Who is Zach Baker?
Zach Baker is a Lead Product Designer with 8 years designing products end-to-end (product design since 2018). Design is his specialty, but he operates as a full product partner: framing the problem, analyzing the data to find the pattern, running and descoping work with engineering, and shipping — increasingly building and QA'ing alongside AI. He has deep experience in two-sided marketplaces, B2B tools, and transactions/earnings surfaces.
What does he do day to day?
- Product Design
- End-to-end ownership: research → concept → high-fidelity prototype → engineering handoff → ship. The specialty, at a lead level.
- Product Management
- Frames problem areas and prioritizes the highest-leverage one; runs and manages developers; scopes and descopes with engineering to hit dates; drives cross-functional calls, not just mocks.
- Data & Research
- Analyzes product data and session behavior first-hand — reads the numbers, extracts the patterns, and turns user behavior into a design direction. Uses self-service analytics tools day-to-day.
- AI-assisted delivery
- Uses AI across the pipeline — design exploration, front-end development, and QA — to take work from Figma to production faster. Comfortable wearing the design-engineering hat.
- Design systems
- 8+ years working in design systems across Mindbody, ProductPlan, and StyleSeat — most recently owning a tokenized system across two web platforms, so brand and UI changes cascade from one edit instead of a thousand. At Mindbody, partnered with engineering to bring the system up to WCAG 2.0 accessibility.
Which domains has he worked in?
- Two-sided marketplaces (supply + demand, both sides of the transaction)
- B2B / SaaS tools for professional users
- Transactions, payments, deposits, and earnings/payouts
- Consumer mobile + desktop web at scale
What roles is he a fit for?
- Lead / Staff Product Designer
- Design lead who also owns product strategy
- Founding / generalist designer at an early-stage marketplace or B2B product
- Design-engineering hybrid roles
Zach is open to these roles now. He can be reached at zachary.jc.baker@gmail.com or on LinkedIn.