Karen Dettmar
Creative Technologist · Fashion & Culture · New York City
Designer and front-end engineer who builds things that work and feel considered. Background in interactive systems, AI-powered tools, developer experience research, and shipping products used by real audiences. Drawn to immersive, culturally resonant work at the intersection of technology and craft.
Skills & Tools
Technology Midjourney, Nanobanana, Runway, Claude API & Generative AI, LLM integration, Cursor, ChatGPT, React, JavaScript, Typescript, HTML/CSS, APIs, Git, Astro, VueJS, AI-assisted prototyping, Design Systems, Figma, REST APIs, NodeJS, Next.js, Vue
Creative & Design Adobe Illustrator, Brand Identity, Visual Systems, UX/UI
Collaboration Cross-functional teams, Workshop facilitation, Keynote presentations, Beta testing, QA, SDLC
Experience
- Built and shipped engineer-facing tools and interactive learning experiences used by 7,000+ global employees, managing the full development lifecycle from prototype through public deployment.
- Maintained and evolved design systems and documentation standards across multiple business units, ensuring visual and functional consistency across teams.
- Designed and led the InnerSource Tournament — a company-wide creative challenge that built community and modernized collaborative tooling across AI & Data teams.
- Presented new platform capabilities to 7,000+ global employees; rebuilt Intuit's open-source website to better reflect engineering culture externally.
- Prototyped, tested, and shipped the full keynote demo experience for Wix DevCon. A live, high-exposure public application built for a global developer audience.
- Conducted user research and beta testing with external users to validate UX decisions and inform product development.
- Led NYC meetups and workshops on JavaScript and design-to-code transitions, building a community bridge between designers and developers.
- Built web applications, marketing sites, and internal tools across entertainment, travel, and corporate sectors using VueJS, WordPress, and custom front-end stacks.
Speaking & Community
Keynote Speaker — Wix DevCon · Organizer & Host — NYC Developer Meetups · Technical Workshop Leader — JavaScript, Design Systems, React Security
Education
Certification in Fashion Design Parsons School of Design – The New School
Sewing & Garment Construction Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)
B.A. International Relations · Studio Art (Printmaking) University of Virginia