Steph Kotula




Steph is a Product Designer based in Brooklyn. Currently making cool stuff at NOVA and adjunct teaching at Maryland Institute College of Art.




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ABOUT

Currently a Lead Designer at NOVA, working on an early-stage product connecting creatives and those who hire them. I love the intersection of business and design and enjoy the high-impact, scrappy nature of start-ups.

I’m a design generalist moving fluidly between brand, web, and product. I teach user experience design at the Maryland Institute College of ArtPreviously, I spent time at two early-stage startups, Luxury Presence and Dorsal Health. Before that, I was at Instrument, working with clients like Marriott, Salesforce, and Epic Games.


NOVA2024
CURRENT
At NOVA, I led the design of our first web platform, translating a native mobile experience into a responsive, intuitive web app. I’ve designed key experiences, including hiring workflows, job posting, project publishing, and the job application process.

In addition to launching subscription and monetization flows for NOVA Pro, I’ve refined onboarding and invitation experiences, contributed to our rebrand, and helped establish the foundation for the NOVA Wallet. Most recently, I’ve been designing reward-based gamification to celebrate user wins and deepen engagement.

My work spans UX strategy, product thinking, visual design, cross-functional collaboration, and vision. I work fluidly across platforms, designing for both web and iOS to ensure a cohesive experience.


Luxury Presence2023–20241.5 YEARs
Redesigning various tools for real estate agents. A highlight project included redesigning an entire home search tool. I collaborated closely with a product and engineering manager to introduce 20+ improvements across the tool, improving search, filtering, map browsing, and more. Other work involved designing tools for real estate agents, allowing them to better collaborate with buyers and sellers. 


Dorsal Health2022–2023
1.5 YEARS
As the first hire at a pre-seed, cutting-edge tele-health startup aimed at helping individuals with chronic pain find relief, I led many pivotal projects.  First, a large rebranding effort aimed at striking the right balance between approachable and trusted, and modern and fresh. 

I also led the design of a web application and a mobile application aimed at providing chronic pain services, such as physical therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy, through a multi-person care team. I collaborated with one other designer and an engineering team.


Epic GamesINSTRUMENT – 2021
6 MONTHS
Worked on two project initiatives for Epic Games. The first initiative: to unify their notification panel. Over time, different notification types created by various teams lost consistency. The second initiative: to improve and revamp the UX of moving products back and forth between the shopping cart and wishlist. 


Capital OneINSTRUMENT – 2021
3 MONTHS
Redesigned a series of marketing pages for Capital One’s AI assistant, Eno with a focus on storytelling Eno’s capabilities. Focused on MVP near-term variants using Capital One’s component library as well as future-state vision page designs.   


SalesforceINSTRUMENT – 2020
12 MONTHS
Worked on two major Salesforce initiatives. First, a brand evolution project that refreshed the company’s core visual language, integrating themes of product, people, and planet. Second, a redesign of the Salesforce blog, introducing categories and tagging for easier navigation, elevating author voices and creating a reusable design system.


Marriott BonvoyINSTRUMENT – 2019
12 MONTHS
Re-designed Marriott’s mobile app and a component-based design system to unify 30+ hotel brands and highlight the Bonvoy loyalty program. Created a contextual travel experience that adapts to each stage of a guest’s journey while letting individual brands shine. Native prototyping and motion studies helped refine interactions and ensure a polished, accessible experience across iOS and Android.

View case study


SonosINSTRUMENT – 2019 
6 WEEKS
Worked on a series of content projects, including mobile app banners, advertisements, promotions, website pages, emails, and other marketing tidbits.


CannondaleINSTRUMENT – 2018
9 MONTHS
Assisted with the design of Cannondale.com with an emphasis on e-commerce best practices and refreshed the visual identity, giving Cannondale a new, sporty, fresh look.