Principal Designer at PayPal
Steven
Vanden Heuvel
Principal Designer at PayPal. Designing checkout and payment experiences for the world's top merchants.
Payments. Design systems. B2B product.
About
Currently a Principal Designer at PayPal (contract via MagnitGlobal), working on the merchant checkout team. Over the past six months I have shipped 20+ merchant proposal packages on weekly sprint cycles for top global brands including Home Depot, Nintendo, Target, Best Buy, TikTok Shop, Chewy, and Microsoft. The work feeds PayPal's top priority of growing TPV through greater checkout prominence.
Before PayPal I spent 18 years at MTG Media Group, growing from Senior Art Director to VP and Creative Director. I led a 6 person team and built responsive web products and design systems for 7 brands serving 128,000+ B2B professionals. Plate, the website I rebuilt as a responsive product, won the 2017 Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Website. Four-time Neal Award winner overall.
Through Steven Design Services LLC I also take on select contract design work, focused on design systems, responsive web products, and product strategy.
Selected Work
Case studies
PayPal: Merchant Checkout
Improving the checkout experience and PayPal's visibility to grow TPV for the merchant and PayPal.
Read case study →Plate: Website Redesign
Building the digital platform for chefs and foodservice professionals. Won the 2017 Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Website.
Read case study →Project Blackbird
An interactive oral history of the restaurant that transformed Chicago's dining. Grand Jesse H. Neal Finalist, top 4 nationally.
Read case study →Alt-Meat
Brand identity, magazine, and responsive news site for MTG's alternative protein property. Designed in under 90 days.
Read case study →Meatingplace
Responsive rebuild of MTG's flagship daily news site for U.S. meat and poultry professionals. Largest audience across MTG's 7-brand portfolio.
Read case study →Merchant Flow Builder
Browser brief form and Figma plugin. Per-merchant checkout flow assembly: 30 to 60 minutes to under 60 seconds.
Recognition
Awarded work, on record.
- 4Jesse H. Neal Awards
- 6Neal Finalist Recognitions
- 1Grand Neal Finalist (top 4 nationally)
- Folio Ozzie Honoree
- Multiple ASBPE Awards
- Northwestern Medill Guest Speaker
What I Do
Design Systems · Responsive Web Products · Product Strategy.
- Design Systems
- Service Blueprints
- UX and UI Design
- Prototyping
- Wireframing
- Accessibility
- AI Assisted Workflows (Claude Code, Cursor)
- Figma
Let's talk.
Aurora, IL · Chicago area · Open to remote