Mark Hobbs Staff Product Designer, Design Systems

I design and build products and systems.

And still finding new answers.

Years questioning “why?”

Strong opinions. Loosely held.

Ego not found

That's the goal, anyway.

Unnecessary design variants

Banking, hiring, housing and teaching. Seven products, and the system under each one.

Bullhorn's redesigned candidate record and token documentation

01 / 07B2B SaaS • Systems

Bullhorn

A new look for Bullhorn's platform, built from the smallest pieces up.

Bullhorn brought me in for three months to update how its applicant tracking system looked, across the whole platform. The candidate record and the candidate list came first, because recruiters use them most. Once I saw how many components sat under those screens, I proposed a token system, got engineering behind it, and spent the rest of the contract building it.

Focus
  • Design tokens
  • Component library
Scope
  • Full platform
  • 500+ components
Context
  • Three-month contract
  • Via Mondo
View case study
Terafina on MacBook Terafina on iPad Terafina on iPhone

02 / 07Fintech • Systems

Terafina

People didn't trust the product enough to finish.

I rebuilt the presentation layer from atomic components up, and abandonment dropped 12%.

Focus
  • Design system
  • White-label configuration
Scope
  • Web
  • Tablet
  • In-branch
Context
  • Account opening
  • Abandonment down 12%
View case study
The component reference for the contractor app on a laptop: token documentation for the status chip and the alert, each shown in light and dark

03 / 07AI • Systems

Designing with AI

Claude writes the code and I make every design decision.

That's how I built a design system for web, iOS and Android, and the contractor app that runs on it.

Focus
  • Design system
  • Production app
Scope
  • Web
  • iOS
  • Android
Context
  • Claude Code
  • Figma
View case study
Union Home Mortgage on laptop Union Home Mortgage on iPhone, loan officer directory Union Home Mortgage on iPhone, borrower dashboard

04 / 07Tooling • Systems

Union Home Mortgage

The first design system for a team of backend engineers, built with no other designer in the room.

Focus
  • UI kit
  • Design system
  • WCAG tooling
Scope
  • Internal tools
Context
  • Backend engineering team
  • No design partner
View case study
Proof Digital Identity on iPhone, profile and credentials Proof Digital Identity on iPhone, Digital ID onboarding Proof Digital Identity on iPhone, launchpad Proof Digital Identity on iPhone, final launchpad design

05 / 07Identity

Proof Digital Identity

Sharing sensitive information only works when people understand what they're sharing.

An MVP for secure, deliberate sharing.

Focus
  • MVP
  • Cross-platform design system
Scope
  • iOS
  • Android
Context
  • Paused before launch
View case study
Rümi on iPhone, task detail for installing LED bulbs Rümi on iPhone, DIY Guru homeowner persona Rümi on iPhone, Home Happiness dashboard with the to-do list

06 / 07Strategy

Rümi

Making homeownership feel manageable, without pretending it's simple.

Focus
  • Personalization
  • Task system
Scope
  • Mobile app
Context
  • Client: ATCO
  • Homeowners
View case study
McGraw Hill Education on MacBook, course table of contents open to Chapter 1 McGraw Hill Education on MacBook, teacher lesson view with planning information

07 / 07Edtech • IA

McGraw Hill Education

Teachers couldn't find content that was already there.

I restructured navigation for two very different audiences.

Focus
  • Navigation
  • Information architecture
Scope
  • Teachers
  • Administrators
  • Reviewers
Context
  • Edtech
  • State-level adoptions
View case study

I do my best work where nobody agrees yet.

The hardest product problems start with competing priorities, unclear ownership, inherited systems, technical limits and teams pulling in different directions. My job is to get those pieces on the table, name the tradeoffs and land on a decision the team can build.

Then I build that decision into the system, so nobody has to make it again. I work across product, design and engineering, and I care as much about how something gets built and maintained as how it feels to use. I can't make the complexity go away, but I can make it workable.

More about me How I rebuilt this site

Wanna have a coffee? I love coffee, we should have a coffee.

Email is the fastest way to reach me. I read everything and reply to anything that isn't a pitch.

mark@hobbs.design