About Me

  • Born and currently residing in Orange County, California, but well-traveled, investing much business and leisure in more than 10 countries worldwide.

  • A testimony to my collaboration and partnership, I share my home, dreams, ideas, and three cats with my partner, Sean, a Director of Software and my engineering backstop.

  • Professionally, I prefer to go by my legal name, Katherine. My friends and family call me Katie.

  • If you would like to learn my career origin story, ask me about Neopets. It’s a wild ride from there.

Professional Experience

  • Senior Manager, UX/UI Design | 09/2023–03/2025

    As Stukent's first Product Design leader, I built the UX department from the ground up, shaping digital learning experiences and driving innovation in the EdTech space. I scaled the team from a single designer to a full-stack department, established Stukent's first design system introduced user research/testing, and executed on a plan to improve student engagement.

    My leadership both innovated and increased enterprise adoption of Stukent's Simternships, simulated internships that provide data-driven, real-world learning environments across 30+ disciplines. I also spearheaded cross-departmental collaboration, optimizing Agile workflows and strengthening alignment across the Product and Content verticals, leading to stronger alignment, faster time-to-market, and higher satisfaction for students and professors alike.

  • Product Design Manager | 12/2021–01/2023

    Focused on design strategy and innovation for the Content and Growth product verticals, I strove to elevate the product's user experiences and accelerate business growth. I led the launch of a new content discovery experience, partnering closely with Product Management and Engineering to leverage machine learning to surface better, faster recommendations for content creators, ultimately increasing video and audio downloads by 30%. And in partnering with cross-functional leaders, I defined and executed a new Enterprise business strategy, driving customer conversions and exponentially improved site engagement metrics.

    Beyond product impact, I worked closely with Product leadership to streamline workflows, increase collaboration, and improve internal processes to reduce time-to-market delivery. Last but not least, I grew and mentored a high-performing set of designers on both the Content and Growth product verticals, fostering development across all skill levels and scaling Product Design's influenced within the organization.

  • Manager, Passenger Experience | 07/2017–12/2021

    During my time as the head of the Passenger Experience department, I led the creation of RAVE OS, the latest generation of RAVE, SPI's inflight entertainment system, defining its core features and program specifications. To-date this modular, lightweight but powerful new system serves over 40 million users daily across 30+ international airlines like ANA, Lufthansa, STARLUX, Air New Zealand, and Virgin Atlantic.

    I also enhanced SPI's previous generation of SPI's IFE system, RAVE REMIX, including its mobile applications (iOS and Android). I also launched SPI's first-ever Kids Mode, which was critical in both unlocking key airline contracts and in introducing the importance of user research and usability testing to SPI's leadership.

    Through it all, I had the support of an amazing group of full-stack product designers, who I mentored across UX, UI, and graphic design, leading to higher retention and senior talent growth.

    Outside of product innovation and design leadership, I drove all trade show creative strategies for each year's international trade shows. I also was a member of the Agile Transition Team, who helped implement Large Scale Scrum (LeSS) in order to boost cross-team efficiency and time-to-market delivery.

    Senior UX/UI Designer | 08/2014–06/2017

    Responsible for individual customer programs, I led product design initiatives that took airlines through a 6-9 month branding and configuration process, aligning their business objectives with the RAVE product line. Collaborating with Product Management and Engineering, I helped to develop new, key features for both the seatback and mobile platforms.

    I also established SPI's first component library, streamlined workflows between Design, Product, and Engineering, all of which reduced development churn by ~25%. I also championed accessibility compliance, led design presentations with executives and airline clients, created assets for corporate marketing (such as trade show materials) and co-led the RAVE rebrand effort.

  • Interactive Designer | 10/2012–08/2014

    At Destination Digital, I modernized small business eCommerce experiences, bringing clients' traditionally web-based products into mobile experiences, improving purchase rates by ~10% per client. I created wireframes and high-fidelity mockups, working closely with product managers and developers to ensure on-time, high-quality delivery.

    I worked closely with the development team to mutually improve component libraries, asset management, and software implementation, reducing errors and overall improving efficiency in the design to development process.

Testimonials

  • Kyle Malinda-White, Product Manager

    “Katherine exemplifies what great UX leaders possess: a deep history of knowing one's craft, a dexterity in understanding and corralling good designers to work together and become great, a true knack for collaborating cross-functionally with PMs and engineers, and a deep sense of empathy for the challenges that come with making great product which translates into her focus on better processes and standards.”

  • Jayne Yoon, UX/UI Designer

    “It’s truly rare to come across a manager like Katie — someone who leads with both heart and skill. She made an incredible impact on me and our entire team, not just through her design expertise, but through her thoughtful leadership, encouragement, and real care for everyone she worked with.

    As a designer, she brings creativity, clarity, and a sharp eye for detail that always pushes her team's work to the next level. As a leader, she creates an environment where people feel safe to share ideas, explore, and grow. She's the kind of manager who always makes time for her team by offering meaningful feedback and celebrating even the small wins together.”

  • Ann-Michelle Levangie, Director of Instructional Design

    “What stands out most about Katie is her mindset. As with any company transitioning from start-up to scale-up, we faced our share of challenges. Katie consistently approached those moments with a forward-thinking, customer-focused, and solution-oriented perspective.

    She has the valuable ability to see challenges not as setbacks, but as opportunities to improve systems, experiences, and outcomes — for both users and the business.”

  • Alison Smith, Senior UX Designer

    “Katherine has a far-reaching impact. She has made meaningful changes across department and broader organization. She tirelessly advocates for user-centered solutions, smoother processes, and effective collaboration.

    She has a unique ability to inspire the people around her. I have personally benefited from her wisdom on multiple occasions. She always provides thoughtful answers that keep the bigger picture in mind. She helps everyone on her team feel heard, valued, and supported.”

  • Landon Lung, Senior Software Engineer

    “Katie is a great UX leader. On projects if I have any UX concerns/questions I always felt I could easily go and ask questions. She is very personable and makes you feel comfortable right away. Lots of the questions were more horizontal, and it helped having someone who had the vision for the entire platform in mind.

    The questions ranged from user flows, accessibility, responsive web design and localization. Katie always took the time to hear out my questions and give thoughtful responses to each. The result was a wonderful Engineering and UX collaboration. UX is very important and having someone that understands it is a major asset to any company.”

  • Renee Pavone, UX/UI and Graphic Designer

    “With her ambitious attitude, work ethic, dedication and passion for effective user-centered design, Katherine worked her way up the corporate ladder to take on the prominent and demanding role of Manager of the Passenger Experience UX/UI design team. In this role, she jugged both sets of responsibilities as a Creative Director and as a Manager, while also being an exemplary female lead and mentor to her team.

    Katherine is a natural-born leader and as Manager of the Passenger Experience team, she excelled in her ability to recognize problems and challenges within the organization (and our own department), and face them head-on, with poise and grace. She thinks critically and effectively to find creative solutions to the toughest issues.”

  • Tamara Runtsova, Product Designer

    “I feel very lucky to have had the privilege of working with Katherine. She is an inspiring design leader as well as an attentive and empathetic design manager. Katherine has played a critical role in developing our company’s product vision by leading our strategy discovery workshops and effectively communicating and coordinating with all relevant stakeholders.

    She possesses exceptional interpersonal skills and does an amazing job facilitating great work and making sure all teammates are being supported with all the tools and processes needed to achieve good results. Katherine is taking the time to understand her direct reports and their unique strengths and weaknesses, as well as empowers them to succeed in their roles and pursue their interests.”

  • Scott Carr, VP of Brand Marketing

    “I had the pleasure of working with Katie at Stukent and was continually impressed by her expertise, professionalism, and collaborative spirit. As a UI/UX Manager, she worked closely with marketing to align processes and assets, ensuring our products stood out. Her strategic mindset and positive attitude made her a joy to work with.”

  • Zara Safdar, Senior UX Designer

    “I’m convinced I will never have a manager as attentive and understanding as Katherine Kusuda. Since I first met her, I’ve been blown away by her professional grace and confidence in the face of all the challenges we’ve had at Safran Passenger Innovations.

    With her at the lead, we turned those challenges into successes without burning out anyone on the team, and I really appreciate that she has the business acumen to manage her staff’s workload wisely while still holding consideration for the health of her employees at a priority. A team that feels cared for will always strive for success, and she’s built and maintained a team that’s close knit and always delivering on time.”