Systems Thinker • Experience Designer • Product Builder
my teammates call me TV
Hi! I'm Tracey Varnell
I'm a player-coach design/product management leader with 20+ years experience setting strategy, defining solutions, and owning multi-product portfolios.
I believe that changing people's lives for the better builds intrinsic value for businesses.
How can I help?Trusted by teams at
Expertise
Ways I can help
Aligning on what to build
Ideas are cheap and abundant now, which is why finding focus is more important than ever. I help teams gather evidence from real customer behavior to find what’s worth building and commit to the best bets together.
Guiding craft and cohesion
Good enough to test isn’t always good enough to ship. I help teams reach adoption and retention goals sooner with design patterns, component libraries, and quality evaluations (expert & AI)—avoiding compounding design debt across products.
Optimizing how teams deliver
Faster outcomes are more important than faster outputs. I help teams build the shared context and workflows that help them avoid slop and rework, hit the mark faster, and move into production smoothly.
Supporting team success
Tools change fast, but what people need to do their best work doesn’t. I help teams keep their momentum with clear direction, fewer roadblocks, and room to try new ways of working.
Work
Featured case studies
Credit Acceptance
Increasing auto loan conversions
Optimized core lending workflows for smaller auto dealers and created an integrated loan aggregator experience for larger dealers.
Credit Acceptance
Increasing auto leads and loan conversions
Incubated consumer-facing dealer tools, a used vehicle marketplace, and a lead management solution.
OnDeck
Increasing small business loan conversions
Optimized the loan origination funnel across the end-to-end small business borrower journey.
OnDeck
New product development for small business owners
Incubated potential solutions to satisfy unmet small business owner ecosystem needs.
Capital One
Increasing home loan conversions
Transformed home lending customer and lending agent experiences, streamlining their workflows across the home buying journey.
Recommendations
What people say
“Tracey is one of the smartest, most strategic thinkers I have ever worked with. She exemplifies Design Thinking in all her work—she considers the spectrum of strategic, cognitive and practical aspects of every project.”
“She was instrumental in transforming multiple disparate internal systems into an elegantly designed software product. She is the type of design leader who will not only bring in-depth customer insights and design thought leadership, but also strategic thinking into the critical product design process.”
“Tracey is also a uniquely skilled leader of people. Teams coalesce around her and she navigates projects and personalities with equal fearlessness and grace.”
“As a leader, Tracey is inspirational, leads by example, passionate about her work, and acts with high integrity. She is an outstanding product design leader who will be invaluable for any product organization.”
Connect
Let's chat
I'd love to hear about what you're building or improving, and what your biggest challenges are.