About Michael Emery

Design taught me to notice. Product taught me what to do about it.

I’ve spent most of my career figuring out why something feels harder than it should, talking to the people stuck with it, and helping turn that insight into something better.

Mike Emery

Experience

Where I’ve worked

Feb 2002 – Present

EmeryMedia

Independent Product & UX Consultant

I’ve kept a consulting practice alongside my in-house roles. Some of my favorite projects grew out of collecting comics. I was already using Key Collector when I got the chance to redesign it, and I helped my local comic shop bring its inventory online.

Explore Key Collector Comics
Feb 2025 – May 2026

HIEC

Senior Product Manager, Executive Team

I shaped the roadmap for ApprenticeSearch.com and led UX and branding for Ontario Career Lab. Alongside the public website, I managed development of the tools behind a program serving more than 300,000 Grade 9 and 10 students across Ontario.

Jan 2014 – Jan 2024

Kindertales

Head of Product Design / Senior Product Manager

As a founding team member, I worked with educators, families, and administrators as the platform grew to 160,000+ daily users. I owned the billing UX for a system that has processed more than US$1 billion in payments.

Explore Kindertales
Sep 2010 – Dec 2013

Pure3 Interactive

Design Director / Product Manager

I led designers and developers building custom software for clients. One of those projects was a childcare platform. It became Kindertales, and I stayed with it for the next ten years.

2005 – 2010

Scratch Marketing

Senior Designer

I worked across print, web, and branding for clients including Electrolux, Conair, and Frigidaire.

Background

Design school and after

I studied Art Fundamentals, earned a Bachelor of Design, and completed postgraduate studies in Interactive Multimedia at Sheridan College. I later studied Foundations of Project Management at the University of Toronto.

Outside work

Usually drawing or collecting

I draw sketch cards, collect comics, and have been building my own PCs since the MS-DOS days. Lately I’ve been making time for golf. My camera roll, though, is mostly photos of our dogs.