Stewy McCarthy

Design stops being an artifact and starts being a decision.

I build and lead the product and customer experience functions that make design part of how a business decides what to build. More than a decade across SaaS, enterprise and consulting: founding practices, scaling a team past forty, and turning design into outcomes that show up in the numbers.

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Experience

2026 to present

Principal

Craftform

My own studio, where I design and build software products. Liveform is the first: it learns a builder’s taste and checks what their coding agent produces.

2023 to present

Senior Principal, Customer & Experience Strategy

Slalom

Founded Slalom Ireland’s experience practice as its first hire and grew it into the customer experience capability for the market. Authored the 2026 to 2027 CX strategy that positioned Ireland as an EMEA hub for AI-native transformation. Led AI opportunity framing for C-level clients and built the reusable methods behind visioning and discovery engagements. Led the design and experience team on Vanishing Emails, which won an Innovation Bronze at Cannes Lions. Contributed the CX and generative AI positioning that helped win a contact centre transformation, moving 180 agents onto a new AWS and Salesforce platform across the UK, Ireland and the US.

2022 to 2024

UX Mentor

UX Tree

Ran two rounds of mentoring through UX Tree. Both mentees launched their careers in design, each securing a full-time design role for the first time.

2017 to 2023

Principal Product Designer

Workhuman

Grew the design function from seven people to more than forty as the company scaled globally. Principal designer on Conversations, Workhuman’s performance product, from launch to more than a million users. Defined the vision and built the base components for Terra, the design system now used across Workhuman’s products. Led Reflections, which lifted product engagement 74% month on month and monthly recurring revenue by 5%. Created Design Fest, a company-wide design sprint for more than 150 people. Worked directly with executives to set product vision.

2015 to 2017

Senior Product Designer

Sysnet Global Solutions

Led the product and design transformation of a white-labelled SaaS platform, driving a 25% increase in profitability. Introduced usability labs and, with engineering, an atomic design system and shared component library that improved success rates and reduced churn.

2015

Senior UX Designer

Switch

2013 to 2015

Founding Designer

Glofox

First designer at a fitness management SaaS startup. Design and qualitative research helped secure €500k in seed funding and early global clients. Led design across white-label iOS, Android and web.

Background

What I do

  • Build and scale design and CX functions
  • Experience and service strategy
  • AI opportunity framing and operating model design
  • Executive facilitation and C-suite alignment
  • Product vision through to measurable outcome

Recognition

Education

  • Postgraduate Diploma, AI to DesignNational College of Art & Design, 2025
  • MA, Creative Digital MediaTechnological University Dublin, 2010 to 2012
  • MA, JournalismIndependent College Dublin
  • BA, European StudiesTechnological University Dublin, 2005 to 2009

Certifications

  • Figma Certified2025
  • Salesforce Certified AI AssociateSalesforce, 2024
  • Designing StrategyIDEO U, 2021
  • Design LeadershipDesignit, 2019
  • UX CertificationNielsen Norman Group, 2015

Speaking and writing

Languages

  • English
  • SpanishNative or bilingual

Contact

hey@craftform.studio

Celbridge, Ireland