Matt Griffin

UX Director in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Hi, I’m Matt Griffin, a design leader who cares a whole heck of a lot. I solve deep, gnarly product and organizational problems. I build, empower, aim, and inspire world-class design teams so they can make things people love to use.

I love collaborating with those unique people who help make the work better, more fun, and the mission feel more important – and hope to have the same effect on them every day. I seek out people and cultures like this, because I believe it’s one of the most important keys to doing truly great work.

I’ve been at Shopify since 2017, where I’ve lead design and UX for some of the most important products in e-commerce: Shopify Payments, Shopify Capital, Shop Pay, Shop Pay Installments, Shop Cash, Sign in with Shop, Shopify Balance, Billing, Taxes, Fraud Control, and more. Currently, I’m the UX Director of Payments, where I’m responsible for products which generate over half of Shopify’s revenue.

In the past I’ve:

  • Spent 9.5 years as the founder, CEO, and Head of Design of Bearded, an internationally-recognized, award-winning boutique design agency in Pittsburgh, PA
  • Given keynote talks at industry-leading design conferences across the US, in Brazil, and in Australia
  • Published 15 articles for the venerable web design outlet A List Apart and elsewhere, including lots of influential internal writing at Shopify
  • Made a feature length documentary about the web starring Tim Berners-Lee and many other people who were key in the creation of the web
  • Played in a bunch of indie rock bands, toured all over the world, and got kind of famous in Japan in the 90’s and early 2000's

Here are things people have said about me at work recently:

Testimonials
Your impact on Shop is undeniable. It’s been amazing to follow your work on growing Shop Pay from a utility to a trusted brand and delightful experience that people look for when making a purchase decision.
Carl Rivera, VP of Product, Shop & Merchant Services, Shopify
When I think of my ideal lead, I think of someone that has patience, deep care for people, curiosity for understanding me as an individual, has strong opinions (loosely held) and high standards, and gives me the room and trust to do what I know I can do. You've done all of this. Thank you.
Nicola Evans, Staff Content Designer, Shopify
You are an absolute artist when it comes to un-f***-ing some sh**.
Katarina Batina, UX Director, Shop, Shopify