Emily Kurth, UX/UI Designer
About me

I'm Emily -
a UX/UI designer
who asks better questions.

Six years of design experience, a background in cross-cultural communications, and a genuine belief that understanding people is the whole job.

UX ResearchWireframingPrototyping UI DesignFigmaUsability Testing
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What I do

I design products that work because I take the time to understand people first.

I'm a UX/UI designer with six years of professional experience, four of those as lead designer at Agathon, a software agency building digital tools for mission-driven organizations. I've worked across the full design lifecycle: research, wireframing, prototyping, usability testing, stakeholder management, and final UI delivery.

What makes me effective isn't just the craft, it's my curiosity. I listen for what users aren't saying, and I don't assume I already know how people think. I'll dig into the data, ask an absurd amount of questions, and deliver a beautiful product that meets the real needs your users have.

User research

Interviews, usability studies, competitive audits. I find what users actually need, not just what they say they want.

Wireframing & prototyping

From lo-fi sketches through hi-fi Figma prototypes, this is where ideas become testable things.

UI design

Visual design with real aesthetic taste meets the underlying structure we have perfected. Typography, spacing, color, graphics and feel are all details that matter, turning something that works well into something that is a pleasure to use.

What makes me different

I spent years learning how to enter a world I didn't understand, and understand it anyway.

Before design, I lived in Indonesia doing cross-cultural and NGO work. My degree is in cross-cultural communications. The work demanded that I learn how to read an entirely foreign context: the social structures, the values, the unspoken rules, the language. I couldn't assume anything. I had to observe, ask, hypothesize, and revise. That's the same process I use in UX research.

There are two valuable lessons, summed up in a few phrases I learned while living overseas. I use these every time I sit down with a user or pick up a new brief. I am not afraid of different, and I am always sure there is a way to figure whatever it is, out.

"Everything is figure-out-able."

There is always a path through. I don't stop at hard, I iterate until I find it.

"Different isn't wrong. Different is just different."

Years of cross-cultural work trained me to suspend judgment and get curious first. Every research session benefits from that reflex.

"When I'm doing UX research, I'm doing the same thing I did in Indonesia, entering a context I don't fully understand yet, suspending my assumptions, and figuring out how this world actually works for the people living in it."
Experience

Six years shipping real products for real clients.

2021, present
Lead UX / UI Designer
Agathon · Grand Rapids, MI

Full-lifecycle design at a mission-driven software agency. Research, wireframing, prototyping, usability testing, stakeholder management, and UI delivery across web and mobile products for nonprofits and purpose-led organizations.

2019, 2021
Graphic Designer / UX Designer
Cru · Remote

In-house design spanning graphic design, brand work, app prototyping, and UX consultation across a range of projects for a large nonprofit organization.

2015, 2019
Cross-cultural & NGO Work
Ethnos360 / YMMP · Indonesia

Immersive cross-cultural fieldwork toward linguistic literacy development. Learned Indonesian. Trained in linguistic research. Fundraising, speaking engagements, and outreach in the US between field terms. Raised two kids throughout.

Ongoing
Independent Projects & Mentorship
Emily Kurth Designs · Field Day Lab, UW-Madison

Personal design work including a full wedding planning app built with AI. Active mentorship with the Art Director at Field Day Lab. Painting, illustration, and graphic design in the shop.

What drives me

The things I believe about good design.

01
Different isn't wrong

Years of cross-cultural work trained me to suspend judgment and get curious first. Every research session benefits from that reflex.

02
Everything is figure-out-able

Tight constraints, difficult stakeholders, ambiguous briefs, I don't stop, I iterate.

03
Context before solution

The easy answer is rarely the right one. Real solutions require understanding the whole picture first.

Beyond the portfolio, a little more Emily.

Based in Wisconsin. Four kids, a dog, three cats and the odd snake or frog from the woods nearby, and a handful of neighbor kids, our house is always full. I paint, draw, and do graphic design, which you can find in my shop. I am always learning something, and am looking to be part of a team that uses design to make the world genuinely better.

Want to work
together?

Open to agency roles, contract work, and anything that uses design to make the world a little better.

Download Resume