About

I’ve 20+ years experience in front-end tech and UX & UI Product Design. As a former news journalist with a background in the restaurant business, I first made the leap to tech as a content developer, and segued to UX where I’ve created for consumers and enterprises, planned and led the design of Web-responsive and Mobile 1st apps, conducted UX Research and engineered design systems, improved workflows and design process, and created marketing and advertising for Mainstream Media, Business & Consumer Goods and Services, Home Automation (IoT), FinTech, InsureTech, Big Data, Independent Music, and Recruitment.

Considering me for your next UX Design role? Let’s chat!
Here’s my CV on LinkedIn. Or email dean + @ + deanwong + .com

Looking for coaching on UX, UI, Design, and UX Career or Job Hunting advice?
Book 1:1 time with me on ADP List where I try to give back what I’ve learned by mentoring others coming up in these areas.

Current Design Stack
Figma, Figjam, Slack, Git, Storybook, Miro, ZeroHeight, JIRA, Confluence

Design-Specific Skills & Expertise

  • User-Centered Design
  • Design Thinking, Leadership, Strategy
  • Design (DPM) Process
  • Information Architecture
  • User Experience Design
  • User Interface Design
  • Interaction Design
  • Visual Design
  • Product Ideation
  • Continuous Requirements Gathering
  • Mobile & Responsive Design
  • Browser Standards
  • Brand Identity 
  • Lean UX Methods
  • Metrics & Measurement
  • Design Systems
  • Agile Design Process, Planning, Execution
  • Info Graphics and Data Visualization
  • Personas & Journey Maps
  • Sketching, wireframing, schematics
  • Flowcharts & Workflows
  • Low-Mid-High Fidelity Mockups 
  • Motion Animation & Video Experience
  • Interactive Prototyping
  • Pitch Decks
  • Presentation Visualizations
  • Storyboarding & Storytelling
  • Startups: Stealth Mode, Early/Mid/Late Stage

Key Knowledge Areas

  • UX & UI
    Deep experience defining The User Experience from a user-centered approach, and designing The User Interface, and leading the design effort on multi-disciplinary projects and working with blended teams
  • Design Systems
    Create, maintain, curate, and evolve design system components, architecture, libraries, and tooling. Comprehensive guidelines and usage documentation. Educate and train designers to build a systems-thinking, collaborative community. Research, measure, and gather metrics regularly to support road map, value to designer-users, and more importantly, value to the business in increasing product design process efficiencies and brand UX consistency
  • User Research & Usability
    A/B user studies, moderated and unmoderated user testing, quantitative and qualitative research, contextual inquiry, field studies, usability test planning, execution, analysis, and reporting, candidate sourcing, crafting user surveys and questionnaires Human Factors International (HFI) Certified Usability Analyst, Certified Forrester Research Certified Expert Web Site Review Methodology
  • Accessibility
    Designing for visual, audible, cognitive, fine-motor and physical impairments and standards: a11y, Section 508, ADA, WCAG
  • Product Management & Documentation
    Story & Epic creation, story-writing, pointing, and grooming. Specifications, business requirements, training, briefs, guides and guidelines, DPM, BPM, Agile, JIRA, Confluence, Aha!, Storybook, ZeroHeight, Supernova
  • Front-End
    Inspector, hand-code HTML/CSS, javascript, markdown, modern browser standards, Mobile & Responsive Web, Git, Bootstrap, Material, React, GitLab, WordPress, Drupal, Rails
  • Content Development & Writing
    Communications Strategy, Professional background in Journalism (Daily Print, Broadcast) and Creative Writing, writing for Product, Marketing, and Business
  • Industry Verticals
    Enterprise, Consumer, SaaS, B2B, B2C, CRM, IoT, Business Intelligence, Big Data, Consumer Data, Financial/FinTech, InsureTech, Journalism, Print and Broadcast, Media, Consumer and Business Goods and Services, Independent Music, Senior Life Planning, Recruitment, ATS, Service Industry, Customer Service, Restaurant Industry, Residential Real Estate
  • Design Apps
    Figma, FigJam, Miro, Adobe, Sketch, Zeplin, Axure, Invision
  • Job Hunting, Sourcing, Interviewing, and Hiring
    I’ve been on both ends of the hiring process countless times and have pretty much seen-it-all when it comes to job hunting, interviewing, job coaching, advice on the UX profession, negotiating terms, and finding The Right Fit

TL;DR

I’m a reliable, flexible, and creative UXD Generalist you can depend on to get the job done. I’m comfortable as a solo practitioner or as a engaged contributor to a design team, or a balanced and integrated cadre of like-minded designers and technologists. I can wear many hats — or just one to focus on a specific area — depending on the gig, scope, role, and needs.


“… Dean settled into our tight knit team easily, and is a joy to work with. His positive attitude and adaptability made it very easy to give him work and know that it was going to be done well and in a very reasonable amount of time. He’s a great resource to bounce your ideas off of, to walk through thoughts and plans with, and he gives his full attention to the matter at hand …”

Joseph Lawsky
DesignOps Design Systems Team Lead
The Home Depot – Enterprise

“… I worked with Dean on Depot’s online delivery experience for Rental. He is a natural creator, and his prowess as a designer ranks among the most talented people I’ve worked with. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from him …”

Matt Beamish
Staff Product Designer
The Home Depot – Enterprise

“… I was also impressed at how willing Dean is to accept and absorb feedback to improve his designs. I throughly valued Dean as a true partner in the product creation process and relied upon him heavily to ensure a stellar UI and UX for our products. Dean is a fantastic addition to any product team…”

Kuljit Dharni
CTO
Second Half Finance & Track

“… I always valued Dean’s thirst for knowledge and research, which elevated our team’s understanding of the latest best practices and technologies in UI and UX. From a Product Manager’s point of view, Dean would be a great addition to any product team– both professionally, as a Product Designer and collaborator on all design stages, and personally, as a coworker and teammate …”

Aimee Dubois
Senior Product Manager
Second Half Finance & Track

“… a versatile, insightful designer who “gets it.” We worked on several marketing projects together involving Bullhorn’s Web site properties that were part of larger strategic initiatives. In each instance, Dean provided tremendous value-add that ensured the relevancy and consistency of our message from a design perspective. He’s flexible, but also knows how to lead to accomplish the strategic objective …”

Joe Cordo
CMO
Bullhorn

“… An incredibly flexible and easy-going teammate who has a great eye for detail and user interaction. He really understands how major of a role user experience plays when it comes to conversions, revenue and overall customer satisfaction …”

Rachel Sherman Stacy
Senior Marketing Manager
SonicBids

” … I worked side-by-side with Dean at Forrester Research through several major projects, including a major website redesign…always did great work, had solid ideas, and was able to articulate and implement them. His user-focused designs brought a lot to our team …”

Kevin Turbitt
Senior Product UX Designer
Forrester Reearch

“… highly responsive, professional, and creative…He was able to take legacy technology and weave it into a new Forrester Web experience for our clients. Timelines were short, requests came in fast and furiously, but Dean was able to juggle it all and help drive a successful and on-time launch …”

Dawn Habgood
Director Global Publishing
Forrester Research

“… a highly collaborative person who asks deep questions, thinks through nuances of a problem, looks at solutions from various angles, takes feedback, and engages various contributors and collaborators in his work process …”

Evelina Deleanu, PhD, MBA
UX Principal
The Home Depot – Enterprise

“… Dean’s expertise in usability consistently made the difference between a B+ product and an A product …”

Chase Seibert
Senior Software Engineer
Bullhorn

“… consummate Web professional with advanced experience and know-how in the areas of Web design and development, as well as usability analysis and solutions. He was a team player I relied on heavily, in helping to puzzle out solutions for a rolling redesign of the site, a redesign that increased our traffic and revenue, and brought us to a market leadership position …”

Jason Butler
Product Director
The Boston Globe’s BostonWorks

“… knows UI, plain and simple. He’s up-to-date on best practices, and he is able to get them implemented quickly and efficiently. It was a pleasure working with Dean, as he is very focused and driven on getting things done the right way and is not afraid to ask questions …”

Matt Gillette
Product Manager
SonicBids

” … A pleasure to work with … He has very good understanding the design challenges and principals but also had a deep understanding of the development side as well. “

Danielle Frappier
Senior Design Systems Engineer
Monster Worldwide

“… a patient, wise, knowledgeable and friendly guy with a solid work ethic that works great with cross-functional teams and diverse personalities. He goes the extra mile during crunch time, reliably advocates for standards, excellence, analysis and usability — while balancing too many projects in too little time …”

Brian Vankonynenburg
VP Product Management
OurStage

” …  impressed with his professionalism, insight, and detail-focused approach. His wealth of knowledge and experience consistently helped my team to view our projects from a new angle and make well-informed decisions …”

Todd Myers
Client Services Account Manager
SonicBids

” … a gem to work with is his exceptional communication skills. He cultivates an atmosphere of transparent dialogue, making sure that diverse team members, regardless of their expertise, resonate with his vision …”

Arnaud Ostrowski
Design Systems Lead
Randstad

“… A fantastic UX and UI designer and design systems strategist—in addition to being one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. A great collaborator and rock-solid dependable teammate. I’m grateful I got to work with Dean, and I’d jump at the chance to do so again …”

Ben Judy
Senior UX Manager
Design Operations, Tech Enablement & Cybersecurity
The Home Depot – Enterprise

UX Case Studies

I’ve had the good fortune to work with some amazingly smart and talented people at some great companies while designing quality digital experiences and products for mobile and the responsive Web.

Many of these projects started out as ambitious ideas, with loose requirements and ambiguous problems to solve. But I’ve found that with the right mindset, partners and communication, there are always good ways to come together and find solutions that work for the business — and it’s users. Along the way I’ve learned a ton about working in small startups and large enterprises designing in an Agile environment, managing projects and personalities, and how to define product through good practices and research, while continuing to learn, support others, and remain open to new ideas, tech, tools, and ways of doing things.

Here are some of the top projects I’ve had the opportunity to work on. I hope it starts a conversation about how I may be able to help with your next big design challenge!

Evolving Enterprise Design Systems and Enterprise Product Design at The Home Depot

I updated and maintained, evolved and advanced THD’s Enterprise Design Systems, and helped define methods to measure, plan, and prioritize system improvements and prove the business value of design systems to the business. I also had the opportunity to design a couple of Products for Enterprise.

THD’s MUI Design System,
Dec 2025
Product Design of a Tool Rental Self-Service Reservation Workflow, Nov 2024
THD’s Ant Design System,
Jan 2025

Engineering a Figma-to-React, Multi-brand Design System at Monster Worldwide and Randstad

I co-architected a Figma-to-React multi-brand Design System for designers and developers to speed production and time to market, support brand identity, and increase UX consistency.

The Monster Brand Library, Aug 2023
Documentation for the Search Hero component in the Monster Design System, Aug 2023

Designing a Micro-Annuities Marketplace in a Mobile First App at Second Half Finance

I led the product design on an InsureTech Micro-Annuities App that was pioneering an insurance marketplace where everyday consumers could buy and invest in partial annuities for retirement through major names like Principle, AIG, and Prudential. Typically annuities are only accessible as investment vehicles for high-end investors ($100k+)

Second Half Finance app mobile fade-from-black splash, product selection, and summary holdings screens,
May 2020

Creating a Consumer Big Data App to Help People Manage Their Digital Lives at Track

I led the product design effort on a Consumer Big Data App that sought to bring Big Data and Predictive Analytics to everyday consumers to help them track, manage, and centralize all aspects of our digital lives e.g. All of your Money, Health, Home, Auto, Travel etc. in one place to manage and access it all.

Track’s Money landing page for responsive Web in dark mode, Aug 2019
MVP of Track Money for mobile in light mode, Aug 2019

Helping Financial Institutions Come Together on Terms and Contracts at AcadiaSoft

I consulted in FinTech on new revenue initiatives and creating an Agreements Manager, an app that aimed to digitize, streamline, and reduce the time it took for financial institutions like Barclays, J.P. Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, and The Bank of Japan, to come to terms and allow them to transact deals together.

An MVP Dashboard, App Design, Personas and UX Research for the Top B2B Product Content Syndication Platform: Salsify

I spearheaded UX practices, conducted research, and designed enhancements for Salsify, a Product Content Syndication Platform.

UX Research and Personas, Jan 2016
MVP Dashboard for content readiness, May 2015

Corporate Web Site Redesign Information Architecture and Project Management at Luxury B2C IoT Smart Home Automation Maker: Savant

I lead a redesign of a corporate marketing site at Savant, a luxury IoT (Internet of Things) smart home automation manufacturer, seeking to go down market to average consumers.


The homepage of Savant.com afer the redesign, Sep 2014
The control app landing page of the Savant.com homepage in Sept 2014 after a redesign by top design agency, Konrad, Sep 2014

B2B eStore Information Architecture and Project Management at Luxury IoT Smart Home Automation Maker: Savant

While leading the redesign for the Savant.com Web site, I was also leading the design of Savant’s 1st-ever B2B eStore to enable its dealers and installers to purchase stock directly online (vs. Email, faxes, and phones) for new build-outs of home automation systems (Media, Lighting, Media, Climate, Security, Monitoring etc.) and customer repairs, updates, and maintenance.

Product Landing page for the 1st gen Savant wireless Hub, Apr 2013
A high-detail wireframe and specification for the Savant Store homepage, Apr 2013
A product detail page in the Savant store experience, Apr 2013

Art Direction, Marketing, and HTML Emails for B2C Senior Planning Apps: Compass Aging and CarePlanners

I led both the online and offline design efforts at Compass Aging Services and CarePlanners, which included managing design and creating marketing, print collateral, and emails.

Home Page, Care Assure Product Feature Page and HTML Email at Compass Aging Services, 2013

Graphic Design for a printable intake form, 2013

Visual Design, Information Architecture, and Design Strategy of a Resource Center section for CarePlanners.


More Experience

User Research and Redesigns of Web Apps for Independent Musicians

User Research practices and redesigns of an Electronic Press Kit (EPK), event and competition landing pages at both SonicBids and OurStage.

Design Ideation of Web Apps Looking to Leverage Big Data

Incubator experiences at Bullhorn, a Recruitment ATS looking to harness Big Data analytics in the hunt for potential new revenue sources in their data; And Quant5, which sought to mine Big Data and leverage Predictive Analytic to provide marketing and sales insights to major retail businesses.

Migrating a Packaged Software Product to a Web-based SaaS Platform

Led the redesign/migration from packaged software to the web, at Insight Direct for their flagship product, VaZing, an Enterprise CRM/SMB for the Service Industry. Conducted usability and customer research to evolve the design, developed personas, and integrated UX within Product and Engineering lifecycles.

Additional Experiences in Package Design, UX Research, Information Architecture, App & Web Design, Search Tech, and Content Development

Designed, and co-lead a redesign of the visitor and client Web experience at Top research firm, Forrester Research in Cambridge, MA; Created packaging and marketing materials for GrillSafe a BBQ grill scraper in Sudbury, MA; UX Research and IA for an intranet developer network at Endeca (Now part of Oracle) in Cambridge, MA; IA design and research for the Practising Law Institute, a learning management tool for attorneys in NYC; UX Designer of BostonWorks, The Boston Globe’s former job search site; App design for Brainshark, a SaaS-based video learning, training, and sales platform; Ads, Search and Navigation design at Lycos, a top search engine back in the early Web; Design and ad production, content developer, and newsroom liason as part of the OG launch team at Boston.com, The Boston Globe’s regional news and information web site.

Writing and Reporting for Mainstream Media

Once Upon a Time, I was also a staffer/town news reporter for The Patriot Ledger covering the South Shore of Boston and the Plymouth District Court beat. I was also a contributing correspondent at The Boston Globe who worked for the Metro/Region section, and NorthWest Weekly, covering local and regional daily news and events, human interest, and politics.


Contact

Interested in working together? Reach out: dean + @ + deanwong + .com