Sean
Stopnik

Award winning product designer, front-end developer,
and major label recording artist.

About

Hello! My name is Sean Stopnik, and I am an award winning product designer and front-end developer, currently residing in Austin, TX. Since 2015, I have served as the Head of UX Engineering at IBM Design, where I lead a global team of UX engineers focused on innovating IBM Core products. My work involves creating user-centric designs, leveraging skills in UI/UX, interaction design, HTML/CSS/JS, and design tools like Figma and Adobe Creative Suite. I bridge the gap between design and engineering, implementing agile methodologies, and redesigning critical components of IBM Core product user interface to enhance user experience and customer satisfaction.

Previously a major label recording artist and full-time touring musician, I bring a creative perspective to my design and front-end work. My transition from music to tech highlights my ability to think outside the box. I am passionate about team building, fostering innovation, and nurturing talent within my team.

Experience

Company Title Dates
IBM Head of UX Engineering, Product Design Sep, 2015 - Present
Progress Software Principal Visual Designer Apr, 2015 - Aug, 2015
Trulia Senior Designer, Lead Design Engineer May, 2014 - Apr, 2015
Red Ventures Senior Designer, Lead Front-end Developer Feb, 2012 - May, 2014
Cyber2Media Web Designer, Front-end Developer Nov, 2011 - Feb, 2012
Revolution Prep Web Designer, Front-end Developer Nov, 2010 - Nov, 2011
Self-employed Freelance Designer Jan, 2007 - Nov, 2010
Rock Kills Kid Guitarist Mar, 2003 - Jan, 2007
Stairwell Guitarist Sep, 1998 - Mar, 2003
Innov8v Creative Director Oct, 1996 - Sep, 1998

Skills

  • Design leadership
  • Team building
  • Team management
  • Figma
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Visual design
  • UX/UI design
  • UX engineering
  • Front-end development
  • Prototyping
  • CSS animation
  • Github
  • Agile methodologies
  • Microsoft Office
  • Monday.com
  • Agentic AI
  • Figma Make
  • Claude Code

Featured work

While much of my work over the past 10+ years has been confidential, below are a few projects I am able to share. For company recruiters, detailed case studies are available upon request.

Image of Trulia website
2014

Trulia homepage redesign

Led the total redesign of the Trulia homepage, increasing engagement by over 20%.

Request case study
Image of Assist Me
2022

IBM Assist Me

Led a team of designers, developers, and data scientists to create an AI user assistance tool.

Request case study
Image of Cygnus
2023

Cygnus flow editor

Led a small team of designers and UX engineers to create a node-based flow editor.

Request case study
Image of Casas
2025

Casas Construction website

I worked with Casas Construction to design and build a custom WordPress theme for their new web presence.

Request case study
Image of GHINiQ
2023

GHINiQ web application

I helped GHINiQ design and develop their new homepage, login page, and dashboard.

Request case study
Image of Codepen Range Slider
2013

Range Slider prototype

Simple range slider prototype that was featured on CodePen's "Trending", receiving over 270,000 views.

View prototype
Image of Codepen Notifications
2021

Notifcation widget prototype

Just a simple prototype of a notification widget I created for an internal IBM website.

View prototype
Image of Cirrus Design System
2017

IBM Cirrus Design System

Led a small team in the design and development of the Cirrus Design System for IBM Hybrid Cloud Products.

Request case study
Image of Codepen Pie and Donut charts
2021

CSS Pie and Donut charts

Just a fun SCSS mixin I created to generate simple pie and donut charts.

View prototype