Hello, I’m Ben. I lead design teams.
I’m a design leader with 16+ years of experience in product, content, and brand design. I’ve led work for companies like Google, Intuit, Snap, and Viacom, shaping product design, content design, and design systems.
Right now, I’m leading the design system team at Thrivent, helping scale design across the organization.
Based in Austin, TX.
Brands I’ve worked with:
What matters to me:
Service-oriented leadership.
As a design leader, my main goal is “be helpful”. I embrace service-oriented leadership and it is my main priority to empower and enable those around me. I focus on practical, user-centered solutions to clear the path and help my team, peers, and stakeholders succeed. It’s not about grand gestures but being present when needed, sharing knowledge, and ensuring that our work genuinely meets user needs.
Humility in design.
Design is a team sport. No design is ever perfect, and no single person has all the answers. Embracing humility means recognizing that the best outcomes come from collaborating openly with others and being receptive to diverse perspectives. By valuing input from every team member and being willing to learn and adapt, we continuously improve as designers and achieve more impactful results.
Progress through process.
I believe in prioritizing progress over perfection and valuing the journey to get there. By focusing on incremental progress and valuing the process as much as the end result, we foster a culture of persistent effort and passion. This means dedicating ourselves to the craft, being willing to iterate and adapt, and finding satisfaction in the daily work and small wins.
“Ben's savvy alone puts him in a separate league, but it's Ben's approach to team-building and leadership that truly made an indelible impression on me. While so many workplaces and the leaders within them tout empathy, Ben represents some of the best compassion and grace I've encountered in the tech industry. I was able to learn so much about what human-centered design means by watching Ben intelligently and emphatically advocate for both the user and for his team. He has a genuinely empathetic approach in his design decisions, and it extends naturally to everyone working with him.”