ROLE
Product Designer
TEAM
2 Designers , 1 PM, 4 Devs
TIMELINE
Apr 2025 - Jul 2025
TOOLS
Figma, Jira, Notion, AI
During my time at Arena Club, I collaborated closely with product managers, stakeholders, users, and fellow designers to design and develop both new and existing features. Working on-site at the Santa Monica office, I led design reviews, conducted user interviews, and participated in cross-functional meetings to contribute to the growth for this company.
I collaborated closely with product managers, stakeholders, users, and fellow designers to design and develop both new and existing features. Working on-site at the Santa Monica office, I led design reviews, conducted user interviews, and participated in cross-functional meetings to support successful feature launches.
Shipped core features across iOS, Android, and web platforms.
With dev hand-off and stakeholder pitches with PMs, marketing, and founders.
Facilitated design reviews and stakeholder pitches to guide roadmap.
Kept the team aligned by conducting detailed design reviews and pitching to my managers.
Led user research efforts with weekly interviews, testing, and evaluation.
Worked closely with real users, developing in-app issues and reporting back to the team.
Leading the user research efforts at Arena Club, I conducted interviews, usability tests, and heuristic evaluations with our customer base.
National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland
Photos taken by Jeff Owens
Conversations with users surfaced valuable insights, which I shared with the team. These findings guided new design solutions, feature improvements, and clear parameters for our next iterations.
Noticed a drop in new user sign-ups and account creations.
30% of new users didn't make accounts.
Users primarily engaged with Arena Club's slab pack feature and not the marketplace.
Arena Club's revenue relied on Slab Packs and was having a hard time with the marketplace.
We found an abnormally high number of unpaid auction bids.
Users did not fully understand where to pay for their auctions.
Users found Arena Club’s navigation to feel clunky and chaotic.
Navigation issues made both web and mobile an unpleasant experience.
My ideation process, not only alone but also with my Product Design Lead and PM, became both the biggest hurdle and the greatest opportunity. By addressing each issue and design project at hand, brainstorming with my co-workers created a healthy and productive scene of solutionizing.
While designing solutions, I balanced the need to innovate for competitiveness with the importance of design consistency. Leveraging the existing design system, I outlined the flows for each project.
Outlining my flows and design thinking was critical in providing context and clarity to the team.
Taking on challenges from both the user experience and business sides allowed me to design solutions that balanced user-centric thinking with growth and profitability. This process enabled me to build high-impact experiences that directly addressed the problems I initially uncovered.
Guest Mode
Designed a mobile “Guest Mode” that let users browse the app with limited functionality, while creating engaging screens that encouraged users to create an account.
Watchlist
Designed web and mobile flows for a dedicated Watchlist, allowing users to save cards and return later to buy, bid, or make offers. Ultimately prompting users to take action on cards.
Activity Center
Conceptualized and built a new Activity Center for web and mobile, centralizing Arena Club’s core features to improve accessibility and create scalability for future updates.
Navigation Restructure
Restructured the IA of Arena Club’s web and mobile navigation, refining UX copy, placement, and UI elements to reduce friction and streamline high-impact platform tasks.
I am not allowed to show full designs here, but if you are interested in learning more about my experience at Arena Club
feel free to email me: plexomc@gmail.com
Full design flows, research, and Figma files for multiple core features.
Launched designs to over 30,000 users across both web and mobile.
Led stakeholder reviews, design workshops, and user interviews/testing.
faster navigation efficiency with new IA and Activity Center
uplift in marketplace transactions and retention with Watchlist
more account creations with the launch of Guest Mode
My time as a designer here was filled with both successes and challenges, giving me the opportunity to work on over five core features, support more than ten smaller projects, and interview over twenty real users. Being in person exposed me to new experiences and led to meaningful growth as a product designer that I will carry with me moving forward.
Arena Club Snapshots
A well-deserved dinner with the team after launching a feature :D
Me attempting to use the standing desk. (I did not last more than 1 hr)
There were SO many trading cards in the office. Some worth $1,000!
Collaboration moves design forward
By conducting more design reviews, hosting brainstorming sessions, and seeking feedback from teammates, I was able to push designs faster and with better quality.
Holding no attachment to my designs
In the fast pace of a tech startup, I learned to prioritize what matters, take feedback openly, scrap ideas when needed, and iterate in line with business goals.
Interviewing users uncover hidden issues
Each week, I conducted user interviews on current and upcoming designs. Real user stories revealed new problems, making my design direction clearer and more effective.
Vicky Jen
Product Design Lead @ Arena Club
" Dylan was proactive in seeking feedback and open to being pushed outside his comfort zone. Once given direction, he took it seriously and put in the work to improve. It was clear he was invested in growing as a designer and open to learning from every experience. He’d be a strong addition to any team looking for someone with solid UX instincts, a great attitude, and a drive to keep getting better. "