David Leggett

Product Design Leader

Seasoned UX leader focused on practical design methods, user advocacy, and team empowerment to drive impactful, user-centered solutions.

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Product Design

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Design Ops

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UX Strategy

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Management

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Design Systems

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Research

Simplifying complex journeys and delivering refined, valuable solutions for users.

Design Excellence Through Innovation

Innovating AI-Ready Widgets

While at Citi, I collaborated with development teams to create data visualization widgets informed by frameworks like Brian O’Neill’s Conclusion, Evidence, Data (CED) model and Jobs to be Done methodology. These widgets prioritized summary features, empowering decision-makers with advanced analytics and contextually aware actions. By grounding the design in proven frameworks and planning for cutting-edge technology, I positioned Citi’s Enterprise Risk Management portal as a forward-thinking and user-centric platform.

Daniel

Global Head of Design, Enterprise Risk

Citi

David was a persistent advocate for design with the product and development teams, ensuring that design standards were upheld and consistently met. His contributions to our project management processes created structure and clarity that will have a lasting impact."

Daniel

Global Head of Design, Enterprise Risk

Citi

Design-Led Innovation

I fostered design-driven innovation in the Product Development workflow, enhancing creative processes and outcomes. One proposal by the design team was to use QR codes to streamline document scanning and uploads from mobile devices, showcasing practical design-led solutions for real-world user challenges.

Interactive Design Environment

I have developed an Interactive Design Environment methodology that uses advanced component properties to ensure responsive rendering of components consistent with the target environment, streamline design workflows, and enable more efficient prototyping methods. This framework ensures consistency across teams and reduced design iteration times by 30%.

This methodology was created over time as I worked on my company's and client's design systems. I have worked with, and contributed to design systems from SVB, Guidewire Jutro and Citi's ICG Design System.

Read more about the challenges and benefits of this project in the case study:

Strategic Vision and UX Leadership

Hands-On Leadership and Fostering Team Empowerment

I act as a ‘player/coach,’ participating in projects while mentoring the team, balancing workloads, and demonstrating leadership and commitment to excellence. I have built and mentored multidisciplinary teams, fostering collaboration and encouraging innovation.

By creating a culture of continuous learning and empowerment, I enable my team to achieve career growth and deliver impactful results. My leadership style emphasizes empathy and strategic vision, making me an advocate for team success and professional development.

Streamlining Operational Efficiency

At Citi, I established and refined the Enterprise Risk Management UX Team's project management tracking methods, ensuring effective reporting and team efficacy. By aligning project management with Citi's Functions UX process, I showcased my ability to improve reporting while driving design values.

Patricia

Content Strategist

RBC Clear

David spearheaded establishing a process for content reviews. Thanks to him, our content review process is robust, and perfectly aligned with our design goals. David’s leadership, expertise, and collaborative spirit make him a real asset to any team."

Patricia

Content Strategist

RBC Clear

Advancing User Testing Practices

At SVB, I introduced the company’s first live user testing program in a production environment, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to gather insights from actual users. By analyzing real-world data, I uncovered user pain points and informed design changes that aligned products more closely with user needs. This initiative highlighted the importance of user-centric research and iterative improvements within the organization.

Read more about the challenges and benefits of this project in the case study:

Emily

Dir. Research & Strategy

Silicon Valley Bank

David excelled in building relationships with the Product Management team, ensuring alignment between design efforts and product goals. David's strategic thinking, leadership, and commitment to excellence have made a lasting impact.

Emily

Dir. Research & Strategy

Silicon Valley Bank

Special Mentions

In design, I employ concepts taught by frameworks like Jobs to be Done, Brian O'Neill's CED framework for analytics and others. Here are some articles I've written or to which I've contributed, showcasing my expertise and insights in user experience design.

VALUE OF DESIGN / PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

3 Ways 'Jobs-To-Be-Done' Improves Application Development

How JTBD can be used to enhance product innovation by uncovering customer motivations.

INSURTECH DESIGN / FOCUS ON THE USER

A Voice for Design in Insurance

How Guidewire's design team leverages user-centric design to enhance trust, efficiency, and satisfaction in insurance products.

REMOTE WORK / TOOLS FOR DESIGNERS

Guidewire puts customer and employee experiences front and center

The tools Guidewire uses to enhance collaboration, improve user experience, and streamline the design process