# Emily Backes

> Product designer who turns messy, complex requirements into clear, usable products — with a researcher's ear and an operator's eye for process.

Emily Backes is a Senior Product Designer at Sortly, focused on healthcare software UX/UI. She works end-to-end — UX research, interaction design, UI, and design systems — and brings an operator's background (technical recruiting and government-contracting operations) to product strategy and stakeholder work. Her case studies pair design craft with measurable business outcomes.

## About

Emily designs clear, usable products for complex, regulated domains, with a particular focus on healthcare software. She combines hands-on UX research and usability testing with interaction and UI design, design systems, and AI product design. Her portfolio emphasizes real, verifiable outcomes rather than visuals alone.

## Key pages

- [About](https://emilybackes.design/about) — background, path to UX, and how she works
- [Resume](https://emilybackes.design/resume) — experience, skills, and roles
- [The 5 Pillars of Emily](https://emilybackes.design/the-5-pillars-of-emily) — what she values and brings to a team
- [Posts](https://emilybackes.design/posts) — "Paws & Reflect," her blog on UX research, design, and careers
- [Designer Weekly](https://emilybackes.design/designer-weekly) — bi-weekly newsletter with curated design links and job market data
- [Contact](https://emilybackes.design/contact) — how to get in touch

## Case studies

- [Folsom Psychology](https://emilybackes.design/case-study/folsom-psychology) — redesigned the patient-intake and scheduling workflow, cutting patient scheduling time in half.
- [Sage: Designing an AI-Powered Chatbot](https://emilybackes.design/case-study/sage-designing-an-ai-powered-chatbot) — redesigned the Sage AI chatbot, doubling resolution rates and cutting agent tickets by 29%.
- [Sprocket App](https://emilybackes.design/case-study/sprocket-app) — product and UX design that doubled app sign-ups in three months.
- [Subscription Cancellation](https://emilybackes.design/case-study/subscription-cancellation) — redesigned the subscription-cancellation flow, returning roughly $100k/yr in revenue.
- [Lago](https://emilybackes.design/case-study/lago) — product strategy and UX leadership case study; as Product Strategy Lead, Emily led a distributed team through discovery, strategy, and design for a health-insurance aggregator (NDA-anonymized).

## Contact

Email: emilybackes.design@gmail.com

## Blog posts

- [Why 67% of AI Chatbots Fail: A UX Designer's Guide to Better Customer Service](https://emilybackes.design/post/ai-chatbots-customer-service-guide) — Conversational design framework for AI chatbots, with real examples and metrics.
- [How to Create an Impactful UX Portfolio: A Beginner's Guide](https://emilybackes.design/post/beginner-friendly-advice-for-an-impactful-ux-portfolio) — Beginner-friendly portfolio advice: pick a theme, write a personal statement, edit case studies down.
- [Breaking the Config Seal – My First Time at the Figma Conference](https://emilybackes.design/post/breaking-the-config-seal---my-first-time-at-the-figma-conference) — A first-timer's recap of Figma Config in San Francisco.
- [Config in San Francisco: A Designer's Guide](https://emilybackes.design/post/config-san-francisco-designers-guide) — Where to eat, what to walk, and how to find Config side events.
- [Figma Icon Library Audit: 786 SVGs to 240 Components](https://emilybackes.design/post/figma-icon-library-audit) — How Emily audited and organized a production icon library.
- [How Relevant are User Personas?](https://emilybackes.design/post/how-relevant-are-user-personas-a-personal-story) — A personal story about why rigid demographic personas can exclude real users.
- [How to Apply for Jobs in a Tough Market](https://emilybackes.design/post/how-to-apply-for-jobs-in-a-tough-market) — Job search strategies from a recruiter-turned-designer.
- [How to Collect FREE UX Survey Responses in 24 Hours](https://emilybackes.design/post/how-to-collect-free-ux-survey-responses-in-24-hours) — Using Instagram Stories to recruit 300+ UX research participants.
- [How to Conduct Effective UX Interviews](https://emilybackes.design/post/how-to-conduct-effective-ux-interviews) — Listening over talking, avoiding leading questions, and getting comfortable with silence.
- [How to Create a Standout UX Portfolio Presentation](https://emilybackes.design/post/how-to-create-jr-ux-ui-portfolio-presentations) — The POSTER framework for case study presentations.
- [Thinking About Accessibility as a UX Designer](https://emilybackes.design/post/how-to-think-about-accessibility-as-a-ux-designer) — A personal perspective on accessibility after a snowboarding accident left her temporarily paralyzed.
- [My UX UI Journey: It's Never Too Late to Start Over](https://emilybackes.design/post/my-ux-ui-journey) — From sociology grad and 13-year recruiter to product designer.
- [OMG, is AI Going To Take Our Jobs?](https://emilybackes.design/post/omg-is-ai-going-to-take-our-jobs-yes-no-maybe) — AI will automate tasks, but humans will become its stewards.
- [Onboarding Flow Backwards: UX Research Insights](https://emilybackes.design/post/onboarding-flow-backwards) — Eight user interviews proved the original onboarding flow order was wrong.
- [The Productivity Hack LinkedIn Gurus Won't Tell You](https://emilybackes.design/post/the-productivity-hack-that-recruiting-gurus-on-linkedin-wont-give-you) — Do the thing you dread most, frequently.
- [Why I Code My Prototypes With Claude](https://emilybackes.design/post/why-i-code-prototypes-with-claude) — Real code beats fake Figma prototypes for answering real UX questions.

## Skills

UX Research, Interaction Design, UI Design, Healthcare Software UX, Design Systems, AI Product Design, Usability Testing, Stakeholder Management, Product Strategy.