Principal, UX Strategy & Enablement (Regulated Products)

Led enterprise UX strategy and operating model execution in a regulated environment, translating customer + business needs into experience standards, decision frameworks, and quality bars that made product delivery more consistent, review-ready, and shippable at scale.

➤ Founded and scaled 2 enterprise programs: Kraftwerk and XD Process Training.

➤ Scaled adoption + strategic alignment: Founded Kraftwerk, growing the content design practice 0 → ~50, expanding to 120+ designers across 3 hubs

➤ UX strategy in practice: Established experience principles, content/interaction standards, and governance that improved consistency across teams and reduced variability in regulated delivery

➤ Delivered at pace: Ran 50+ sessions in <18 months with 100+ avg attendance (124 peak), turning strategy into repeatable behaviors

➤ Operationalized standards: Built XD Process Training and embedded the shift from Copy Decks → Content Specs into training + reinforcement (9+ sessions), improving documentation consistency and stakeholder review readiness

➤ Scaled through leaders: Spun out a Manager Community of Practice + rituals; mentored the manager leading it to sustained success

➤ Built durable assets: Produced 65+ artifacts and 30+ reusable resources to sustain adoption

Programs Founded & Built

➤ Kraftwerk: enterprise UX/content capability ecosystem + reinforcement engine (workshops, critique, office hours, practice loops)

➤ XD Process Training: shared baseline for UX ways of working aligned to design systems, quality expectations, and artifacts

“Tony operates at a Principal/VP-track level, architecting the governance, standards, and reinforcement systems that make regulated product experiences consistently shippable at scale.” — Nathalie Huni, Head of Design, Wells Fargo

As the foundational UX Writer and Senior Lead Content Designer at Remitly, I owned end-to-end content strategy and UX writing across high-impact surfaces: Onboarding, Home, Payments, Lending,

Wallet, KYC, Risk/Fraud, and adjacent platform capabilities, shaping how customers understand, trust, and move money through the product.

I partnered with Product, Design, and Research leadership to embed content into core workflows (not bolted on), improving consistency, velocity, and quality at scale. I also led content for key growth and trust touch points (landing pages, referrals, pricing, merchandising), balancing clarity, compliance, and conversion.

Leadership & Mentorship

➤ Modeled cross-functional ways of working that aligned product intent, design, and content strategy

➤ Enabled PMs and designers new to content design to collaborate effectively

➤ Mentored product and content designers to raise craft, confidence, and cross-disciplinary fluency

Led content design and strategy across complex financial journeys, embedding user-centered language, inclusive design, and research-driven iteration into product development.

Partnered with product, research, legal, and compliance to modernize how financial experiences communicate risk, guidance, and decision-making.

Impact & Highlights

➤ Established enterprise UX Writing Guidelines and content governance

standards across Prudential’s digital ecosystem

➤ Led content strategy for retirement and savings tools, translating complex

financial concepts into structured, confidence-building decision flows

➤ Retirement Income Calculator: simplified multi-variable financial planning

into clear, guided pathways

➤ LINK by Prudential: shaped conversational goal-definition flows for a direct-

to-consumer digital platform

➤ College Savings Calculator: partnered on extensive A/B testing to optimize estimation clarity and engagement

➤ Delivered co-branded Amazon Business Prime–Prudential experience aligned to dual enterprise standards

➤ Recognized with the You Rock Award” for leadership, inclusion, and cross-functional collaboration

Head of In-House Creative Studio
UX/CX, Brand & Multichannel Campaigns | Latin America

Recruited to found and lead Sony’s in-house creative studio, owning brand strategy + UX/CX-driven and informed creative direction across 18 countries and three languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese) for Crackle, AXN, and Canal Sony.

Led year-round promotional and product-adjacent programs across streaming, broadcast, web, mobile, email/CRM, social, and print, building a scalable system for consistent, localized customer experiences across diverse markets.

Scope & Impact

Built and operationalized a regional studio: hiring, workflows, standards, and a high-velocity production pipeline

Directed cross-platform campaign ecosystems across TV/digital/mobile/web/social/email, including landing pages, banners, sizzle reels, trailers, bumpers/indents/interstitials, teasers, and brand ID systems

Led brand identity systems + motion design and partnered on UX/UI rebrands to align on-platform experiences with campaign promises

Ensured creative consistency across multilingual markets while adapting messaging and CX for cultural nuance

Partnered with network leadership to align brand evolution with audience growth and programming strategy

Impact: tripled views, doubled subscriptions, and scaled production to 30+ trailers/month

Key highlights: launched Kalixta (first SVOD dedicated to women) and led the Crackle rebrand across 17 countries outside the U.S.

SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT

UX/CX + Brand Strategy

Kalixta SVOD (LATAM/US)
UX Strategist, Creative Director, Writer-Producer

Led the end-to-end UX/CX, brand, and content strategy for Sony Online’s Kalixta SVOD launch across 18 countries and three languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese), from idea conception through launch.

Set the brand vision and positioning, drove naming, and established the product’s identity, voice, and messaging system, shaping the customer journey across key touchpoints (on-platform experience, marketing, and communications).

Kalixta became the first international SVOD streaming service dedicated to women, available across 17 Latin American countries and briefly in the U.S. Its success proved the scale and loyalty of the women’s audience, and directly led Sony to hire me as their in-house UX/CX Studio Head for six years.

Crackle International Growth + Rebrand (“Hollywood for All”)
+ Platform Repositioning

At the time, Crackle was significantly more successful internationally than in the U.S., a widely recognized free streaming service with top-shelf films, used far more across global markets.

Following Kalixta’s traction, Sony expanded the strategy internationally: we rebranded Crackle LATAM (previously positioned and advertised as testosterone-driven and male-targeted) to intentionally include women, applying Kalixta’s audience insights and experience principles. This work culminated in repositioning the platform as “Hollywood for All,” evolving Crackle’s identity and CX to serve a broader audience, work also reflected in this portfolio.

Designing for Velocity

Presentation Overview: This presentation provides a strategic blueprint for transforming a fragmented, legacy-speed 120-person design organization into a unified, AI-ready powerhouse in under 12 months.

Architected and directed by Tony Mendez, the case study argues that true organizational velocity requires a systemic operating system, rather than a standard product roadmap.

Presentation Overview:

This presentation is a case study in systems architecture, detailing the systematic translation of high-level UX principles into a unified 'Way of Working' for an organization of 160+ practitioners.

The deck outlines the transition from "Organizational Drift," characterized by fragmented deliverables and "scavenger hunt," files, to a modern, shared baseline of enterprise-quality execution.

Presentation Overview:

This presentation is a strategic case study of Kraftwerk, a high-performance operating model designed and directed by Tony Mendez.

It details how a zero-budget initiative successfully scaled organizational capability, culture, and ROI within a global design organization of over 160 practitioners.

MGS COMM
Agency Creative Director
CX/UX + Brand + Digital Strategy

Creative executive leading agency-wide digital, brand, and UX strategy across national and Fortune 200 accounts.

Led the end-to-end agency rebrand, modernizing positioning, visual identity, and narrative, then drove growth by leading the agency’s highest-impact integrated campaigns and user-centered digital experiences (web, mobile, apps, UX/UI content).

Oversaw multidisciplinary teams across design, content, UX, and production, while winning new business through competitive pitches and RFPs.

Highlights

Directed creative vision across all engagements, aligning brand strategy with user-centered digital execution

Led company-wide rebrand, updating positioning, messaging architecture, identity system, and go-to-market materials

Conceived and delivered integrated campaigns across digital, mobile, and traditional channels, ensuring cohesive end-to-end customer journeys

Led creative for Florida Power & Light, Toyota, Citibank, ITT Tech, NYC Department of Health, BB&T, Publix, NextEra, and Claritin

Wrote and won competitive RFPs securing major accounts, including FPL and NextEra (Fortune 200)

Built and mentored cross-functional teams across UX, content, design, and digital delivery, raising quality and consistency at scale

Conceptualized and launched three native modeling calendar apps for Q Models — Men's, Women's, and Couples — featuring the agency's top talent. Owned the full product lifecycle from ideation, UX/customer journey design, and scripting, to Apple Developer Platform deployment, coordinating engineering support to bring the vision to life.

Included: Photoshoot Production, Creative Direction, Styling, Casting

Factor 7 Omnimedia for GBS International

Creative Director, Writer-Producer

Motion Graphics-driven employee onboarding video (highlights).

Creative Direction, Copywriting, Production

Creative Director & Concept Design

Creative Director, Writer-Producer, Senior Editor
Sony Online Entertainment & Sony Pictures Television

Creative Strategy & Copy

Creative Direction, Copy and Conceptual Design

Sony Pictures Television Networks

Creative Direction, Copy, Editing, Motion Graphics

How I met your Mother -  Main Promo

Creative Director, Senior Copywriter, and Concept Design.
MGS COMM

 Subway posters and magazine ads.

BUDWEISER

Brand Voice, Creative Strategy & Copy

Creative Strategy & Copywriting

TOYOTA

Creative Direction. Print, Motion Graphics, and TV.

Account Creative Director
Florida Power & Light

Print, TV, Radio, OOH, Digital, Web, Mobile, and Branded Collateral.

Producer and Creative Director of Grammy nominated Music Video for Sony and Paradiso Films

Written, directed and produced award winning film.

NYC Health

Creative direction, brand strategy, and copy

Creative Direction, Brand Voice and Content Strategy

Website & Mobile Apps (UX/UI), Brand ID, Product Content Writing, Content Strategy, Videos, Brochures, Business Collateral, Direct e-mail, Print and Digital ads, Experiential, 100+ page Member's Vacation Guide and Atlas.

GBS International & AMResorts

Creative Direction, UX/UI Writing, Brand Strategy

Brand Guidelines, Websites (3) & Mobile Apps (UX/UI), Product Content Writing, Videos, Brochures, Direct e-mail, Digital, Print, and Experiential.

Copywriting & Creative Strategy