Product designer · Columbus, Ohio · Open to full-time roles

AI doesn't have to be a chat box. Privacy doesn't have to start with a seed phrase. A design system doesn't have to start from a blank file.

I'm Kevin McComas. I design new technology so it feels like something you've already used.

Selected work

Three projects, one idea

Each one takes something complicated and new and makes it feel like something people have seen a hundred times before.

01 · Satellite.im

Making self-custody feel like a normal sign‑up

Satellite asked brand-new users to save a crypto-style recovery phrase before they even knew what the app was. I redesigned onboarding so it felt like every app they already use, without weakening the security underneath.

  • Lead UI/UX Designer
  • Shipped on desktop + mobile
  • 2022 to 2025

02 · UIForma

One place to start a design system

Set your rules once in UIForma, watch them turn into a working UI kit, then show off what you made in Studio. It's a free toolkit I'm building in the open for designers, developers, and creators who aren't sure where to start.

  • Founder + designer
  • Live and free
  • Actively building

03 · Clio + Occasion

AI without the chat box

Two experiments in AI you never have to prompt. Clio plugs into the assistant that already knows you and quietly works through your day. Occasion takes a party invitation and hands back three complete outfits.

  • Product strategy
  • Design + full-stack build
  • Working prototypes

How I work

A few things I keep coming back to

01

Start from what people already know

New technology is easier to trust when it borrows a pattern people have used a hundred times: a sign-up form, a Pinterest board, a helpful note on the fridge.

02

Show complexity when it's useful

Not before someone has any context for it. The advanced options stay right there for the people who want them, they just stop being everyone's first hurdle.

03

Design the system, not just the screen

Components, tokens, and clear rules are what let a small team move fast without the details falling apart. I like building those as much as the screens themselves.

Outside of product work

Other things I make

I also draw VTuber characters and stream graphics, model hardware in Fusion 360, and design posters and brands for local events. It all lives in the archive.

See everything in the archive →

A bit about me

About me

Kevin McComas, in a gray sweater against a dark blue backdrop, shown with a dithered pixel effect

I'm a product designer in Columbus, Ohio, and I get a little obsessed with the details. I spent three years at Satellite.im, a privacy-first messaging startup, designing the app across desktop and mobile, building and maintaining the component system, and doing a good share of the brand work too. Renaming the product to Uplink was my idea. Startup life gave me a bit of everything: product UX, brand identity, pitch decks, and keeping a community of more than 15,000 people in the loop.

I've also spent years as a fire and security technician, working on live systems I couldn't afford to mess up. That meant learning dozens of software products in the field, usually with confusing interfaces and little or no documentation to lean on. It taught me a ton about UI design, mostly in the form of a long list of things I'll never do to the people using my work.

It's also where I learned that people rarely care how clever a system is. They care whether it works when it matters, and whether they can figure it out without calling someone. I still think about that on every project.

I studied computer information technology, and I'm comfortable working in a codebase. That means I can talk through implementation with engineers, help with design QA, and build working prototypes myself. I also model hardware in 3D and have made more VTuber sprites than I'm prepared to admit out loud.

Let's talk

Looking for my next team

I'm looking for a product team that cares about strong visual design, thoughtful systems, and the people who actually have to use them. If that sounds like yours, I'd love to hear from you.