Ben is a

Ben avatar

Senior Staff UX Manager

at Google

Design lead for forward thinking organizations.

Experience

Sr. Staff UX Manager

Google, 2019 – Now

Principal UX Designer

Amazon, 2015 – 2019

Senior UI Designer

Publicis Sapient, 2014

I’m a UX and product design leader with 15 years of experience. I've had success working with a wide range of businesses including big tech, non-profits, digital agencies, and various seed stage startups.

As a designer, I use deep business acumen to drive product-led growth and maximize business results. I also help cross-functional product teams optimize UX and partner with org-wide stakeholders and executives to drive innovation.

As a manager, I know how to build and scale inclusive teams to help individuals thrive and grow their careers, and deliver meaningful results, while optimizing design operations to amplify impact at scale.

I’ve been a mentor with ADPList since 2020, helping designers with career development and getting new jobs.

Design

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15 years experience

  • User experience design
  • User research
  • Design & product strategy
  • Workshop facilitation
  • Cross-org collaboration

Management

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3 teams led and scaled

  • People & team development
  • Stakeholder alignment
  • Executive influence
  • Frameworks & processes
  • Hiring & recruiting

Mentorship

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100s of mentees helped

  • Portfolio reviews
  • Career & skill development
  • Presentation feedback
  • Interview preparation
  • Detailed design reviews

Work

This is a small snapshot of recent work—there's a lot more where this came from. I do not host full case studies on my website in order to comply with NDAs.

UI of IncidentFlow

IncidentFlow is a state-of-the-art cybersecurity tool used by internal Google security teams for advanced incident management and response workflows.

I led the initial design for this product, shaping it from concept through launch, collaborating with dozens of cross-functional partner teams and users across the organization. I then staffed a team of designers and researchers to drive iterative improvements and optimizations.

UX & UI

Design leadership

Strategy

Research

Cybersecurity

UI of Melange product

Melange is an AI-powered cybersecurity and data visualization tool for sophisticated cyber threat detection and detection rule development.

I oversaw a team of designers and researchers through the concept, design, and development of this tool, working closely with cross-functional partners, our users, and stakeholders to ensure the interactions and visualizations met specific criteria to match user needs. This product was the recipient of a prestigious "Google Tech Impact" award in 2023.

UX & UI

Management

Dataviz

Research

Cybersecurity

UI of United for Ukraine website

United for Ukraine is a humanitarian response platform that was developed with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in response to the war in Ukraine.

I volunteered as a Google.org Fellow for six months to lead UX and build a platform providing humanitarian aid and information services for people fleeing the Russian invasion. After successfully launching the Ukrainian platform, I then turned it into a modular, reusable template that has since been implemented across the dozens of global crisis response websites that IRC manages. Our team won a number of awards for this effort, including the prestigious United Nations "Connect" award in 2023.

UX & UI

Design leadership

Strategy

Research

Non-profit

UI of Amazon recommendation widget

Amazon employs best-in-class customer shopping recommendation widgets that display inline with search results to help customers find products.

I worked closely with a team of Product Managers and Business Analysts to design and deploy Amazon's first set of shopping recommendation widgets through an iterative design and testing strategy. The widgets were incredibly successful, quickly becoming staples of the experience—now seen on nearly every search results page—and generating more than $1B in attributed revenue.

UX & UI

Design leadership

Strategy

Data analysis

E-comm

UI of Amazon "shop by category" design

Amazon's displays navigational features that help customers narrow broad or ambiguous search terms down to the correct category of results.

I collaborated with a Product Manager to analyze data which showed that customers were struggling to convert when issuing broad queries (e.g. lego, star wars, shirts). I then took a hypothesis-driven approach, running numerous multivariate experiments and ultimately landed a successful experience that is still seen frequently on the website.

UX & UI

Design leadership

Data analysis

Navigation

E-comm

UI of Amazon Prime filter

The "Prime toggle" is a simple filtering pattern that helps Amazon Prime members shop for Prime items more effectively while using their mobile devices.

I independently identified an opportunity to help Prime customers shop more effectively on their mobile devices by surfacing the Prime filter as a simple toggle UI placed directly at the top of the search results page. This seemingly simple feature had an outsized impact, resulting in a significant boost in customer conversion and revenue.

UX & UI

Design leadership

Mobile design

Filtering

E-comm

UI of Jeep website

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) maintains five brand websites: Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, Ram Trucks, Fiat. I redesigned all five websites simultaneously, employing a mobile-first, responsive user experience.

While working with FCA as a client, I worked on a request to redesign their brand websites with a responsive, mobile-first approach. I audited all of the existing websites and their components, and then redesigned them to optimize for non-desktop users. The finished work resulted in significant increases in all of our key performance metrics. This project won five JD Power awards after launch.

UX & UI

Heuristic eval

Responsive

Agency

Automotive

Principles

I follow a set of core principles that shape my approach as a designer and leader.

Communicate and listen, effectively

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I believe effective communication is the cornerstone of any design role. Whether delivering or receiving feedback or creating a compelling narrative for executives, clear communication and active listening are essential.

Invest in developing great people

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I excel at hiring exceptional people and fostering a team where each individual is a leader. I empower my team, avoid micromanaging, and create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.

Define and articulate a clear vision

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I know how to develop and articulate a compelling mission, vision, and strategy for the team, serving as a north star for everyone to rally around. I’ve spent years developing a repeatable vision framework that can work for teams of any size.

Deliver results and get sh*t done

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At the end of the day, you need to deliver results and I have a proven track record of doing just that. I achieve this by setting actionable goals, maintaining bias for action, and planning a strong, clearly prioritized roadmap with partners. I collaborate effectively and lead by example.

About

Hi, I'm Ben! I'm a UX designer, manager, and mentor based in Chicago.

My approach as a designer and leader has always been people first, with a focus on developing inclusive teams where everyone is encouraged to take risks and swing for the fences.

With 15 years of experience, I’ve worked in-house at large organizations like Google and Amazon, spent time in client services at renowned agencies like Publicis Sapient, and helped scale a number of startups from various stages.

Most recently, I’ve been developing and leading a team at Google which I've scaled from 0 to more than 20 while delivering strong results for our business.

I enjoy opportunities to work on products that make the world better, whether that be increasing the security of products used by billions around the globe, or working with non-profits to help people impacted by crises. I’m passionate about helping young designers grow their careers through mentorship.

Outside of work, I spend time with my wife, children and dog. We love to travel, see live music, and spend time outdoors.