I’m a multidisciplinary designer and jack of all trades. I’m passionate about solving problems and creating change. Previously, I worked at Pinterest and Headspace.
Currently, I work at Cambly.
When I joined Headspace in 2020 to rebuild their design system, I quickly identified a critical issue: the new “Sleep” section had a separate color palette, and users were being blinded by the predominantly white interface before reaching it. Despite not being on any roadmap, I convinced teams across the company to prioritize Dark Mode by sharing a compelling video of the problem in action, filmed in my dark bedroom.
I led engineers and PMs to deliver this work, crafting a cohesive color palette that paired well with Headspace's brand illustrations. The result was a seamless, calming experience that improved user satisfaction and highlighted the impact of thoughtful systems design.
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Businesses are key content creators on Pinterest, but their tools were outdated, unintuitive, and lacked clear performance insights. Drawing on international quantitative and qualitative research, I redesigned the experience for business content creators. The result was a simplified yet powerful set of tools that enabled businesses to better understand their performance, create more confidently, and invest more effectively in advertising.
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Pinterest delivers nearly a billion images daily, curated by an algorithm tailored to each user. But what happens when the algorithm gets it wrong—showing irrelevant or even harmful content? I designed a suite of feedback mechanisms that empowered users to flag problematic content and shape their own algorithm. This work resulted in a 54% reduction in negative app reviews about bad content, increased daily user engagement, and strengthened trust and transparency with users. It garnered press attention and became widely discussed after launch, further establishing Pinterest’s commitment to user control, trust, and transparency.
Press:
ONEZERO
DIGITAL TRENDS
SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY
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For a little over a year and a half I was the main point of contact for the Pinterest Design System. I was able to quickly ramp up my knowledge, becoming the point of contact and subject matter expert at the company. I worked alongside several engineers and two production designers to empower a rapidly expanding team of 40+ designers and 200+ frontend engineers. I was also responsible for re-designing and shipping major updates across our design system. These updates touched every surface of the Pinterest experience across all platforms and drove gains in user engagement and revenue.
Just before I switched to focusing more on product experiences I gathered my knowledge and presented to an audience of over 200 at a design systems conference by Rethink at LinkedIn’s headquarters in San Francisco. See my presentation in the video above!
I’m a designer with experience ranging from print design and identity to product design and research. I was an intern at Manual in 2015 and went on to be head of my graduating class at the University of Washington Design program in 2016. I secured a job offer from Pinterest in San Francisco just before graduating. While at Pinterest, I drove an expansion of the Pinterest Design System and empowered a rapidly expanding team of 40+ designers and 200+ front end engineers. I systematically clarified every major surface of both the web and mobile applications, reduced clutter and drove growth in comprehension, engagement, and revenue. After transitioning to the Core Experience team, I created a suite of experiences to give users control over their recommendation algorithm. After moving back to my hometown of Seattle I switched gears and built the first mobile business analytics tools that resulted in increased content creation and advertiser revenue. I took a year-long sabbatical in 2020, travelling with my partner around South America and the United States. Now I am turning my mind towards activism, mental health, social impact, and climate change. I am actively looking for my next job. If you are interested in talking with me, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
Get in touch: jvzingarelli@gmail.com LINKEDIN INSTAGRAM PINTEREST