32 UX Directors That Will Make You A Great Designer

User Experience Executive with 16+ years experience in UX Leadership roles leading high performing teams and helping companies create successful products with an intuitive, user centered design experience. Created User Experience Research team for Expedia, Inc.

Work experience includes the following industries and companies: Travel (Expedia, Hotwire, Hotels.com, Interval International, Expedia Corporate Travel), Real Estate (MSN Homes/HomeAdvisor, HouseValues/MarketLeader (now Zillow), Real Estate Weekly (Rew.ca), Beazer Homes), Healthcare (Asteres, Sharp Healthcare), Computer & Technology (Dell, HP, AMD, Microsoft, Clear, Sage Software), B2B (ecommerce, Hotel Supplier Extranets, Corporate Travel, ERP & CRM Software), Design Agencies (DraftFCB, Enfatico, MaxMedia, gotomedia), Dating (eHarmony), Hardware, Authentication Systems, Media (Times Colonist), Automotive (MSN Autos) and other ecommerce sites like GameStop.

Have managed 650+ User Experience Research projects including international research in the UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa and Japan.

I’m an experience management lead, creative thinker and senior manager, multi-skilled and versed in all areas of digital experience management, including creative, user experience strategy, and technology. I’m particularly excited about making sense of emerging technologies and creating seamless connections between the digital and physical worlds. I’m also an avid world traveler, an electronic musician, and a long distance runner.

I grew up and began my career in Finland, “the home of the mobile phone and a design industry based purely around function”, as Monocle Magazine calls it.

I earned my experience as art director, concept designer and creative director in Scandinavia, praised for its award-hoarding digital agencies, then went on to work in the Middle East, the United States, and Canada. In New York, I worked as an Interaction Design Director at R/GA leading a large team of interaction designers. I’m now based in Toronto, Canada, and work as an independent user experience management consultant, designer, speaker, and strategist.

My work has been awarded nationally and internationally. I also participate in and speak at events and design community events, including Slush 2012 in Helsinki, Finland, the UXLx conference in Lisbon, Portugal in 2010, and IxDA events in Toronto, Canada.

Joe is leading the multi-screen user experience design of an enterprise-scale non-profit organization that serves 15 million people in 165 countries. In his first year at the organization he was instrumental in defining a responsive user experience strategy and pioneered the organization’s UX guidelines. Joe is currently leading a team in the creation of an interaction design pattern library and visual language for the organization’s many web, native mobile and television apps delivered in 73 languages.

As creative director for various marketing channels, including social, mobile, email and web, Joe has influenced the visual branding, and voice and tone of content aimed at better reaching a Millennial audience.

Prior to joining the LDS digital team, Joe co-founded San Francisco based digital design agency, Punchcut. For a decade there, Joe helped Punchcut’s clients stay at the forefront of mobile user experience for native iOS, and Android and the responsive web.

Joe has worked with top tier US carriers and major American and Asian consumer electronics companies. Joe has helped brands such as CNN, JetBlue, Dwell, Mattel, and Disney design user experiences for mobile devices and the web.

In 2008 the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum honored Joe’s contribution to JetBlue Airway’s identity system and airplane livery with a National Design Award in for Corporate Achievement.

I’m Alex Wright, a writer and researcher who lives in Brooklyn, NY. I currently work as the Director of Research at Etsy and as an instructor at the School of Visual Arts’ MFA Program in Interaction Design.

I’m also the author of two books: Cataloging the World: Paul Otlet and the Birth of the Information Age, and Glut: Mastering Information Through the Ages. My writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Salon.com, The Believer, and elsewhere (see writing).

In previous lives I have worked in various capacities for The New York Times, frog design, Yahoo!, Microsoft, The Long Now Foundation, IBM, and the Internet Archive, among others (see projects).

Alissa is Director of User Experience at Brigade, where she brings a strategic approach to crafting impactful and evocative user experiences. Previously, Alissa led the design of top-rated, multimillion dollar web and mobile apps at Intuit.

Alissa is passionate about design leadership and strategy. She’s spoken at SXSW, Enterprise UX, UXPA, and Grace Hopper Conference, and was published by O’Reilly Media. Alissa holds advanced degrees in Human-Computer Interaction and Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University.

Hello,

I’m Buzz. I’m a digital designer living in sunny Sydney, Australia. I’m currently working with a startup called Sendle, where I’m the Head of Product.

Before that, I was UX Director at Campaign Monitor. I’ve also been fortunate to work for the likes of Skype, Facebook, Microsoft and various startups — designing UX/UI, talking product strategy, thinking about code and leading creative teams. I’ve also worked for a number of digital and advertising agencies in Europe, Australia and USA.

I’ve designed brands, icons, websites and apps — I write copy, sketch, prototype and test. I’ve built and led teams of designers — creating processes and strategies that help others do amazing work. I can code, and understand the intricacies of front and back-end development — collaborating with developers to help identify innovative solutions to tough problems. But above all else, I’m deeply passionate about problem solving. I like getting my hands dirty with varied, challenging work — in whatever form that takes.

I believe in delivering great products that delight customers, and I seek to build teams that are happy, productive, and collaborative. I love simplicity, and the joy that comes from a standout experience. I believe in harnessing agile values to continually improve and iterate, and focusing on how we work just as much as what we’re building.

I lead the Experience Strategy team at Booz Allen Hamilton, a group of seriously talented User Experience (UX) professionals, user researchers and design thinkers within the firm’s Strategic Innovation Group. I’m a Lean UX and Lean Startup enthusiast, Certified Usability Analyst, Certified ScrumMaster, ICAgile Certified Professional, and Project/Team Manager with a decade of hands-on experience in user research, user-centered design, and cross-channel strategy.

My background is in Industrial Design and I’ve been applying my skills and interest in human factors, HCI and the relationship between humans and product interfaces to my work in digital design since graduation in 1997.

I’m entirely user-focussed in my approach and am particularly interested in the principles of design thinking and the application of applied consumer psychology in relation to digital products.

For the last seven years I have held the combined roles of User Experience Director and Managing Director at the UX design studio I co-founded – Thirst Studios – providing world-class design solutions for a range of private clients, Government departments and Health organisations across Australia.

Aside from day to day work, I also occasionally write, speak and teach on the subject of UX design techniques and methodologies. I used to play the drums too, but haven’t done that much lately. I’m learning to surf instead.

In a nutshell, I’m a digital media professional who has worked in the tech industry for over a decade and specializes in crafting great user experiences, analyzing patterns and constantly fine-tuning to make good ideas better.

Since the early 2000’s I’ve been hacking on Digital Products and have been a strong technology advocate since I developed my 1st super awesome and important AOL hack-app in ’99.

When I’m not pushing pixels, I love to hangout with my beautiful wife, and our sweet little girl. In addition to them, I seriously enjoy being in any ocean or lake, and hate that my wake-board is collecting dust since I left Florida — however, I do attempt to make up for it via other adrenaline pumping activities.

Because I genuinely love what I do, I’m very particular about what company & projects I work on…. so there’s that. Overall though, I’m just a lucky guy, working with amazing people attempting to change the world one pixel at a time.

I am a UX designer with 17 years of in-depth experience in technology and design. I am specialized in delivering best-in-class digital services that span across mobile, web and connected devices. I combine my experience and education in design, research and engineering to help companies bring the near-future to the present.

When I am not clustering ideas on walls of post-it notes or crafting project proposals, I spent a portion of my time (and often the most enjoyable time) mentoring new designers in design critiques and discussing new ideas in user-centered design around the world.

15+ years experience designing and managing brands, integrated marketing campaigns, web sites, print collateral, tradeshows, and advertising

15+ years experience managing multiple concurrent projects, overseeing planning, concept development, design and implementation, assigning tasks, and monitoring progress

15+ years experience working with agencies and vendors, negotiating rates and contracts, and giving creative direction

15+ years experience mentoring design teams, understanding strengths and weaknesses, with a strong ability to promote conceptual thinking amongst the team

8+ years experience designing rich interactive experiences for web and mobile

4+ years experience with Agile development

Solid understanding of current web and mobile technologies, interactive strategies including responsive design, web/native/hybrid mobile apps, user experience design, visual design, information architecture, and best practices

Experience managing globally-dispersed small to medium teams: annual reviews, hiring, firing, on-boarding, team meetings, one-on-ones, and optimizing workloads and projects across team members

I am a product designer who uses human-centered methods to creatively solve problems and find new innovation opportunities.

My goal is to help clients shape, design, and develop their ideas and products in a way that benefits both them and their target audience.

My professional experiences have moved across various media platforms, both physical and digital, allowing me to play a key role in product development processes, brand experiences, and immersive storytelling. I’ve been fortunate to work on an international level, with clients such as PayPal, Google, LEGO, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Raymond Corporation, Adidas and Disney.

I’m a coffee, chips and more important huge digital marketing addict. I get my daily thrills out of everything that roams the digital world going from a viral campaigns, social media strategies but also a great Jquerry, HTML5, php or .net site, I just love it all. Next to this virtual world I’m the Husband of a great wife, father of 2 wonderful children that loves to cook and take pictures.

Having a strong development background I’m a Technology & UX Director with a thorough knowledge on a broad range of Web-technologies. Project plans, Team management, budget control and everything related to project management of small and big projects have no secrets for me.

My passion is everything related to the web going from Social marketing projects to complicated intranets. I like to be aware of the latest trends, technologies, UI & UX to improve my projects, skills and knowledge on this interesting virtual world.

As UX Director at The Alchemedia Project, Brad works closely with both the design and development teams in creating user-focused digital solutions. To ensure the best possible outcome for the client and the end-user, Brad draws on his experience as a Senior Art Director and Front-end Web Designer to bridge the functional gap.

Through verbal, written and visual communication, Brad ensures that all stakeholders understand the solution that delivers the best outcome for the identified business goal. He understands when to challenge convention and when to advocate for an existing design pattern. In either case, his goal is to deliver the best user experience in every project.

Brad received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Missouri State University with an emphasis on Graphic Design. He is passionate about accessibility in digital media and user-centric development. Brad has contributed to customer experience for brands like: Procter & Gamble Professional, Starbucks Foodservice, Heinz Foodservice, Unilever Food Solutions and Garmin.

In his free time Brad loves to watch movies, explore via backpacking and wrench on his Jeep.

I’m a Digital Product Designer and Design Leader with over a decade of experience working for startups, agencies and household name brands across all kinds of industries.

I help brands empathize with their customers and put them first. I also build multidisciplinary creative teams.

I’ve worked across many different sectors from restaurant chains and broadcasting, to early stage startups and non-profits.

My process focuses on the customer and their needs first, helping to define and align with business strategy, and designing full end-to-end experiences in agile development teams.

Specialties:

• building and managing cross-functional product teams
• editorial design, CMS systems and content strategy
• eCommerce UX
• responsive design frameworks and styleguides
• VOD trends
• luxury brand digital strategy and execution

Customer Experience, Digital Marketing & Digital Product executive – versatile hands-on leader focused on spearheading transformation, integration, and innovation initiatives that leverage customer/user-centricity as a market differentiator and revenue generator. Over my career, I have developed, delivered, and owned ~30 high-complexity and business critical digital product solutions to clients (web/mobile/ecommerce) across banking, publishing, travel, retail, and automotive clients.

I help companies capitalize on the intersection of traditional, physical, and digital consumer experiences. Architecting ecosystems in which brand communications assets, products and services are introduced, delivered and experienced by users is a key tenet of my approach.

As advisor, I partner with senior clients seeking counsel in digital product development & design, consumer-insight driven brand innovation, digital marketing, and org design. I am passionate about creating a collaborative culture and nurturing cross-functional relationships.

Strengths include:

• Partnership-driven philosophy focused on breakthrough new business development ideas and revenue growth planning.
• Deep subject matter expertise across experience design domains. My “consumer-first” mindset ensures that ideas are grounded in deep user understanding and that solutions are created to bring lasting positive impact to consumers’ lives, thus creating enduring emotional connections.
• Outstanding track record for inspiring local, global, and geographically distributed teams to execute flawlessly on the most demanding client engagements while maintaining team morale and developing talent.

I have 20 years of experience in UX-UI and product design field. In the past 5 years I have been leading and motivating teams, and personally contributing to the creation of integrated multi-device experiences.

I bring skills from cognitive psychology and computer science in conjunction with a passion for UX and Human Centered Design, brand management and marketing sensibility to my teams and my projects.

I am well versed with consumer product strategy, user research, information architecture and interaction design, industrial design and ergonomics, visual and graphic design.

My mission is simple: Improve the world one user experience at a time.

Deena Rosen is an accomplished design leader who is passionate about using behavioral design to solve some of our planet’s biggest problems.

As the Vice President of Design at Opower, she led the design of products that nudge people to use less energy, and with big impact: Opower has so far saved 8 billion kWh across 50 million homes worldwide.

Prior to joining Opower, Deena spent 15 years designing user-friendly products & experiences across multiple industries, including organic food, mobile technology, and enterprise software.

She has a masters degree in Product Design from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Duke University. In addition to being a designer, she can be tagged as a meditator, amateur anthropologist, and farmers’ market aficionado. She lives happily in San Francisco, and is the person always nagging you to turn off the lights when you leave the house.

I’m an enthusiastic interaction designer, with over 15 years of work experience in both consulting and startup environments.

I’m currently Head of UX Design at MURAL, a startup focused on helping remote multidisciplinary teams collaborate throughout all the stages of the design process by using a visual online collaboration service.

I’m passionate about empowering teams through design. Understanding the nature of the design process and all of its methodologies is one of the obsessions that has played an important role in developing myself professionally.

That same fascination with design has turned me into a natural evangelist for UX in different circles, from local meetups and international conferences to conversations over coffee.

We create smart digital products and services that enable businesses to thrive against a background of accelerating change.

To do this we have designed a series of programmes that take a radically customer-centred approach from insight to prototype, launch and beyond.

We combine design thinking and the lean startup method to offer what we call Full Stack Innovation. This method combines research, strategy, design and development in a way that allows us to creatively and rapidly solve problems, create and test prototypes and then take a product to market in an iterative way. Given our way of working we often refer to ourselves as a startup for hire.

We partner with ambitious entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs who want to dominate in their sector. These could be very early stage startups or much better known PLCs, but whether it’s a business of 2 or 20,000+ they come to us for the same thing – to help them compete, innovate and grow.

We’re fortunate to have a brilliant team of Strategists, Designers, Service Designers and Developers. Recent projects include a digital transformation at a global credit card business, an innovation and behaviour change program at a FTSE 100 and an internal program to improve communication and collaboration at a well-known telco.