John Keese /

Resume

Design leader with over 20 years of digital design experience as both a consultant and in-house contributor. Passionate about empowering teams and creating engaging experiences for clients such as Westpac, 7-Eleven, FedEx and Pizza Hut through UX, UI and generative research.

Download John Keese's resume (pdf)

Education

The University of Texas at Dallas
Master of Fine Arts, Arts and Technology
Bachelor of Arts, Arts and Technology (Summa Cum Laude)

Employment

Principal Experience Designer
Auckland, New Zealand
Stellar Elements, Jan. 2023 – Present

  • Transferred from US office to enable global synergy, knowledge sharing, and craft efficiencies
  • Crafting and presenting bespoke digital experience approaches for prospects in many industries and sizes (RFPs, start up, transformation, execution, strategy)
  • Delivering as an individual contributor for a variety of clients including telecom and fintech
  • Learning from our APAC expertise and sharing practice and process improvements back to US team
  • Mentoring designers in region and sharing best practices from US team
  • Creating user-centered deliverables in various forms: hi-fi + low-fi mocks, strategy, generative research, video, and even some print

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Experience Director
Dallas, TX, USA
Stellar Elements, Oct. 2019 – Dec. 2022

  • Led and managed experience design teams crafting modern digital products for B2B and B2C across many industries – fintech, retail, logistics, shipping, travel, pizza, etc.
  • Adapted delivery role depending on project needs – strategy focused manager to individual contributor to client-side product owner to sales manager
  • Partnered with a global software and services client on their experience transformation – creation and expansion of design and research teams; implementation of design and agile best practices; foundation of executive review cadence and process
  • Mentored and managed teams of designers throughout different stages of their careers
  • Explored problem sets with potential clients and collaboratively created solution approaches and road maps
  • Created design systems from scratch and evangelized their benefits
  • Awards: Above and Beyond (2019), Customer Choice Team (2020), Customer Choice (2021)

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Experience Architect
Oct. 2018 – Oct. 2019
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Senior UI/UX Designer
May 2017 – Oct. 2018

Senior UI/UX Designer
rewardStyle, Dec. 2014 – May 2017

  • Designed groundbreaking shopping app LIKEtoKNOW.it – Featured in App Store “New apps we love”, Top 20 Shopping app (Day 1 to launch, UI/UX, Product Design, even some code)
  • Crafted user interface and user experience for multiple digital properties including web sites, dashboards, iOS and Android apps, videos and emails (5.5 Million+ monthly pageviews)
  • Created and refined the digital experience for native apps responsible for posting 1,000+ original pieces of content daily and delivering over 20 Million emails monthly
  • Architected digital plans and UX for back office dashboards supporting over $1 Billion in sales
  • Organized and led user sessions domestically and internationally
  • Mentored small UI/UX team
  • Continued a long history of making excellent chocolate chip cookies

Manager, Digital Marketing
Ambit Energy, Jan. 2011 – Dec. 2014

  • Expanded web presence exponentially (from 2 to 15 web properties in under 3 years)
  • Modernized web presence with responsive designs (699% increase in mobile visits to customer pay portal)
  • Designed web experience crucial for Ambit Energy’s success (added 600,000 customers in 2 years)
  • Managed small team of digital gurus

Multimedia Designer
Dallas Market Center, Jan. 2008 – Dec. 2010

  • Designed web presence for Dallas Market Center
  • Created and developed all email campaigns
  • Designed brand identities and collateral for International Textile Show and International Healthcare Marketplace

Professor, Web Design & Interactive Media
Art Institute of Dallas, April – June 2010

Freelance Design
Clients across industries including national banks, universities, churches and art galleries

Expertise

Design leadership and mentorship
Product design, strategy, and management
Video editing, animation, and micro-interactions
Full-stack development
Making & Baking
Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies upon request

Awards

Blue Ribbon, Banana Bread, New Mexico State Fair, Fall 1995

Download John Keese's resume (pdf)

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