McLean Donnelly
Design Leader · UX/UI, Product & AI
- Leadership
- AI
- Product & UX
- Standards
- St. Paul, Minnesota
- Email McLean
- mcleandonnelly.com (opens in a new tab)
- linkedin.com/in/mcleandonnelly (opens in a new tab)
Summary
Design leader who builds and scales high-performing teams at the intersection of UX, AI, and business. Led design teams at Shopify, Shutterstock, and Expedia, shipping products used by millions of customers and 2M+ merchants. Hands-on AI expert and MBA who connects design to business strategy, revenue, and growth.
Experience
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Head of Design · Coursedog
- Lead design and accessibility (WCAG 2.1) for a market-leading higher-education platform.
- Design AI systems and agent experiences with Claude and LangSmith, helping lift renewals.
- Introduced AI design-to-code workflows that increased team velocity and reduced bugs.
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UX & AI Consultant
- Consulted for Procter & Gamble, Blue Cross, and Life Time on UX and AI product strategy.
- Guided AI-powered, user-facing product experiences across consumer, health, and fitness.
- Professor at the University of Minnesota; launched the state's first bachelor's degree in UX Design.
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Director, UX Design · Shopify
- Led 30+ designers serving 2M+ merchants; built a management program adopted by 500+.
- Directed UX for search and merchant SEO tools, boosting product discoverability.
- Led design of one of Shopify's most-downloaded plugins, integrated with the Shop app.
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Vice President, UX Design · Shutterstock
- Scaled a 30+ person design team as Shutterstock grew into a $600M public eCommerce business.
- Led design of Webby Award–finalist AI image search; launched Shutterstock Editor.
- Redesigned global navigation in 25 languages, increasing conversion and subscriptions.
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Manager, UX Design · Expedia
- Led redesigns of Flights and Things to Do, optimizing core travel booking flows.
- Launched price alerts and email journeys that grew sign-ups, backed by 100+ A/B tests.
- Managed two design teams and directed UX for the Expedia–Delta partnership.
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Earlier Experience
- UX Designer · CaringBridge 2013 – 2014
- Senior Digital Specialist · Target 2010 – 2012
- Digital Specialist · State of Minnesota 2007 – 2010
Education
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Certificate, Artificial Intelligence, Cornell University
AI strategy, applications & ethics; capstone on AI in education
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MBA, University of St. Thomas
Finance, strategic planning, organizational management · Graduated with honors
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BA, Gettysburg College
Graduated with honors · Assistant Captain, varsity hockey · Study abroad, Rhodes University
