Steve Kovo

Fetch — Madison, WI

• Identified scaling limitations in Fetch's legacy animation stack and led the company's evaluation and adoption of Rive, now used across most product teams for engagement, loyalty, and post-purchase experiences reaching 12.5M+ monthly active users
• Authored the documentation and design standards that let product teams build Rive experiences independently, and am consulted across teams whenever a new Rive experience is scoped
• Proposed, designed, and continue to art direct Fetch's illustration and color system, now adopted company-wide as the foundation of the product's visual language and design-token standard
• Conceive and design experimental 0-to-1 product concepts that reach executive leadership, presenting design direction directly to leadership
• Direct creative and guide the growth of other product designers, mentoring on interaction and motion design, behavioral UX, Rive, and responsive design across the team

Runner — Madison, WI

• Founded and ran an independent B2B creative studio, leading end-to-end brand, motion, and interactive design work for clients across education, healthcare, government, and consumer industries, including explainer video series, social media asset systems, and multi-channel campaign content
• Led creative direction end to end, from client proposals and discovery through concepting, production, and delivery, including a multilingual public health video series for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and ongoing brand and product work for national and regional clients
• Directed and managed multidisciplinary freelance teams, including illustrators, voice talent, and animators, across dozens of projects
• Continued a decade-long design partnership with GoNoodle, building out a large share of their character and animated content library alongside campaign and social content supporting marketing pushes

Naut Games — San Francisco, CA

• Co-founded and led design for a B2B social games studio, from in-person party experiences to a competitive PvP title with live matchmaking, shipping three original mobile games on iOS and Android
• Partnered directly with GoNoodle's product and leadership team to define strategy and design for a new category of classroom experiences, meeting quarterly to align on product direction
• Led end-to-end product and interaction design on GoNoodle's first interactive game library, including systems for classroom engagement, competition, and repeat participation, alongside marketing and social campaign content supporting each launch
• Conducted user research with the University of Minnesota to evaluate gameplay mechanics and engagement patterns

Filament Games — Madison, WI

• Served as Lead UX Designer across more than ten shipped projects within a pod-based studio structure, each project staffed with a lead from every discipline, working alongside other UX designers as either their lead or their support
• Led end-to-end UX Design and Creative Direction for 10+ shipped zero-to-one educational games, tools, and apps, covering research, prototyping, playtesting, dev handoffs, and QA
• Led end to end UX across products beyond educational games, including a gamified corporate rewards platform that awarded employees points for healthy commuting habits, and a bar-exam preparation tool built for law students
• Owned design direction for each title, from mood boards and art direction through full design systems covering type, color, components, and motion
• Supported UX team growth through hiring, portfolio reviews, and mentoring

Various Clients — NYC

• Designed digital learning products for a K-12 distance learning company, translating curriculum into interactive experiences
• Led animation for Addiction Incorporated, a New York Times Critics' Pick feature documentary
• Delivered product, brand, and motion design work across education, media, and technology clients