Ryan
Krieg
14+ years turning complex problems into loveable digital experiences that drive business results
Senior Experience Designer at Wattpad, a storytelling app used by 100M+ globally
Case Studies
Polls
Comments were the only way for readers and writers to connect on Wattpad, but most readers never left one. I designed polls as a lighter way to engage, from an early experiment that leadership called "the most engaging thing we've ever tested" to a full launch that hit a 56% engagement rate and 21.3M responses in 5 months.
2025 • Wattpad
Case Study
EXPERIENCE
Wattpad
I collaborate closely with product, research, engineering, and data to influence product roadmaps and release high-quality experiences. Design systems lead, UX writing lead, cross-functional design lead, and design mentor. Worked across all teams and product areas: advertising, writer success, fan engagement, navigation, content discovery.
2020 - Present (6 years)
CrowdRiff
UX designer, graphic designer, front-end developer. First hire working closely with the CEO and CTO, took a pre-seed startup from concept through finding product-market fit, and eventually to becoming a successful travel content marketing platform serving 600+ destinations worldwide.
2012 - 2019 (7 years)
Product Strategy
Problem Definition
UX Workshops
UX Research
Usability Testing
Information Architecture
Figma
UX Writing
Design Systems
Accessibility
Prototyping
Designing with AI
Design QA
UX/UI Design
Work
Better Categorizing Stories
Wattpad used a single-category system that forced writers to pick one genre per story, which made it hard for readers to find what they were looking for. I led the design of a new multi-genre taxonomy that lets writers classify stories more accurately and powers better search and recommendations across the platform.
2026 • Wattpad
View the release announcement
Dynamic Discovery Home Re-Design
Every reader on Wattpad saw the same homepage regardless of what they liked to read. I redesigned the experience to personalize story suggestions based on recent reading activity, increasing story clicks by 15% and total views by 66%.
2023-2024 • Wattpad
See it Live on Wattpad
Top 10 Stories
Wattpad's homepage had no way to show readers what was trending. I designed a Top 10 row that surfaces popular stories in a way that feels intuitive and current, generating 1.4M story clicks per week.
2024 • Wattpad
Publishing Scheduler for Writers
Writers on Wattpad wanted a way to schedule chapter releases in advance, and it was the most requested feature on the platform. I designed the full scheduling experience across web and mobile, and within 5 months over 4,700 writers had scheduled 619K+ chapters.
2023 • Wattpad
Media Hub for Destination Marketers
Tourism organizations using CrowdRiff had no way to share their photo and video libraries with journalists or partners, which was costing the company deals. I was the sole designer on a team of 10 and built the product from scratch through 8 releases. It was adopted by 23% of the customer base and generated $900K in new annual revenue.
2019 • CrowdRiff
