Available for fractional contracts

Hi, I'm Chris.
Fractional UX leadership,
on your terms.

20 years of senior product design experience across SaaS, enterprise travel, fintech, and RevOps. Drop me in at any stage — discovery, redesign, design system, or scale-up — and I'll move the needle without the full-time overhead.

See the work Schedule 30 minutes
20 Years experience
Drop-in At any project stage
F500 → Seed Tested at every scale

Work that moved the business forward

Fortune 500, scale-ups, and agency clients. Real constraints. Outcomes that paid for the engagement.

Enterprise travel UX interface
Featured Enterprise Design Systems Travel
6 min Cut from every Centurion service call

Enterprise Travel UX Across 6 Internal Products

For a Fortune 500 enterprise travel client · Senior design lead via Tallwave

Embedded inside a Fortune 500 enterprise travel account, working across six internal products with a two-person design team.

  • Mapped workflow handoffs to surface the highest-leverage friction points across all 6 products
  • Built a reusable Figma component library and micro-interactions that lifted speed for every junior and mid-level designer on the account
  • Cut 6 minutes from every Centurion service call — measurable agent productivity and gross travel revenue gains
Figma · Enterprise Design System · Workflow Mapping I led: workflow mapping, design system, micro-interactions · Team: 2-person design team at Tallwave
Read full case study
Healthcare startup onboarding and brand design
Healthcare HubSpot RevOps
Brand
→ Revenue Identity · Onboarding · Sales funnel

Healthcare Startup: Brand, Doctor Onboarding & HubSpot RevOps

For an early-stage healthcare startup · Brand, product & RevOps lead

Dropped into an early-stage healthcare startup and led brand, product, and RevOps end-to-end.

  • Built a brand identity that stood apart from big pharma while feeling genuinely inviting
  • Redesigned doctor onboarding and wired it into HubSpot for trackable, leadership-ready metrics
  • Surfaced site-integration friction that stalled doctors — fixing it moved adoption meaningfully
Figma · HubSpot · User Research I led: brand, onboarding redesign, HubSpot RevOps · Team: founders, ops
Request full case
HubSpot RevOps lead lifecycle dashboard
RevOps HubSpot Salesforce
MQL
→ Deal Full lead lifecycle automated

HubSpot RevOps: Lead Lifecycle & Salesforce Integration

For B2B SaaS clients · Fractional RevOps consultant

Engaged as a fractional RevOps consultant building HubSpot–Salesforce automation across the funnel.

  • Lifecycle campaigns moving leads from MQL to SQL to closed deal
  • Re-nurture flows recycling stalled prospects through alternate funnel paths
  • Bi-directional CRM sync, plus full HubSpot CMS sites and high-conversion email campaigns
HubSpot · Salesforce · CRM Automation I led: lifecycle automation, CRM integration, CMS sites
Request full case
Unified SMS communication interface merging text, voice and broadcast
SaaS Messaging IA
4 → 2 Inboxes unified into one stream

Unified SMS Communication: Text, Voice & Broadcasts in One Inbox

For a leading marketing automation platform · Senior product designer

Led the redesign that merged three fragmented messaging channels — 1-to-1 SMS, broadcast SMS, and voice — into a single unified inbox.

  • Customer interviews + FullStory analysis surfaced alert fatigue and accidental carrier-violation risks
  • Collapsed IA from 4 nav sections to 2; applied native iOS/Android patterns for instant familiarity
  • New phone-number selection (local or toll-free) opened a subscription revenue stream alongside the UX wins
Figma · FullStory · Workflow Mapping I led: IA, redesign, research synthesis · Team: PM, eng, customer research
Discuss this engagement
Grow Foundry mobile app for remote greenhouse management
Startup IoT Brand + Product
0 → 1 Brand and product from scratch

Grow Foundry: Brand & Mobile Product for Horticultural Automation

For an early-stage horticultural automation startup · Sole designer (brand + product)

Sole designer for an early-stage startup automating greenhouse operations from a phone.

  • No brand, identity, or product UX existed at kickoff — built the full stack
  • Researched home energy management apps and native iOS/Android patterns operators already used daily
  • Delivered research, personas, identity, style guide, and high-fidelity UI for adoption without training
Adobe CC · Brand Strategy · UX Research I led: full design from research to high-fidelity UI · Team: founders, eng
Request full case
Innovari power grid management interface designed for Network Operation Centers
Enterprise Utilities Mission-Critical UI
14 ft Legible from across the NOC

Innovari: Power Grid & Building Management for Utility NOCs

For Innovari (utility software) · Product designer & strategy

Designed strategy and UI for a new building management platform and refreshed Innovari's flagship grid management product.

  • Optimized typography, weight, and contrast for 14+ ft Network Operation Center viewing distance
  • Specified a dark theme to preserve operators' dark-adapted vision in low-light NOCs
  • Mapped building selection, event-creation, and grid-event tracking workflows end-to-end
Adobe CC · Personas · Engineering Collaboration I led: strategy, UI, persona work · Team: Innovari engineering, leadership
Request full case

Three ways to bring me in

Pick the shape that fits your moment. Every engagement starts with a discovery call so we scope to your actual constraints, not a template.

Audit · 2 weeks

Design Audit Sprint

Two-week fixed engagement

A senior, outside-eyes review of your product, design system, or critical flow. Surface the highest-leverage fixes and a prioritized roadmap your team can act on.

  • Heuristic and accessibility review
  • Funnel / conversion friction analysis
  • Stakeholder + practitioner interviews
  • Prioritized findings deck with quick wins and longer plays
  • 90-minute readout and Q&A with leadership

Best for: founders, CMOs, or VPs of Product Design who suspect their UX is leaving money or trust on the table.

Embed · ongoing

Embedded Design Lead

10–20 hrs / week · monthly

I plug into your team like a senior IC + design lead hybrid — shipping production work, raising the quality bar, mentoring junior and mid-level designers, and unblocking PMs and engineers in real time.

  • Hands-on product design and prototyping
  • Design critique and review cadence
  • Mentorship for in-house designers
  • Stakeholder alignment and roadmap input
  • Slack + standups + Figma reviews on your tools

Best for: startups between hires, agencies needing a senior bench seat, mid-market teams scaling up.

Build · 8–12 weeks

Design System Buildout

8–12 week project engagement

A scalable Figma component library and pattern system tuned to your stack and product maturity — the same kind I shipped for a Fortune 500 enterprise account, where it kept every junior and mid-level designer faster long after I left.

  • Token architecture (color, type, spacing, motion)
  • Reusable component library with variants
  • WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility built in
  • Engineering handoff docs and contribution guide
  • Team training and adoption support

Best for: design teams whose Figma files have outgrown their structure, or engineering orgs that need consistent component contracts.

Trusted with the work that matters

Chris is perhaps one of the most talented UI designers I've had the pleasure to work with. He's able to interpret the client's vision in a manner that is truly unique. A talent in and of itself. Enjoyable, funny and smart. Couldn't recommend him more highly.

Doug Kirk

CEO, Optimize 3.0

Chris has a passion for working with web technologies and a great eye for design. He produces quality work and is not afraid to tackle new technologies and soak it up like a sponge. Oh, and he's got a wicked good sense of humor and is fun to work with.

Barrett Kenney

EVP & Partner, Lightning Migration

Chris Lee, Senior Product Designer
Boise, ID
clee1091@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/thisisvisionary
dribbble.com/thisisvisionary

Senior UX leadership.
Without the full-time overhead.

For 20 years I've sat at the intersection of user needs and business outcomes — designing enterprise travel products for a Fortune 500 client, building SaaS experiences at a leading marketing automation client, and running RevOps strategy through HubSpot and Salesforce. Agencies, scaling startups, mid-market, enterprise — I've shipped inside all of them, which means I can read a team's stage and pace inside the first week.

Engagements bend to what you actually need: embedded design lead when your team is between hires, fractional director to mentor senior ICs and raise the quality bar, design audit to surface the highest-leverage fixes, or hands-on senior designer when the roadmap is on fire and you need someone shipping by week two.

I'm AI-native — I vibe code with Claude and ChatGPT to compress weeks of work into days without cutting corners. I build design systems in Figma that keep teams fast long after I'm gone. And I'm direct, low-drama, and genuinely care about accessibility, clean handoffs, and the details that make a product feel considered.

Career

  1. 2024 – Present

    Fractional UX Design Leader

    Independent

  2. 2023 – 2024

    Sr. Product Designer

    Leading marketing automation client

  3. 2021 – 2023

    Sr. Product Designer

    Tallwave

  4. 2020 – 2021

    Revenue Operations Consultant

    Process Pro Consulting

  5. 2014 – 2018

    Lead Designer

    Inbound Design Studio

  6. 2012 – 2013

    Sr. User Experience Designer

    Cedexis

  7. 2011 – 2012

    Senior UX Designer

    Uptrending

  8. 2012

    Freelance UI/UX Designer

    Innovari

  9. 2011

    Freelance Web Designer & Developer

    Nike

  10. 2008 – 2011

    Sr. Web Developer & Manager

    RadiSys Corporation

  11. 2007 – 2008

    Web Designer

    Yesmail

How I show up

  • Fractional Design Leadership

    Embedded leadership · Mentorship · Critique culture · Hiring rubrics · Stakeholder alignment

  • UX, UI & Design Systems

    Research · IA · Prototyping · Component libraries · Figma · WCAG 2.1 AA

  • RevOps & Growth Outcomes

    Funnel analysis · CRO · Dashboard design · Sales enablement · HubSpot · Salesforce

  • AI-Native Delivery

    Claude · ChatGPT · v0 · Vibe coding · Rapid prototyping into production-ready code

Education

  • Interactive Media Design

    The Art Institutes

  • Business Marketing

    Lane Community College

Certifications

  • HubSpot Inbound Certified
  • HubSpot Design Certified

A senior cadence, from kickoff to handoff

  1. Discover

    30-minute intro call, then a focused first week: stakeholder interviews, user research review, product walkthrough. I leave week one with a written point-of-view on what to fix first and why.

  2. Embed

    Inside your Figma, Slack, Linear/Jira, and standups. I work like a senior hire — not a vendor — so the team treats me like one of their own from day one.

  3. Ship

    Production-ready design, paired with the AI tooling that lets a fractional engagement keep pace with full-time teams. Design system, flows, and prototypes that engineering can build from on day one.

  4. Mentor

    Critique culture, hiring rubrics, and 1:1 mentorship for your in-house ICs. The work I leave behind raises the ceiling for every designer I worked with.

  5. Hand off

    Clean documentation, recorded decisions, and a transition plan so your team keeps moving after the engagement ends. I stay reachable for follow-up questions at no charge for 30 days.

Differentiator

I don't just use AI.
I deliver with it.

Most designers prompt for polish. I vibe code with Claude and ChatGPT to architect, prototype, and ship — closing the gap between design intent and production reality. That's how a fractional engagement keeps pace with a full-time team: higher quality work, faster cycles, and design systems built to outlast the sprint.

ChatGPT v0 by Vercel Figma AI Midjourney

Common questions before we talk

What does a typical fractional engagement look like?
Most engagements run 10–20 hours per week on a monthly basis, with a 90-day initial term and month-to-month after that. We agree on a clear scope and rhythm in week one — standups, design reviews, deliverables — and adjust as the work evolves.
How quickly can you start?
Usually within 1–2 weeks of contract signature. Audit Sprints can often start sooner. The 30-minute intro call confirms scope and fit; from there it's paperwork and a Slack invite.
Do you sign NDAs and standard MSAs?
Yes. I work under your standard NDA, MSA, and SOW. I also have a simple consulting agreement available if your team prefers I bring the paper. All work product is assigned to the client on payment.
Who owns the IP and design files?
You do. Figma files, design system source, prototypes, and any documentation are yours on payment of the engagement. I retain the right to reference the work in a portfolio case study, anonymized if requested.
How are you priced?
Audit Sprints are fixed-price for a fixed two-week scope. Embedded engagements bill monthly based on a weekly hour commitment. Design System Buildouts are milestone-based across the project. Exact numbers come on the discovery call after we scope your situation.
Can you work alongside our existing design team or agency?
Absolutely — that's most of my work. I'm comfortable as a senior IC inside a larger team, as a fractional director mentoring junior and mid-level designers, or as a partner to an in-flight agency engagement. Ego is not part of the package.
What's out of scope?
I'm not a brand-only studio, I don't take on isolated logo or print projects, and I don't run paid-media campaigns. If your need is purely visual identity with no product context, I'll happily refer you to people who specialize in that.
What time zone do you work in?
Mountain Time (Boise, ID). I overlap comfortably with US East and West Coast teams, and I'm flexible for European clients during morning hours.

Bring in experienced
UX leadership.

I'm currently taking on fractional UX design leader contracts — embedded engagements, design audits, redesigns, and design system buildouts. Agencies, scaling startups, mid-market, and enterprise teams all welcome. Every message gets a reply within 24 hours.

Email LinkedIn Dribbble Portfolio

↳ Typically responds within a few hours