Ava Reed
Design engineer building calm, motion-led interfaces for teams that care about the last ten percent.
I work at the seam of design and front-end, turning dense product surfaces into interfaces people trust. Ten years shipping systems, most recently as lead design engineer at Vantage.
Two projects worth the deep dive
A closer look at the work that shaped how I build. Full case studies cover the research, the system, and the trade-offs behind every decision.
Vantage Design System
A 240-component library and typed token pipeline that keeps nine product teams in sync from Figma straight through to production React.
Cadence Analytics
Rebuilt a dense analytics workspace around a real-time canvas with live cursors, so teams read the same numbers at the same moment.
More projects
Hover to focus a plateOne person, the full surface
From the first sketch to the merged pull request, I own the details that make an interface feel considered rather than assembled.
Interface design
High-craft product UI from the first wireframe to a pixel-locked spec engineers can build without guessing.
Design systems
Typed tokens and components that stay in sync from Figma to code, documented so the whole team can move fast.
Performance
Motion and layout tuned to hold a clean 60fps, even on the three-year-old phones in your test drawer.
Prototyping
Interactive prototypes real enough to user-test, then handed off as the source of truth for the build.
Accessibility
WCAG 2.2 AA baked in from the start, with focus order and contrast audited on every pull request.
Front-end
React, TypeScript and Framer Motion shipped to production, so the design survives contact with real data.
Ten years, five chapters
Each stop taught me a different half of the craft. The through line is the same: design that survives contact with real engineering.
Platform roadmap
Shipping through 2026
What it is like to work together
I take on a handful of engagements at a time so every partner gets the same attention. Here is what a few of them said afterwards.
Ava is the rare engineer who art-directs and ships. She rebuilt our design system and the whole product felt intentional within a month.
Have a product that deserves better craft?
I take on a small number of design engineering engagements each quarter. Tell me what you are building and where it hurts.