Michael Cullinan

Summary

Product design leader with 10+ years of experience shaping enterprise experiences across the global brand and application ecosystem at Estée Lauder Companies. I turn regulated, data-heavy workflows into clear, scalable experiences through shared interaction models, design standards, and close partnership across product, engineering, business, and users. I stay hands-on from research and information architecture through functional prototypes and usability testing, and mentor designers and cross-functional partners through critique, coaching, and design reviews. I use AI to reach validated decisions faster without outsourcing judgment or rigor.

Core Expertise

Product and design leadership: Product strategy, experience vision, cross-functional alignment, stakeholder influence, mentoring, DesignOps and governance
Research and execution: Research synthesis, usability testing, competitive analysis, information architecture, interaction design, prototyping, accessibility (WCAG), design systems and design tokens
AI-enabled practice: AI-assisted synthesis, functional prototyping, rapid validation, UX documentation and handoff

Selected Impact

• Reduced clinical panelist readiness from 2-5 days to a few hours by unifying intake, document signing, eligibility vetting, and inline approval so qualified panelists could begin ELC product studies sooner; validated the evolving flow with five panelists.
• Cut kickoff-to-functional-prototype time from about three weeks to under one week by accelerating decision-making, insight synthesis, day-in-the-life deliverables, guardrails, and prototyping; began usability testing in week two.
• Established a shared enterprise design system in three months for 4-5 applications already in active development and a 20+ application ecosystem, reducing one-off implementation and cross-functional rework.

Professional Experience