Eisen (Gonçalo Ferraz) **Design Strategist | UX Strategist | Product Discovery Lead** hello@faberludens.pro · linkedin.com/in/goncaloferraz Portfolio: github.com/faberludens-pro/portfolio Brazil · 100% Remote · EST-compatible Phone: +55 (41) 999-031-789 · [WhatsApp](/whats ) --- ## Professional Summary Design Strategist with 20+ years of experience defining what gets built and when — through structured discovery, stakeholder facilitation, information architecture, and product roadmaps. I move cross-functional teams from ambiguity to focused execution in Agile and Scrum environments across enterprise SaaS, B2B platforms, legal tech, healthcare, and financial services. I build BRDs, sitemaps, user flows, and lo-fi prototypes using Figma and existing design systems. I lead discovery workshops and Design Sprints. I run lightweight research — interviews, usability testing, validation — to de-risk investment decisions before engineering begins. I know when to engage specialist designers and researchers, and I ensure early designer involvement to reduce downstream rework. Full professional English (C1, ETS TOEIC 955/990). Available for a 40-hour, EST-schedule, full-time contract engagement. --- ## Core Skills Product Roadmaps · BRDs · Information Architecture · Sitemaps · User Flows · Product Discovery · Stakeholder Alignment Workshops · Design Sprints · Desirability / Feasibility / Viability Prioritisation · Lo-fi Prototyping · Design System Literacy · Backlog Structuring · Usability Testing · Qualitative Research · ResearchOps · DesignOps · WCAG / Accessibility · Agile · Scrum · Cross-functional Collaboration **Tools:** Figma · Miro · Maze · FigJam · Dovetail · Notion · Airtable · Confluence · Jira --- ## Professional Experience ### Faber-Ludens Pro — Principal Design Strategist & Consultant **January 2013 – Present · Brazil (Remote)** --- #### Coopers Digital *(August 2025 – Present)* *Design Strategist — Ecosystem Unification* A major enterprise client operated a fragmented digital ecosystem — multiple internal and external systems built without architectural coherence — producing operational inefficiency and a broken user experience across every touchpoint. - Mapped the full digital ecosystem through stakeholder interviews and system analysis - Produced unified information architecture (IA) and interaction pattern library aligned to the existing design system - Facilitated executive alignment sessions presenting the strategic framework to senior leadership using Figma prototypes and lo-fi service maps - Framework adopted as the foundation for a multi-year digital transformation initiative - Projected outcome: 40% reduction in user navigation time --- #### State Bar Association — Portal Ecosystem Unification *(2025)* *Design Strategist — Discovery & IA* A professional association serving 50,000+ legal professionals maintained four disconnected digital environments with independent authentication, navigation logic, and visual identity. - Audited 140+ services and forms; produced complete service inventory and sitemap - Ran heuristic evaluation establishing baseline score of 6.2/10, documenting 12 critical violations - Facilitated stakeholder prioritisation workshops to resolve competing departmental claims through weighted scoring — the core strategy and discovery deliverable - Designed three-tier information architecture for public visitors, transitional users, and practising attorneys; produced detailed user flows for each segment - Delivered BRD and prioritised backlog ready for engineering commitment - **Reframed the project from a visual redesign into a structural argument about organisational change** — the most significant design strategy contribution of the engagement - Projected outcomes: consolidation of 4 authentication systems into 1; 40% reduction in first-level support volume --- #### MadeiraMadeira — Ethnographic Research & Product Direction *(June–August 2019)* *UX Strategist* Conducted contextual discovery research for one of Brazil's largest home furnishing e-commerce platforms; produced strategic recommendations that directly shaped the company's physical product strategy. - Conducted in-home field interviews and contextual observation, mapping the full purchase decision journey from awareness to post-delivery - Central finding: spatial visualisation was the primary purchase barrier; 2D product photography could not bridge the gap between representation and spatial reality - Within months of delivery, client launched a network of physical guide shops — a direct product strategy response to the discovery findings - Company reached 100 locations and unicorn status ($1B+ valuation) in 2021 #### MovSmart / Pró-Treino — Mobile App IA *(2017)* *Information Architect — Android* Designed the complete information architecture for a fitness training Android application — exercise library, training plan builder, workout history, performance summaries, messaging, and evaluation flows. - Produced full-scope IA map covering all user states and content types for the Athlete role - Defined navigation patterns, screen hierarchy, and content relationships across 15+ functional sections - Deliverable used as the structural brief for UI design and development --- **Selected clients:** Bain & Company, Grupo Boticário, and a range of startups and agencies across financial services, healthcare, telecom, and retail. --- ### Newfold Digital — Senior UX Researcher & Product Designer **January 2022 – April 2025 · United States (Remote)** Led research and product strategy in Agile/Scrum teams across HostGator, Web.com, and Bluehost — global web hosting and SaaS brands with North American and LATAM users. - **Navigation Redesign (2023):** Translated conversion failure into a four-method discovery programme — competitive benchmarking, user interviews, card sort, and Figma prototype validated in 18 moderated usability sessions on responsive web. Prototype rated 4/5 (Much Better) against live platform and two competitors. Architecture shipped to production in 2025. - **Domain Management (2025):** Designed and led a two-round moderated usability study of redesigned flows. Created lo-fi concepts in Figma within the existing multi-brand design system before any engineering sprint began. Round one surfaced 7 critical issues; all 5 priority design fixes implemented before development. Round two confirmed corrections held. - **Product Designer role:** Produced lo-fi concepts, interaction specs, and design system-aligned prototypes in Figma for web and responsive mobile experiences across the HostGator and Web.com product portfolios. - **Platform Migration (2024):** Synthesised 999 unstructured customer responses across 3 data streams plus live interviews. Findings directly shaped Q4 2024 and Q1 2025 product roadmaps. - Built ResearchOps infrastructure that standardised insight delivery across Scrum product teams; reduced research cycle time by 40%. --- ### Pipefy — Senior UX Researcher / Product Discovery Lead **March 2020 – July 2021 · United States (Remote)** Led discovery and strategy research for a B2B SaaS workflow automation platform (HR and Finance teams, North American market); operating as the de facto research lead in an Agile product organisation. - Designed and executed 100-session discovery programme over six months (64 prospect + 36 customer/churner interviews) - Mid-programme pivot: redirected Phase 2 from churn diagnosis to activation science after identifying the platform had not yet formally defined its High-Value Actions - Defined Automations, Public Form, and Email Templates as primary retention drivers - Recommended — and validated — two onboarding paths: self-service product-led growth (SMB) and sales-assisted model (enterprise), segmented by fundamentally different user motivations - Contributed to product redesign: simplified onboarding via Figma prototypes, surfaced high-value features earlier in the activation journey, replaced blocking walkthrough with contextual nudges - Delivered prioritised backlog and strategic framework to product and engineering leadership; shaped next two quarters of roadmap - **2021 outcomes:** platform doubled ARR; raised $75M Series C. Investors explicitly cited the segmentation this discovery defined. - Built the organisation's first centralised ResearchOps system; mentored product and marketing members in applied research methods --- ### Mentores Digital — UX Strategist & Design Sprint Facilitator **October 2016 – March 2020 · Curitiba, Brazil** Strategic UX consulting and Design Sprint facilitation for a digital product agency across retail, healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing clients. - Facilitated **15+ Design Sprints** — taking cross-functional teams from problem definition to a Figma-prototyped, tested solution in five working days - Led product discovery, information architecture, user flow design, and stakeholder alignment on each engagement - Designed **mobile app** user flows, wireframes, and interaction specs for native applications — including a B2B jewelry sales app (Be Next: vendor client management, catalog, orders, payments) and a fitness platform (alongside web engagements) - Delivered scoped product definitions and prioritised backlogs ready for implementation commitment --- ### Bradesco Seguros — Senior UX Researcher & Team Leader **August 2019 – February 2020 · Curitiba, Brazil** Led mobile app design team at one of Brazil's largest insurance and financial services groups. - Introduced DesignOps processes that reduced feature delivery cycle by 20% - Oversaw design and launch of 3 new mobile application features with measured engagement improvement - Mentored junior and mid-level designers embedded in Scrum teams --- ### Mercafacil — Information Architect **May 2018 – April 2019 · Curitiba, Brazil** Redesigned IA for a B2B retail loyalty SaaS platform and its companion mobile app. - Research workshops surfaced navigation and taxonomy failures; redesigned user flows, sitemaps, content hierarchy, and interface copy - Validated revised structure through usability testing using Figma prototypes - Outcomes: 30% higher app store rating; 50% reduction in navigation-related support tickets --- ## Academic & Teaching Leadership ### Faber-Ludens Institute for Interaction Design — Co-founder & Executive Director **July 2007 – February 2018 · Curitiba, Brazil** Co-founded **Brazil's first institution dedicated exclusively to Interaction Design and UX** — built curriculum, managed graduate programme, supervised 12 research projects, held P&L responsibility for 11 years. Thousands of graduates now hold senior roles throughout the Brazilian tech industry. **University Teaching (2003–2020):** Tenured and invited professor at eight Brazilian universities — UX, Information Architecture, Ergonomics, HCI, and Design Research. --- ## Education - MA, Education (coursework and research completed) · PUCPR · 2015–2016 · CAPES Scholar - Certificate, Creative Direction with Digital Media · UC San Diego · 2001–2002 - Graduate Diploma, Marketing · PUCPR · 1999 - Bachelor, Industrial Design (Graphic Design) · UNOPAR · 1995–1998 --- ## Certifications & Recognition - NN/g UX Management Specialization: **Lean UX & Agile** · **Rapid UX Research for Lean and Agile Teams** · Analytics & UX · Design Leadership (2020–2021) - LinkedIn Learning: **UX Research for Agile Teams** · UX Research: International Projects (2022) - ETS TOEIC C1 English Proficiency · 955/990 (2013) - W3C Brasil — Co-author, Web Accessibility Guide (WCAG); National Web Accessibility Award Juror (2012) --- ## Languages Portuguese (Native) · English (Full Professional — C1, ETS TOEIC 955/990) · Spanish (Intermediate reading)