DealerOn is a CMS (think Wordpress or Squarespace) for car dealerships. I worked with cross-functional agile teams on 8+ key feature areas: forms manager, client database, vehicle showcase widget, CMS navigation system, account manager, ad widget, page builder, and vehicle page.
As a Figma SME, I also managed our design system and contributed to 64%+ components. Our UX team was very small and we were embedded into different areas, meaning I was often the sole UX designer on projects.
Forms Manager
Ask: Improve the forms builder
Solution: Allow users to save and edit forms
Impact: Translated a complex 13+ year old business problem into an intuitive experience. Eliminated the root of 4,325+ support tickets since 2019, freeing up support team’s time. Made forms builder 2.5–5x faster to use. Designed patterns that my team adopted without prompting
Role: Sole UX Designer, UX Researcher
Process: Scoping, researching, wireframing, prototyping, iterating from June to September 2023. Concepting, prototyping, testing generative AI concept in October 2023. Weekly meetings with Tiger Team engineers and providing feedback and mockups from August to May 2024. UAT in March 2025.
Takeaways: Think long-term. Be resourceful by looking to data that already exists. Keep surveys short and focused. Always survey users about the current product, not just your proposal, so you can understand exactly what’s wrong.
Team: Javier Urbina (PM), Tiger Team (Megan Korpics, Tom Scheffer, Helene Goyat), Sierra Willenburg (UX support)
Selected screens:
From “I’ve waited 13 years. If it takes 1 more year, that’s fine” to “Everything I’m seeing here is definitely in the right direction.” —Jon Rothbard, once-skeptical stakeholder and SVP of Operations
“I provide feedback, but this moves as fast as the work you put in, and I really appreciate that you’re staying on top of this. I really enjoyed this process. It’s great to see how this product is shaping up and will be something I’m really proud to show to execs on Monday.” —Javier Urbina, PM
“I ripped off Miles’ cards component for my project. I think they’re the source of truth.” —Sierra Willenburg, UX Manager
“Really well done so far. Level of detail is good, everything is well aligned. I’m really glad you’re with us on this. Really well done mockups. Clean, simple, intuitive. I really love it, it’s really nice.” —Helene Goyat, Frontend Software Engineer
“this is great, custom forms has been a project since even before i was at dealeron” —Nick Rogers, Software Architect
“Nice application and Nice Demo. Thanks!!” —Timothy Mannino, Manager of Development
Read more about Forms Manager.
Dealer Finder
Ask: Relayout Dealer Finder (sidebar heavy) for the new navigation system (sidebar heavy)
Solution: Relayouted Dealer Finder to be top heavy. Found other gaps in the product and solved them.
Impact: Improved a high-visibility (30k visitors since 2022) internal tool to decrease time-to-solution for 11+ teams. Worked with engineering to build a new removable combobox component. Achieved a company OKR of maintaining consistency across the product
Role: Sole UX Designer, UX Researcher
Process: Research and synthesis from October to December 2023, designing, prototyping, testing, and iterating from January to May 2024, finalizing design system components in May 2024.
Takeaways: Survey users on the current tool. Find out what needs to be fixed fast. Make a prioritization matrix and product roadmap. When making a testing prototype, choose a straightforward task that will answer your questions.
Team: Damien Plouzek (PM), Kristin Vaughn, Rob Wright, Liah Wallace, Jack Mueller (Engineers), Sierra Willenburg (UX support), Christina Cuatto (PM support), Christina Wong (UX research support)
Selected screens:
Selected research:
“This is looking fantastic,” Kristin Vaughn, Engineer, on my removable combobox component
“The discussion we had with Miles to make filter components created using building blocks we already had was phenomenal. That process was phenomenal.” —Jack Mueller, Software Architect
Read more about Dealer Finder.
Model Bar Widget
Ask: Make a legacy widget builder self-serve with more customizations so customers can use the widget builder on their own and stop submitting tickets for custom fixes.
Solution: Two portals, one for creating templates (users: Design team) and one for using templates (users: CS team, external users).
Impact: Removed the root cause of 4,000+ support tickets, aligned customer preferences with business goals
Role: Lead UX Designer
Process: Researched, met with stakeholders, designed, tested, and iterated from February to June 2024. Met with stakeholders, iterated, and prototyped in March 2025 for MVP build.
Takeaways: Work with engineers to understand technical limitations ASAP (like I did for Shell Nav)
Team: Javier Urbina as PM. Additional support provided by Sierra Willenburg (UX), Olivia Rosario (UX research), Asha Eginton (Design), Marc Kelley (Design), Sarah Yost (Design)
Selected screens:
“Miles, thanks for all the work you’re doing. I’m very happy and excited about this project now that we have the Design Team fully on board and the workflows set up.” —Javier Urbina, PM
Read more about Model Bar Widget.
Shell Nav
Ask: revisit aspects of DealerOn’s CMS navigation menu (the “Shell Nav”) to improve the experience for both new and old users
Solution: Restyled menu items, reworked sidebar behavior, added clearer messaging around the “reset cache” button, re-evaluated information architecture
Impact: Convinced leadership to reconsider information architecture. Uncovered gaps in the most visible part of the product before its release to 8,000+ customers. Improved the most important button in the product.
Role: UX Designer, UX Researcher
Process: February (menu styling, focus group research, reset cache) to March (card sorting) 2025
Takeaways: Talking to engineering to understand limitations allows you to craft a user experience that works around those limitations. Also, sometimes ignoring a problem just causes issues later down the line. There are always tradeoffs.
Team: in collaboration with UX designer Xing He. Initial design by the amazing Olivia Rosario
Selected screens:
Xing He
Selected research:
Read more about Shell Nav.
“I highly recommend Miles as a UX designer. He has a sharp eye for detail and a deep understanding of the entire UX process, from research and ideation to final execution. He’s highly committed to his projects, consistently delivering thoughtful, polished designs that meet both user needs and business goals.
Miles collaborates seamlessly with product managers and engineers, ensuring smooth handoffs and alignment across teams. He’s receptive to feedback, quick to iterate, and is willing to provide valuable insights to other designers as well.
When working on UI and interaction design, Miles creates intuitive, visually appealing experiences with a strong focus on usability. His professionalism, adaptability, and collaborative spirit make him a great addition to any UX team.” —Sierra Willenburg, UX Design Manager
“You’re my go-to person for Figma auto layout” and “You’re efficient with that auto layout shit.” —Karl Solano, UX Designer
Thank you to the team at DealerOn for teaching me so much!
