Carm McDonald
Senior Manager, Product Design, Target
Connect
Formally trained in architecture, Carm adopts the Bauhaus principle of “less is more” in her approach to user experience design—emphasizing simplicity, minimalism, and intentional clarity for greater impact and quality in design.
Industry Experience
Carm McDonald (she/her) is a Product Design Leader, Educator, and Creative Problem Solver, with 15+ years of crafting and leading award-winning e-commerce digital products. Her career spans startups and Fortune 500 companies across diverse industries, including key leadership roles at CDW, United Airlines, Shopify, and Target.
A passionate educator deeply committed to nurturing talent in UX and design, Carm has enriched Chicago’s vibrant design community as a founder of DesignTech, Lead Instructor at General Assembly, and Adjunct Faculty at the Institute of Design.
Carm holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Science in Information Architecture from Illinois Tech.
Speaking
“0 Results: Architecting an Information Strategy for Improving Product Search” at World Information Architecture Day, Chicago, 2017.
“From Queries to Conversion: A Closer Look at AI-Powered Search” at the SpotOn Speaker Series, Chicago, 2025.