Product & Brand Designer — San Francisco
Hello, I’m
I’m Sean Ross, a Product & Brand Designer with over 20 years of experience designing mobile & web products, creating brand identities, and leading teams to create remarkable digital experiences.
* Teams I’ve worked with have called me Captain Awesome. That’s embarrassing, so please just call me Sean.
What I bring
Areas of Expertise
01
Strategy & Innovation
Defining product vision, roadmaps, and go-to-market strategy rooted in research and user insight.
02
Cross-Functional Leadership
Building and mentoring design teams, partnering with Product and Engineering to ship at scale.
03
UX / UI / Visual / Interaction Design
End-to-end design from conceptual flows and wireframes to pixel-perfect, production-ready UI.
04
Storytelling
Crafting compelling narratives for products, pitches, and presentations that move people to act.
05
Brand Development
Identity systems, voice & tone, design language, and everything that makes a brand unmistakable.
06
Marketing Innovation
Campaign concepting, growth design, and integrated marketing that connects brand with demand.
Some of My Favorite Things to Do
Simplify complex things
Build design teams
Craft killer decks
Lead with empathy
Create brand identities
Ship product that matters
Ask “why” until it hurts
Prototype obsessively
Make things beautiful
Selected work
Projects
UX Leadership · E-Commerce · Mobile
Macy’s Cross-Channel Redesign
In 2019–2020 I was a Principal UX Design Manager at Macy’s in San Francisco, where I helped lead a major redesign of Macy’s website and mobile app which improved user engagement and business KPIs, and won numerous design awards.
See the work →
VP Design · Enterprise SaaS · B2B
Espressive! Consumer Design for the Enterprise
Recruited as VP of Design (2016–2019) for a groundbreaking B2B SaaS company in the Enterprise Service Management space.
View Case Study →
Head of Design · AI · HR Tech
Socrates.AI
Head of Design for an AI-powered chatbot SaaS product for the HR/Benefits & Employee Engagement space.
View Case Study →
Brand · Product Design · Music Tech
Cricket Mobile and Muve Music
Moving the needle on a truly innovative digital music service.
View Case Study →
Startup · Brand · Product Design
Beyond Oblivion (Boinc) Music Service
The revolutionary music startup that almost was. In 2010, Beyond Oblivion was primed to be a real contender to the digital music service heavyweight title.
View Case Study →
What People Say
“Sean brings a rare combination of strategic thinking and hands-on craft. He elevated our design organization and shipped product that users genuinely loved.”
Chris Rimple
“Sean is an exceptional designer and leader. His ability to translate complex requirements into elegant, intuitive experiences is truly remarkable.”
Brian Lamka
“Working with Sean changed how I think about design leadership. He makes everyone around him better, and the work shows it.”
Joseph Bettencourt
“Sean has an extraordinary eye for design and an even better instinct for what users actually need. He’s a true creative force.”
Annie Sammis
“Sean’s work at Macy’s set a new standard for how we think about cross-channel experiences. His impact is still felt today.”
Erica Firment
“Sean is the kind of designer and leader every team needs — thoughtful, creative, decisive, and genuinely invested in the people around him.”
Sara Thacher
Get in Touch
Have a project in mind, or just want to say hello? I’d love to hear from you.
