Working together making things people ♡
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I’m a people-first, insights-driven, design leader with 20 years of experience in e-commerce and retail, media and entertainment for start-ups and enterprises.
My specialties are human-centered, interaction and visual design, user research, creative direction, and product vision & strategy.
I help teams deliver innovative experiences and digital products and integrate human-centered design practices into their process.
2023 → 2024
FEVO
NYC
(Remote)
As Head of Product Design I drove organizational transformation building product practices from the ground up, elevating design maturity by fostering a culture of user-centricity, inclusivity, and accountability, and implementing design systems for a dual-sided ecosystem of products.
I led the design strategy and execution of 0-1 social-commerce features, securing key beta partnerships with world-renowned retail brands and expanding FEVO into new verticals, bringing to life the vision of making online shopping more human.
2021 → 2022
Wayfair
Boston
(Remote)
As Principal Product Designer, I led experience design for Wayfair On Air, a 0-to-1 on-demand and livestream video-commerce platform aimed at transforming customer engagement from transactional to inspirational and educational by bringing the fun, social, and interactive aspects of traditional shopping online.
Operating as a start-up inside the larger organization, we developed a 3-5 year vision for a dual-sided customer-creator ecosystem, and strategized quarterly roadmaps against that vision resulting in successfully launching a Webby Award winning MLP for an on-demand video shopping platform followed by a set of features and capabilities enabling livestream shopping events.
2017 → 2020
VS&Co
NYC
As Director Product Design I was accountable for the vision, strategy and outcomes across apps and web for Victoria’s Secret Lingerie, Beauty and PINK.
Through quarterly OKRs I defined and measured success for 4 direct reports including 2 managers and comanaged a team of 11+ UX designers and researchers.
I established design thinking practices, lean methodologies and a culture of universal design with cross-functional partners and led product teams through enterprise-wide digital transformation.
2010 → 2017
Victoria's Secret
NYC
As Creative Director UX I led strategy, UX, UI and visual design for the native apps, key marketing experiences and events (VS Fashion Show, Swim Special), shopping tools, blogs including a supermodel destination, and oversaw design and creative for online advertising and social media.
2005 → 2010
MTV.com
NYC
Prior to Victoria's Secret, I had the great fortune of serving as Creative & UX Director for the legendary youth entertainement brand MTV.
I overhauled the dot-com Shows and Video platforms UX/UI and advertising model, developed a design system, and redesigned the homepage to support a channel rebranding.
Additionally, I led design of co-branded advertising promotions and messaging, robust destinations (VMAs, Movie Awards, TRL, The Hills...) and mentored, managed and grew a team of 8+ multidisciplinary designers.
2000 → 2005
Freelance
NYC
Throughout my early years as a multidisciplinary freelance designer, I helped create industry recognized products and experiences for brands, nonprofits and agencies including Asia Society, Chase, Citicorp, CLEAR, G2 Worldwide, IBM, iVillage, iXL, MTV, The River Project NYC to name a few.
SIX PRINCIPLES
People First
Don’t #@!% the customer, fight for them, and use our powers for good.
Be Brave
Take risks and encourage others to do so – learn from failure.
Growth Mindset
Be curious, never stop learning.
Collaborate
Help others be successful, and ask for help from others.
Dive Deep
Focus and understand, then invent and simplify.
Have Heart
Create with passion and enjoy the ride.
Let’s work together.
Chad Higinbotham
Product Design Leader
New York
