Welcome!
Design is art with a function. UX is design with purpose.
Too much design is made for other designers.
Hey there! I’m Mel Rainsberger and I have been a UX Designer for 10+ years across many industries: insurance, college fundraising, healthcare, and the pharmacuetical industry. I’ve got a torrid love affair with user-centric design thinking and deep dives into problem statements. My guiding philosphy is:
Make the hard stuff easy.
I’ve done the most Pecha Kucha’s in a single year, won over a dozen video competitions, and consult on accessibility. I also volunteer for the PVD 48 Hour Film Project where I’ve raised over $30,000 for local filmmaking.
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Designed for
regulation
Designing for regulated industries such as insurance and pharmaceuticals requires balancing user experience with strict compliance, security, and accountability. Unlike consumer products, these industries operate within complex legal and regulatory frameworks, where seemingly small design decisions can have significant consequences.
High fidelity
interactions
The Rhode Island Statewide Scavenger Hunt focused on turning exploration into an immersive, interactive adventure. Needing to feel intuitive while encouraging curiosity and movement, the challenge was blending playful visual language, interactive storytelling, and clear navigation.
Stakeholder
management
Designing an insurance experience for agents, customers, parents, roommates, investors, and administrators required understanding a wide range of goals, responsibilities, and levels of expertise. By connecting these perspectives, the product created a flexible experience that supported collaboration while keeping each user focused on what mattered most.
Workshop
facilitation
Rather than pretending that complexity doesn’t exist, I approach the complexity head on.
Discover why financial-services experiences don’t necessarily benefit from simply making everything faster or simpler.
Strategic
thinking
With experience with product strategy, roadmapping, fundraising/pitching, and vision, I go beyond production design.
I’m the designer that can go between:
- Who’s looking at this screen?
- What do they expect?
- Why are they here?
Accessibility and
scalability
Accessibility isn’t just a compliance checkbox. It’s a recurring part of my work. My experience includes accessibility guidelines, audits, WCAG compliance, and designing for users across complex digital products.
My combination of UX+ accessibility + systems thinking is particularly valuable in enterprise and regulated products.
Illustration and
motion design
Medical illustrations communicate complex ideas quickly, create emotional connections, and strengthen a brand’s visual identity. Motion design guides users through interfaces by providing feedback and making interactions feel natural. Together, they improve usability while adding personality to digital products.
