Adam Robertson | Prodcut Designer and Developer

I'm a multi-disciplinary and grizzled product designer.

Design and technology make a great pairing—luckily, I have a background in both. Currently, I'm a VP of Product Design working for a startup based out of Brooklyn.

As an UX designer and frontend developer, I wholeheartedly embrace Charles Eames' widom, "the details make the design," applying my design and development skills to craft semantically good coode, breathing life into every interface.

Performance and data are my superpowers. I optimize sites to boost Lighthouse scores and SEO, while using tools like GA4, PostHog, and Amplitude to uncover user insights that drive smarter product decisions.

I offer comprehensive site reviews and heuristic evaluations that transform user experience and uncover hidden revenue opportunities. My goal? Help teams create products that not only look great but perform brilliantly.

Originally from northwestern Ohio, I landed in Colorado after studying Foreign Affairs. I've been building websites My first commercial website from 2002since I was 16, working with businesses and startups across various industries. When I'm not crafting digital experiences, you'll find me hiking Colorado's trails, experimenting in the kitchen, diving into DIY projects, or enjoying time with my family.

I consider myself an expert in the following:

Webflow
Figma
Tailwind
Vue
Nuxt
Posthog
Bootstrap
Ionic
WordPress
Google Analytics
Tag Manager
Sass

Designer, developer, & creative.

A little about myself.

Some of the things I've done.

Experience is growth.

March 2020 - Present

VP of Product Design at Tribute
- Led design and engineering teams while partnering with external agencies to evolve Tribute's digital presence 1,900% during the pandemic.
- Orchestrated migration from Django to Webflow for marketing pages, built Vue mini-apps for user-driven interfaces, and created a unified design system with Pegasus.
- Drove data-informed decisions through comprehensive analytics setup using Google Tag Manager, Analytics, Amplitude, and PostHog. Executed strategic A/B testing that increased conversion rates up to 50% across key user flows.
- Directed end-to-end product development for two native iOS apps, running weekly design sprints and implementing Lean UX methodologies. Leveraged SnapKit and Vimeo APIs while fostering collaborative design processes with Figma.
- Managed technical aspects of Boombox acquisition, including codebase refactoring that strengthened performance by 60%. Resolved 50+ critical issues and implemented optimization strategies that reduced operational costs by 20%.
- Modernized operations by consolidating project management tools to ClickUp, resulting in improved team efficiency. Collaborated with marketing to develop and optimize lead generation campaigns and email lifecycle workflows.
December 2019 - March 2020

Product Design Consultant at Droplr
- Established and implemented comprehensive brand guidelines, including a design system that standardized asset usage across all company touch-points.
- Pioneered digital transformation, architecting a custom WordPress multi-site solution that propelled organic traffic by 115% and achieved near-perfect Google Lighthouse scores of 98/100.
July 2017 - December 2019

Head of Design & Development at ETHDenver
- Directed ETHDenver's web enhancement, merging WordPress and Devfolio to streamline promotional sites, forms with Advanced Custom Fields, schedules with Vue mini-apps, and social media; achieved a 96% CSAT score for event applications with revamped UX.
March 2014 - March 2020

Senior Manager, UX/UI & Frontend Development at Peterson's
- Managed a small team of UX/UI designers and developers and lead all product design efforts for a handful of products, including websites, mobile apps, and partnerships.
- Spearheaded technology upgrade from .NET to Laravel, Vue, and AWS, improving site performance by nearly 40% while reducing maintenance costs by 52%.
- Designed and launched mobile app achieving 4.6-star rating, 10,000 downloads, and App Store feature placement in first week.
- Led cross-functional teams through Agile process from ideation to launch, driving creativity and efficiency and increasing team velocity and delivering 25% more story points per sprint.
January 2014 - August 2017

Freelance Design & Development at Inspirato
- Crafted Inspirato's blog from concept to launch, boosting user engagement and establishing a stronger digital presence in the luxury travel space.
- Led development for the 'Inspirato with American Express' partnership platform, creating a seamless experience that drove membership past the 4,000 mark, with a quarter of those members joining in just the first six months post-launch.
December 2011 - March 2014

Senior WordPress Designer/Developer at Webolutions
- Won two Communicator Awards: Award of Excellence in the Food & Beverage category for PotatoesUSA, and Award of Visual Appeal for Fossil Trace Golf Club, highlighting exceptional design and development skills.
- Designed and developed all client websites with a focus on user-centered design principles, best practices, and industry trends, ensuring high-quality and impactful web solutions.
- Delivered new websites on a weekly basis, meeting tight deadlines and maintaining high quality standards.
July 2006 - December 2011

Lead Interactive Designer at Miles Media
- Steered cutting-edge web and interactive design projects for over 10 major tourism clients, delivering impactful websites and mobile applications.
- Led the successful launch of flagship products, including the high-profile redesign of colorado.com and the award-winning 5-Minute Meeting Planner.
- Elevated client engagement through strategic design processes, implementing comprehensive digital solutions that exceeded client expectations and improved project delivery efficiency.

My approach to design is adaptive and context-driven, deeply rooted in design thinking while incorporating elements of Lean UX methodology. I recognize that design processes can't be one-size-fits-all – they must flex to accommodate different team sizes, resources, and project needs. For startups and smaller teams, I lean towards an agile "Think, Make, Check" model that emphasizes rapid problem-solving and fosters direct communication. In larger organizations with more resources, I expand into a more comprehensive process that dedicates additional time to definition and ideation, including thorough user research, product-market fit analysis, and collaborative design exercises.

Research: Building the Foundation

The research phase is where we establish the "why" behind every decision we'll make. I begin by defining outcomes and challenging assumptions through user research, mental models, and storyboarding. This stage is about deeply understanding who our users are and how they think. Through methodical user research and dynamic mood boarding, I create a comprehensive foundation that justifies our design decisions. The key is to first understand what users want, then dive deep into why they want it—this understanding becomes the backbone of our entire design process. I use tools like PlaybookUX, Userbrain, Dovetail, and Maze.

Ideate: Expanding Possibilities

During ideation, we push boundaries and explore possibilities through collaborative exercises using Mural (or Miro if you insist 😆). While this stage might be streamlined for startup projects, it's crucial for larger initiatives. Traditional design sprints, whether conducted with fellow designers or stakeholders, are central to this phase. We employ techniques like "How Might We" exercises, Crazy 8s, and Spicy Debates 🌶️ to generate diverse solutions. These sessions, though time-intensive, are invaluable for fostering innovation and challenging conventional thinking.

Make: Bringing Vision to Life

This is where vision transforms into reality—my true passion in the design process. Armed with research insights and ideation outcomes, we form hypotheses and begin building. Whether working in Figma or moving directly to rapid prototyping with modern tools like Bolt and v0, this stage is where the product starts taking shape. It's an exciting phase that allows me to exercise creativity while contributing tangibly to the final product. The make phase is where abstract concepts evolve into concrete solutions that users can interact with 🔥.

Check: Continuous Evolution

The check phase is the cornerstone of my design process—it's where we validate assumptions and refine our work through user testing and data analysis. This stage never truly ends; it's a continuous cycle of improvement and refinement. Sometimes our data-backed assumptions prove incorrect, or users respond differently than anticipated to certain features 🤔. This is what makes the check phase so valuable—it provides concrete opportunities for growth. Whether we're working to improve a 25% conversion rate to 50% or fine-tuning user flows based on feedback, this stage drives measurable improvements and ensures our designs truly serve user needs.

My design process.

And it's not one-size-fits-all.

Recent work.

What I've been up to.