Director of Design

I’ve spent nineteen years building products and the teams behind them.

PayPal, Booking.com, Concentrix Catalyst, and the studio I founded in 2019.

19
Years of Experience
32%
Revenue Growth (Marugame)
20x
Campaign Velocity (Booking.com)
282%
New User Increase (Marugame)

A generalist with the knowledge to lead and the passion to build.

I’ve spent nineteen years building products and the teams behind them at Booking.com, PayPal, Microsoft (via Concentrix), and the studio I founded in 2019. I came up through design and engineering before I came up through management, so I still know what it costs the team to ship.

What I think the job is: clear the way for the people doing the work, set the bar for quality, and translate between design, product, and engineering until everyone’s solving the same problem. Whether I’m whiteboarding a new product strategy or writing CSS, I care about every detail.

I founded Stinger Studios in 2019 to bring enterprise-level design thinking to businesses that need it most, from international restaurant chains to local adventure companies.

Meredith Ragsdale, Director of Design

Core Competencies

Design Leadership & Strategy Product Design & Development Lifecycle Design Systems & Component Libraries User Research & Usability Testing Information Architecture A/B Testing & Conversion Optimization Cross-Functional Team Leadership Agile/Scrum & OKRs Global Team Management (35+ direct reports) Mentoring & Talent Development Data-Driven Decision Making Technical Project Management Digital Campaign Management Stakeholder Communication

Experience & Education.

My six years at Booking.com were the most formative of my career. I started as a UX Designer and was quickly promoted to team lead of a multidisciplinary team focused on integrating payment user flows into the ecosystem. I grew into managing 35 direct reports across 8 teams, interviewed and hired over 250 people, and created a “Design for Frontend” course that trained 200+ designers across the organization. Running A/B experiments at a platform processing over 2 million bookings a day taught me that data humbles even the best instincts. One experiment delivered a 100% increase in conversion. Curious what I did? Let’s chat.

That foundation prepared me to found Stinger Studios, where I applied everything I’d learned about research-driven design and performance marketing to help small and mid-size businesses grow, delivering 290% traffic increases and consistent 3:1 return on ad spend. When Concentrix Catalyst came calling, I returned to enterprise scale: first leading a research consulting team embedded with Microsoft. Then, when Concentrix decided to build agentic AI products for its customer-service clients, I moved from the consulting side to lead design for the new internal Product group, with 11 direct reports across 4 product suites, a unified design system, and a ReactJS-integrated component library.

What makes my perspective unique is the combination of a Master’s in Advertising and Communications with deep technical and design knowledge. That blend lets me speak the language of every stakeholder in the room, from engineering and product to marketing and the C-suite, and translate between them to keep teams aligned and moving forward.

I’m looking for a role where I can set design strategy, build and mentor high-performing teams, and bridge the gap between design, engineering, product, and business. The company type matters less to me than the challenge. I want to work on products with global reach, where thoughtful design decisions are felt at scale, or projects that give back to our communities and the world in a meaningful way. If that resonates, I’d love to connect.

Experience

Sr. Group Manager, Experience Design
Concentrix Catalyst
Sep 2022 – Sep 2025 · Remote
Spent the first 18 months leading a research consulting team embedded with Microsoft, then moved internally to lead design for a new agentic AI product group: 11 direct reports across 4 product suites and a ReactJS-integrated design system built from scratch.
Founder & Principal Experience Designer
Stinger Studios
Apr 2019 – Sep 2022 · Mebane, NC
Founded a digital design agency delivering UX strategy, web development, and ad campaigns. Grew one client’s traffic 290% in six months and maintained 3:1 ROAS across all accounts.
Director of Product Design
Booking.com
May 2017 – Apr 2019 · Amsterdam, NL
Led the design and engineering of the Dynamic Creative Tool, taking campaign delivery from one every six weeks to twenty per week (20x velocity). Bridged Marketing Communications and Tech across fifty-plus stakeholders.
Senior Manager, Design and Development
Booking.com
Dec 2015 – May 2017 · Amsterdam, NL
Led 35 direct reports across 8 teams of designers, researchers, frontend and backend engineers. Scaled the org 120% through global recruiting and hired 250+ during hyper-growth.
UX Design Lead
Booking.com
Mar 2013 – Dec 2015 · Amsterdam, NL
Led the integration of a third-party payments platform into the booking flow. Created the ‘Design for Frontend’ course for 200+ designers and ran usability testing, persona development, and A/B tests across the funnel.
Earlier Roles
UX Design Lead at Duda (Palo Alto) · UX Designer at PayPal (Baltimore) · 2007–2013

Education

Master of Arts, Advertising
University of Texas
2010 – 2012 · Austin, TX
Master Certificate, Digital Multimedia & Web Design
The Johns Hopkins University
2006 – 2007 · Baltimore, MD
Bachelor of Science, Advertising
Appalachian State University
1999 – 2003 · Boone, NC

Working with Meredith.

Great design leadership lends space for discovery and learning. I clear the way for great things to happen in a fun, supportive, team-building environment, helping the people around me realize their potential through performance management, growth plans, and enthusiasm.

Meredith is a unique product and digital design leader. She brings empathy, optimism, deep expertise and a lot of grit to the role. At Concentrix she built high-functioning teams, distinguishing herself as a great leader and mentor for designers, developers and basically anyone who crossed her path. She tackles complexity with creativity, rigor and enthusiasm, keeping a high bar for quality and open mind.
Colin O'Neill
CX/DX Strategy & Design Leader
Colin managed Meredith at Concentrix
Meredith is an inspirational leader, a motivational whirlwind, who's knowledge and strength in conviction is rivalled only by her kindness. As a manager you couldn't ask for better, as a design leader you're unlikely to find someone with the same creative energy or passion. Meredith is highly technical when needed and can tell a story to translate complex problems into actionable solutions.
David Bullock
Product Design Lead at Pixaera
David reported to Meredith at Booking.com
Her leadership style is both strategic and supportive. She consistently made sure the team had the clarity, resources, and structure needed to deliver high-quality work. I especially appreciated how she created space for thoughtful discovery, encouraged cross-functional collaboration, and maintained a strong focus on client impact. Meredith brings a rare balance of operational excellence and people-first leadership.
Jesus Guillermo de León Pérez
UX Design and Research Lead
Meredith was senior to Jesus Guillermo at Concentrix
Working with Meredith always feels true and inspiring. She is cheerful and forward looking. When working with Concentrix we had the opportunity to build an impactful optimisation solution and showcase best in class delivery. Meredith was all the time essential to the team building that turned out easy and effective. I truly recommend Meredith as she is a great leader and communicator.
Jacek Ziemski
Senior Designer
Jacek reported to Meredith at Concentrix

Strategy, craft, and measurable outcomes.

Companies I've Worked With

Let's build something together.

I'm currently open to Director of Design, Director of Product Design, and Director of UX roles.

Or connect with me on LinkedIn.