About
Twenty-one years bridging design and engineering .
I’m Joshua Butner, a product design engineer in Austin, Texas. I design and build human-centered products end to end: research, design, development and deployment, with deep attention to design systems, accessibility and performance, and a growing emphasis on AI-assisted workflows.
I make good ship.
01Now
SXSW
Senior Designer + Developer · 2016 to present- Design and ship full-stack features for proprietary, high-traffic event platforms serving 500k+ annual attendees, owning the work end to end from Figma to production React and TypeScript.
- Built and maintain a component-driven design system that cut UI development time by 60% and, combined with AI workflows, effectively flattened the design-to-engineering handoff.
- Architect responsive applications for attendee scheduling, networking and content discovery, with a focus on accessibility (WCAG) and performance.
- Run an annual in-person usability and demographic research pipeline that turns direct user feedback into iterative product improvements.
GOTHS
Founder · 2023 to present- A digital product design and development studio that partners with early-stage and mature teams to take projects from concept to shipped, accessible products.
- Advise startups on AI-assisted workflows, design-system-first architecture, accessibility compliance and design-to-code pipelines.
02Before
Vulk Co-op
Co-founder and Design Partner · 2013 to 2016- Co-founding design partner directing creative, strategy and front-end development for SaaS products across a variety of clients and industries.
- Mentored junior designers in UX and implementation.
Earlier
2007 to 2023- X9S Agency, Founder, 2016 to 2023
- Clutch Analytics, Founding Designer and Front-End Developer, 2013
- CabForward, Staff Designer and Front-End Developer, 2012 to 2013
- Digby, Senior Mobile Designer and UI Developer, 2010 to 2012
- LugIron Software, Creative Director, 2009 to 2010
- CourseTrends, Web Designer and UI Developer, 2007 to 2008
03How I work
Design
User-centered product design, design system architecture, tokens and componentization, rapid prototyping, user research, accessibility, visual design, branding and identity.
Engineering
React, TypeScript, Tailwind, Next.js, Astro, Remix and React Router, Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, Supabase, REST APIs, bespoke animation, state management, performance optimization, data architecture, and privacy-compliant analytics.
Methods
AI-assisted workflows, local AI alternatives for security and privacy, custom AI tooling for niche work, design-to-code pipelines, agile delivery, mentorship, stakeholder alignment, and design-engineering leadership.
04Selected work
Zions Capital Markets
A design system and production front end, delivered through GOTHS and handed off to the client’s own team.
Read the case study →05Say hello
Say hello .
Working on something that needs design and engineering in the same head? I’d like to hear about it.