KURT_DAHLSTROM
AVAILABLE · MADISON, WI
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RESUME / CHOOSE A VERSION

Product Designer, Creative Director & Founder

Product and UX design, brand and marketing, founder-level ownership

I've spent 25+ years designing products and the brands around them, from E*TRADE's trading platform to IoT dashboards, PLM software and a field app for land surveyors. I've been the lead (often sole) designer embedded with development teams, a creative and marketing director, and a four-time founder. I'm most useful where a product is complex, the users are busy, and design, brand and engineering need one person who can hold all three.

↓ DOWNLOAD PDF · GENERAL
DESIGN THAT LASTS
Key designer on E*TRADE's core trading interface, in use for 20+ years.
DATA-HEAVY UX
Cut Ubicquia's path to key data from 6–8 clicks to 4 for ~500 customers.
GROWTH
Product and creative lead for memeTV: 50M+ views, a Top 6 iTunes app.
BUILDER
Co-founder of ZiaMap, now live; design systems at Duro and Surefront.
EXPERIENCE
Nov 2025 – Present
Remote
Co-Founder & CMO · ZiaMap
  • Lead product design, marketing and customer experience; shaped the core workflows: GPS-tagged field capture, voice-to-text notes, a PLS review-and-accept flow, and an offline-first PWA that stores field data on the device and syncs when signal returns.
  • Took the product from beta (May 2026) to live launch.
  • Built a LinkedIn content engine for the surveying audience: posts reaching ~24k impressions each and a weekly long-form newsletter, "Straight and Level."
Jan 2025 – Present
Wisconsin
Founder · 8forty
  • Website design and development, SEO and marketing automation for small businesses and local contractors.
Feb 2024 – Jun 2025
Part-time, hybrid
Marketing Director · Shanghai Community International School
  • Reported to the Head of School; led marketing and communications across three international campuses and a team of four marketers.
  • Directed the external website redesign, from strategy through vendor selection.
Feb 2023 – Feb 2025
Part-time, hybrid
Social Media Director · Shanghai Wolves (CNFL)
  • Ran social strategy for the three-time CNFL champion American football team across Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X and WeChat.
Jul 2023 – Dec 2024
Contract, remote
Product Designer · Surefront (PLM + PIM + CRM)
  • Led UX/UI design for a combined PIM, CRM and PLM product; managed the design system and wrote handoff documentation for developers.
  • Conceived and launched a charting feature that surfaces insights from product data.
Feb 2022 – Jul 2023
Los Angeles
Senior UX/UI Designer · Duro
  • Took the UI from proof of concept to a full, modern product experience.
  • Introduced and built an Atomic Design system and led the full responsive app redesign.
Nov 2020 – Feb 2022
Remote
Freelance UX/UI & Graphic Designer
Jul 2018 – Oct 2020
Fort Lauderdale
Director of User Experience · Ubicquia
  • Sole creative resource; led the UX overhaul of an IoT smart-lighting control app used by ~500 customers, cutting the path to key data from 6–8 clicks to 4.
  • Led on-shore development teams through sprints and deliverables.
  • Brought trade-show booth and collateral design in-house, saving $75K+.
Aug 2015 – Sep 2018
SF Bay Area
Head of Design & Founder · Givv / GrowRoom
  • Founded and designed two consumer apps from concept through launch: GrowRoom, a crowdfunding app (first Gateway Incubator cohort), then Givv, a round-up charitable-giving app.
Dec 2010 – May 2015
Emeryville
Head of Product & Creative Director · memeTV (formerly ConnecTV)
  • Owned product and creative direction for a social TV app: 50M+ views and a Top 6 app in the iTunes store.
  • Co-managed on- and off-shore development teams; delivered co-branded integrations with Fox, Showtime, Evite and ET.
Oct 2000 – Dec 2009
Menlo Park
Multimedia and Visual Designer · E*TRADE Financial
  • Key designer on E*TRADE's core trading interface, in use for 20+ years; redesigned Power E*TRADE, an acquired desktop trading app, to match the web product.
  • Early UX/UI for E*TRADE Bank and features for E*TRADE.com.
  • Presentations and annual reports for the CEO and Investor Relations.
Jan 2000 – Oct 2000
Art Director · Redladder
  • UI/UX for a construction bidding platform hosting $20B in projects, including digital bid distribution and subcontractor invitations.
SKILLS
Design
product design, UX/UI, design systems (Atomic Design), dashboards and data visualization, prototyping, responsive design, developer handoff
Brand & marketing
brand strategy, go-to-market, content and thought-leadership marketing, social media (incl. WeChat, RedNote), SEO, trade show and events
Leadership
four-time founder; led design, development and marketing teams; vendor and agency management; executive and IR presentations
Tools
Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe XD, Zeplin, Brevo, Buffer, Claude Code
Education
Coe College · Business

Senior Product & UX Designer

Complex B2B software, design systems, data-heavy interfaces

Product and UX designer with 25+ years making complex, high-stakes software usable. I've been the lead (often sole) designer embedded with development teams on fintech trading platforms, IoT control dashboards, PLM/PIM SaaS and field-documentation tools for licensed surveyors. I work from sketches and wireframes through high-fidelity mockups, interactive prototypes and dev-ready handoff, and I've built design systems that keep large products consistent.

↓ DOWNLOAD PDF · UX / UI
DATA-HEAVY UX AT SCALE
Redesigned Ubicquia's IoT control app around dashboard tiles and pole-level maps: 6–8 clicks to key data down to 4.
DESIGN THAT LASTS
Key designer on E*TRADE's core trading interface, in use for 20+ years.
DESIGN SYSTEMS
Built an Atomic Design system at Duro; managed the system for Surefront's PLM/PIM/CRM product.
FIELD-TESTED
Designed ZiaMap's offline-first field app for land surveyors, from beta to live.
EXPERIENCE
Nov 2025 – Present
Remote
Co-Founder & CMO · ZiaMap
  • Lead product design, marketing and customer experience; shaped the core workflows: GPS-tagged field capture, voice-to-text notes, a PLS review-and-accept flow, and an offline-first PWA that stores field data on the device and syncs when signal returns.
  • Took the product from beta (May 2026) to live launch.
Jan 2025 – Present
Wisconsin
Founder · 8forty
  • Website design and development, SEO and marketing automation for small businesses and local contractors.
Jul 2023 – Dec 2024
Contract, remote
Product Designer · Surefront (PLM + PIM + CRM)
  • Led UX/UI design for a combined PIM, CRM and PLM product; managed the design system and wrote handoff documentation for developers.
  • Conceived and launched a charting feature that surfaces insights from product data.
  • Designed a marketplace module for two-way discovery of products, manufacturers and companies.
  • Supported a Carnegie Mellon intern design team.
Feb 2022 – Jul 2023
Los Angeles
Senior UX/UI Designer · Duro
  • Took the UI from proof of concept to a full, modern product experience.
  • Introduced and built an Atomic Design system and led the full responsive app redesign.
  • Designed the serialization module from concept to handoff; set up the Zeplin handoff process.
Nov 2020 – Feb 2022
Remote
Freelance UX/UI & Graphic Designer
Jul 2018 – Oct 2020
Fort Lauderdale
Director of User Experience · Ubicquia
  • Sole creative resource; led the UX overhaul of an IoT smart-lighting control app used by ~500 customers, cutting the path to key data from 6–8 clicks to 4.
  • Replaced a patchwork of embedded tools with color-coded, data-agnostic dashboard tiles and pole-level map views; research included customer calls, surveys, support tickets and ride-alongs with field crews.
  • Led on-shore development teams through sprints and deliverables.
Aug 2015 – Sep 2018
SF Bay Area
Head of Design & Founder · Givv / GrowRoom
  • Founded and designed two consumer apps from concept through launch: GrowRoom, a crowdfunding app (first Gateway Incubator cohort), then Givv, a round-up charitable-giving app.
Dec 2010 – May 2015
Emeryville
Head of Product & Creative Director · memeTV (formerly ConnecTV)
  • Owned product and creative direction for a social TV app: 50M+ views and a Top 6 app in the iTunes store.
  • User testing showed every user opted out of a planned auto-post-to-Twitter feature; redesigned sharing around the individual message instead.
Oct 2000 – Dec 2009
Menlo Park
Multimedia and Visual Designer · E*TRADE Financial
  • Key designer on E*TRADE's core trading interface, in use for 20+ years; redesigned Power E*TRADE, an acquired desktop trading app, to match the web product.
  • Early UX/UI for E*TRADE Bank and features for E*TRADE.com.
Jan 2000 – Oct 2000
Art Director · Redladder
  • UI/UX for a construction bidding platform hosting $20B in projects, including digital bid distribution and subcontractor invitations.
SKILLS
UX & product design
user research, information architecture, sketching, wireframing, high-fidelity mockups, interactive prototyping, dashboard and data-visualization UX, responsive design
Systems & handoff
design systems (Atomic Design), developer handoff documentation, Zeplin
Domains
fintech and trading, IoT and smart cities, PLM/PIM SaaS, AEC and land surveying, social TV
Tools
Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe XD, Zeplin, Claude Code
Education
Coe College · Business

Creative & Marketing Director

Brand, go-to-market, content and social, with a product designer's eye

Creative and marketing leader with 25+ years across brand, content, social and go-to-market, backed by deep product-design experience. I've run marketing for a three-campus international school, built a B2B content engine for land surveyors from zero, led social for a championship sports team, and owned brand and product marketing for an IoT company. I make the work myself (design, photo, video, copy) and I lead the teams and vendors who scale it.

↓ DOWNLOAD PDF · MARKETING
B2B CONTENT ENGINE
Built ZiaMap's LinkedIn presence for surveyors: posts reaching ~24k impressions each, plus a weekly newsletter.
MULTI-CAMPUS MARKETING
Led marketing, a team of four and the website redesign for a three-campus international school.
COST SAVINGS
Brought Ubicquia's trade-show booth and collateral in-house, saving $75K+.
CONSUMER GROWTH
Creative lead for memeTV: 50M+ views, a Top 6 iTunes app, Fox and Showtime partnerships.
EXPERIENCE
Nov 2025 – Present
Remote
Co-Founder & CMO · ZiaMap
  • Took the product from beta (May 2026) to live launch.
  • Lead marketing, growth and go-to-market, positioning against enterprise vendors for the 53,823 US civil and survey firms with fewer than 20 employees.
  • Built a LinkedIn content engine for the surveying audience: posts reaching ~24k impressions each and a weekly long-form newsletter, "Straight and Level."
Jan 2025 – Present
Wisconsin
Founder · 8forty
  • Digital marketing agency for small businesses and local contractors: website design and development, AI and local SEO, Google Business Profile, AI marketing automation, social and content, and lead generation.
Feb 2024 – Jun 2025
Part-time, hybrid
Marketing Director · Shanghai Community International School
  • Reported to the Head of School; led marketing and communications across three international campuses and a team of four marketers.
  • Aligned marketing with enrollment goals alongside the Director of Admissions; managed ad budgets and multi-channel campaigns across Facebook, LinkedIn, WeChat and Xiaohongshu (RedNote).
  • Directed the external website redesign, from strategy through vendor selection.
Feb 2023 – Feb 2025
Part-time, hybrid
Social Media Director · Shanghai Wolves (CNFL)
  • Ran social strategy for the three-time CNFL champion American football team across Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X and WeChat.
  • Produced graphics, photo and video; used analytics to tune the content mix and automated scheduling.
Nov 2020 – Feb 2022
Remote
Freelance UX/UI & Graphic Designer
Jul 2018 – Oct 2020
Fort Lauderdale
Director of User Experience · Ubicquia
  • Owned product marketing and unified the brand with Marketing across digital, social, event and print.
  • Brought trade-show booth and collateral design in-house, saving $75K+.
  • Directed third-party video and drone crews.
Aug 2015 – Sep 2018
SF Bay Area
Head of Design & Founder · Givv / GrowRoom
  • Founded and designed two consumer apps from concept through launch: GrowRoom, a crowdfunding app (first Gateway Incubator cohort), then Givv, a round-up charitable-giving app.
Dec 2010 – May 2015
Emeryville
Head of Product & Creative Director · memeTV (formerly ConnecTV)
  • Owned product and creative direction for a social TV app: 50M+ views and a Top 6 app in the iTunes store.
  • Co-managed on- and off-shore development teams; delivered co-branded integrations with Fox, Showtime, Evite and ET.
  • Led the acquisition of TweetTV for real-time Twitter integration.
Feb 2008 – 2010
SF Bay Area
New Media Designer · kurt dahlstrom | DESIGN
  • E-commerce and social-awareness campaigns, pitches and editorial work for agencies and companies.
Jun 2002 – 2010
Photographer · Motorsport.com
  • Editorial and corporate motorsport photography (NASCAR, Champ Car, ALMS); clients included Mullen and QuestFore.
Oct 2000 – Dec 2009
Menlo Park
Multimedia and Visual Designer · E*TRADE Financial
  • Led a team producing corporate video and live events: stockholder meetings, webinars and leadership conferences; multimedia for banking centers in New York and San Francisco.
  • Presentations and annual reports for the CEO and Investor Relations.
Jan 2000 – Oct 2000
Art Director · Redladder
  • Built the design and development teams; managed an outside agency through the rebrand.
SKILLS
Marketing
brand strategy, go-to-market, positioning, content and thought-leadership marketing, email, SEO and local SEO, paid campaigns, AI marketing automation
Social
Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, X, WeChat, Xiaohongshu (RedNote); analytics-driven optimization and scheduling
Creative
graphic design, photography, video direction, presentations, trade show and event design, website design
Tools
Adobe Creative Cloud, Figma, DaVinci Resolve, Brevo, Buffer, Claude Code
Education
Coe College · Business

Design Director & Head of Design

Owning product and brand, leading design and development teams

Design leader and four-time founder with 25+ years owning both the product and the brand. I've been the sole creative lead at an IoT company, head of product and creative at a consumer app with 50M+ views, and co-founder and CMO of a field-documentation platform. I build design systems and processes that keep design and development in the same feedback loop, and I'm comfortable reporting to the CEO, leading teams and managing agencies.

↓ DOWNLOAD PDF · DESIGN LEADERSHIP
PRODUCT + BRAND OWNER
Sole creative lead at Ubicquia across product UX, brand and product marketing.
CONSUMER GROWTH
Head of Product & Creative at memeTV: 50M+ views, a Top 6 iTunes app, the TweetTV acquisition.
SYSTEMS AND PROCESS
Introduced Atomic Design at Duro and kept design and development building from the same parts.
FOUNDER
Four-time founder; co-founder and CMO of ZiaMap, now live.
EXPERIENCE
Nov 2025 – Present
Remote
Co-Founder & CMO · ZiaMap
  • Lead product design, marketing and customer experience; shaped the core workflows: GPS-tagged field capture, voice-to-text notes, a PLS review-and-accept flow, and an offline-first PWA that stores field data on the device and syncs when signal returns.
  • Took the product from beta (May 2026) to live launch.
  • Lead marketing, growth and go-to-market, positioning against enterprise vendors for the 53,823 US civil and survey firms with fewer than 20 employees.
Jan 2025 – Present
Wisconsin
Founder · 8forty
  • Website design and development, SEO and marketing automation for small businesses and local contractors.
Feb 2024 – Jun 2025
Part-time, hybrid
Marketing Director · Shanghai Community International School
  • Reported to the Head of School; led marketing and communications across three international campuses and a team of four marketers.
  • Directed the external website redesign, from strategy through vendor selection.
Jul 2023 – Dec 2024
Contract, remote
Product Designer · Surefront (PLM + PIM + CRM)
  • Led UX/UI design for a combined PIM, CRM and PLM product; managed the design system and wrote handoff documentation for developers.
  • Supported a Carnegie Mellon intern design team.
Feb 2022 – Jul 2023
Los Angeles
Senior UX/UI Designer · Duro
  • Took the UI from proof of concept to a full, modern product experience.
  • Introduced and built an Atomic Design system and led the full responsive app redesign.
Nov 2020 – Feb 2022
Remote
Freelance UX/UI & Graphic Designer
Jul 2018 – Oct 2020
Fort Lauderdale
Director of User Experience · Ubicquia
  • Sole creative resource; led the UX overhaul of an IoT smart-lighting control app used by ~500 customers, cutting the path to key data from 6–8 clicks to 4.
  • Led on-shore development teams through sprints and deliverables.
  • Owned product marketing and unified the brand with Marketing across digital, social, event and print.
  • Brought trade-show booth and collateral design in-house, saving $75K+.
Aug 2015 – Sep 2018
SF Bay Area
Head of Design & Founder · Givv / GrowRoom
  • Founded and designed two consumer apps from concept through launch: GrowRoom, a crowdfunding app (first Gateway Incubator cohort), then Givv, a round-up charitable-giving app.
Dec 2010 – May 2015
Emeryville
Head of Product & Creative Director · memeTV (formerly ConnecTV)
  • Owned product and creative direction for a social TV app: 50M+ views and a Top 6 app in the iTunes store.
  • Co-managed on- and off-shore development teams; delivered co-branded integrations with Fox, Showtime, Evite and ET.
  • Led the acquisition of TweetTV for real-time Twitter integration.
Oct 2000 – Dec 2009
Menlo Park
Multimedia and Visual Designer · E*TRADE Financial
  • Key designer on E*TRADE's core trading interface, in use for 20+ years; redesigned Power E*TRADE, an acquired desktop trading app, to match the web product.
  • Led a team producing corporate video and live events: stockholder meetings, webinars and leadership conferences; multimedia for banking centers in New York and San Francisco.
  • Presentations and annual reports for the CEO and Investor Relations.
Jan 2000 – Oct 2000
Art Director · Redladder
  • Built the design and development teams; managed an outside agency through the rebrand.
SKILLS
Leadership
design and creative direction, team leadership, on- and off-shore development teams, sprint planning, vendor and agency management, executive and IR presentations
Design
product design, UX/UI, design systems (Atomic Design), dashboards and data visualization, prototyping, developer handoff
Brand & growth
brand strategy, go-to-market, product marketing, content marketing, partnerships
Tools
Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud, Zeplin, Claude Code
Education
Coe College · Business