Resume: Steve Chab, Design Engineer

Summary

I blend craft and code for empathetic interfaces. Beautiful and performant yet human. I raise the bar for myself and the team.

Co-invented an AI-driven UX workflow; U.S. patent pending. Lead team accessibility practice at a tech giant. Co-chaired a global design summit for hundreds of UX and design leaders. Shaped web standards for a leading research university for over a decade.

Typography, layout, performance, and inclusion matter to me. I thrive with creative autonomy and influence without authority; a critic once said I obsess over specificity.

Expertise

Design and craft: Typography, layout, web design, UX and UI, information architecture, content strategy, branding
Engineering: HTML, CSS and SCSS, JavaScript, A/B experimentation, CMS development, performance tuning
Accessibility: WCAG, inclusive design, audit and remediation, standards documentation, staff training
AI-augmented work: Claude, GPT, Devin, Snyk

Experience

Dell Technologies

Remote

Dell runs large-scale A/B experiments across its global B2B and B2C storefronts. I build them beside analysts, product managers, and behavioral scientists.

Senior Software Engineer

2022 to present

Co-invented an AI-driven UX and file retrieval workflow. Dell filed the U.S. patent application; it is pending.
Co-chaired Dell's global Experience Design Summit, a livestreamed event for hundreds of UX and design leaders.
Served as lead engineer for the online experiences behind Dell's embargoed global XPS relaunch. The campaign made national tech news, and XPS sold out in two countries.
Adapted Dell's accessibility guidelines into team standards for experimentation, including the rule that protects both the user and the test data: if the control is not accessible, an experiment should not fix it.
Teach accessibility through workshops and peer review.
Push AI-enhanced workflows into research, prototyping, and code review.
Mentor engineers. Shape onboarding materials and coding exercises.

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

Carnegie Mellon runs a decentralized web ecosystem: hundreds of college, department, and campaign sites. I crafted its web design and accessibility standards.

User Interface Developer

2017 to 2022

Wrote CMU's web accessibility standards, built on research, an audit, and conference learnings. They remain published on the university's web branding site.
Architected responsive, brand-aligned CMS templates and authoring systems used by hundreds of university sites.
Helped plan the migration of about 250 outdated sites to a new design and authoring experience.
Co-led workshops with the Office of Accessibility, training staff on accessibility and modern web standards.

Front-End Developer

2011 to 2017

Redesigned the cmu.edu homepage as the marketing team's only web designer, impacting millions of online visitors.
Designed and built responsive marketing sites for key university campaigns.
Built and maintained the email newsletter templates used across the institution.

Assistant Web Designer

2007 to 2011

Built the icon system and interface for CMU's first iOS app.
Shot and curated the photography running on the university homepage.

Volunteer

Manifest Ministries

Pittsburgh, PA

Creative Director, Board Member

Design and build the books for a nonprofit teaching ministry, plus marketing assets, signage, and the website.
Set the brand guidelines for the books: a color scheme and a typographic style, held across the series.
Built a Claude skill that turns collections of messy Word manuscripts into clean Markdown, ready for layout.

Proof

See my work page for more about cmu.edu redesigns, the XPS relaunch, accessibility standards, and experiments running on Dell's storefronts.

Browse artsy pieces and creative endeavors on the fun page.

Education

Bachelor of Humanities and Arts, Creative Writing and Music Technology, 2020 Carnegie Mellon University
Associate of Science, Multimedia, 2006 Pittsburgh Technical College