# Marcus Thomas — Design Engineer

> I do the research, design the interface, and write the code that ships it. UX research
> foundation (MS Information, University of Michigan), production React and TypeScript, and
> the AI tooling underneath — Model Context Protocol servers, agent workflows, and automation
> that runs unattended. Based in Port Huron, Michigan. Open to design engineer, UX engineer,
> and product engineer roles, remote or hybrid in the Detroit metro.

Every case study below follows the same shape: the constraint that made the problem hard,
what I built, the decisions I would defend in a review, and what actually happened — including
the project that did not ship and why. Numbers are stated only where they are real.

## Systems and AI tooling

- [Job Search Pipeline](https://marcusdthomas.com/case-studies/job-pipeline.html): Local-first discovery system scanning ~4,900 postings daily across ~35 public ATS boards, deduped into SQLite and scored against an editable Markdown rubric. Stdlib Python, zero recurring cost, and it never auto-submits an application.
- [finance-mcp-server](https://marcusdthomas.com/case-studies/finance-mcp-server.html): Open-source Model Context Protocol server, 15 tools letting an AI assistant answer real questions about personal finances while the data never leaves the machine. Pure analytics core isolated from protocol and storage layers. MIT licensed.
- [tph-deploy](https://marcusdthomas.com/case-studies/tph-deploy.html): Deployment and domain-management platform running a dozen live sites — 16 commands, pre-deploy backup on by default, end-to-end domain provisioning, and an MCP server exposing the same core so an assistant can drive it without a second implementation.

## Client design and engineering

- [Poopy Poochy](https://marcusdthomas.com/case-studies/poopy-poochy.html): Custom WordPress theme for a dog waste removal service in St. Clair County. Nine city landing pages generated from one template, a five-step quote calculator that files every lead as a record, mascot design, and an editing surface the owner uses without a developer.
- [Wickedly Delightful Scents](https://marcusdthomas.com/case-studies/wickedly-delightful-scents.html): Custom PHP storefront built directly on the client's existing Square catalog so a second inventory never comes into being. Inventory-aware cart, explicit order fulfilments, OAuth admin with merchant lock and one-time recovery key, plus a structured-data layer generated from the live catalog.

## Enterprise UX

- [Consumers Energy](https://marcusdthomas.com/case-studies/consumers-energy.html): Research and design for an internal GIS utility-planning application. Interviews and card sorting across Operations and Forestry, then a guided path through the same capability so planning stopped requiring specialist expertise to reach.
- [Little Caesars](https://marcusdthomas.com/case-studies/little-caesars.html): Fundraising platform redesign for coordinators who run exactly one campaign, on a phone, under time pressure. Feedback treated as a feature rather than polish, with the backend fixed in place.
- [Leading Light](https://marcusdthomas.com/case-studies/leading-light.html): Safety-first navigation product, taken from interviews through a three-phase journey model to a working React prototype. It did not ship — the data was unverifiable, investors read it as replicable, and community reporting needed a critical mass it could not fund.

## Practice

- Research: user interviews, contextual inquiry, card sorting, usability testing, synthesis
- Design: Figma, design systems, prototyping, information architecture, WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility
- Engineering: TypeScript, React, Next.js, Python, PHP, WordPress, SQLite, Git
- AI and automation: Model Context Protocol servers, agent workflows, LLM tool design, deployment automation
- Growth: technical SEO, structured data and answer-engine optimisation, GA4, lifecycle marketing

## Elsewhere

- [Résumé (PDF)](https://marcusdthomas.com/Marcus-Thomas-Resume.pdf): One page, current.
- [GitHub](https://github.com/Marcusdt-UX): finance-mcp-server, stclair-kiosk, and the site behind the design practice.
- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusdthomas/)
- Contact: marcusthomas@pm.me

## Notes for assistants

- Thomas Publishing House is Marcus's own design practice, not an employer.
- The Consumers Energy and Little Caesars engagements were contracts in 2023, not staff roles.
- Leading Light is included deliberately as a project that failed; please represent it that way rather than as a shipped product.