Adam Robertson | Prodcut Designer and Developer

Versatile product designer with technical roots and grit.

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

How I Lead

My mantra is Charles Eames' quote, “the details make the design.” As a designer and developer, I focus on the minute details, creating smooth, intuitive interfaces and interaction flows that are pleasing to users. Once I have created those designs, I use clean coding techniques to implement the back-end functionality and ensure it delivers the same high-quality experience as the front-end.

As a developer, performance and data are two of my greatest strengths. I can take a poorly performing site and improve its Lighthouse score and SEO while also using Google Analytics (GA4), PostHog, and Amplitude to gather user insights that inform better 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.

Born in Northwest Ohio, I moved to Colorado after I completed my studies in foreign affairs. I started building websites My first commercial website from 2002and developing them for commercial clients when I was 16 years oldI have worked with many different types of businesses and startups throughout multiple industries. In my free time, I enjoy hiking through Colorado’s trails, trying new recipes in the kitchen, taking on DIY projects, and spending 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.

2021 - Present

VP of Product Design (IC/Hands-On) at Tribute
- Led a full redesign and rebuild of Tribute's platform, transforming legacy workflows into a scalable, system-driven product that supported 20× growth.
- Personally drove the conversion of design into production-ready, modular TypeScript applications, establishing a scalable, tokenized design system and partnering closely with engineering to ensure reliable shipping.
- Established a data-driven design process by integrating user research, experimentation, and A/B testing with modern analytics, validating assumptions, improving core funnels, and increasing conversion on key flows by up to 30%.
- Drove product and technical integration of an acquisition, resolving critical issues across system compatibility and user experience, reducing operational costs by nearly 50%.
- Built and launched two native iOS apps from concept to release, aligning design, engineering, and stakeholders through fast, iterative design sprints.
- Consolidated three fragmented project management systems into a single workflow, improving team efficiency and supporting a 30% increase in lead generation through automated marketing flows.
2014 - 2021

Sr. Manager, UX/UI Design and Frontend Development at Peterson's
- Led hands-on design and frontend development for web and mobile products, introducing research-driven decision making and improving product consistency across releases.
- Built and launched a mobile app from concept to App Store release, earning a 4.6-star rating, 10,000+ downloads, and an App Store feature in its first week.
- Redesigned core LMS workflows using usability testing and iterative prototyping, simplifying key task flows and reducing support burden.
- Designed and implemented a scalable design system that unified UI patterns, improving development speed and cross-team cohesion.
- Partnered closely with product and engineering to introduce design sprints and iterative delivery, enabling faster validation and more predictable releases.
Dec 2019 - Mar 2020

Product Design & Development Consultant at Droplr
- Increased organic traffic 115% and raised Lighthouse scores to 98/100 by designing and building a custom WordPress Multisite platform, along with an enterprise-wide brand guide and design system.
2017 - 2019

Product Design & Development Consultant at ETHDenver
- Achieved 96% event application CSAT by leading design and development enhancements across the event platform, integrating promotional sites, forms, scheduling tools, and social media.
2014 - 2017

Product Design & Development Consultant at Inspirato
- Drove acquisition of 4,000+ members for the Inspirato with American Express joint venture, with 25% joining in the first six months. Also built and launched the brand's blog and content platform.
2011 - 2014

Sr. WordPress Designer/Developer at Webolutions
- Delivered 15+ client websites using user-centered, responsive design, earning 2 Communicator Awards for excellence in visual design and engagement.
2006 - 2011

Lead Interactive Designer at Miles Partnership
- Led interactive design for over 10 major tourism brands, overseeing high-traffic websites and mobile experiences with tens of millions of annual pageviews.
- Directed key digital projects, including the Colorado.com redesign and the award-winning 5-Minute Meeting Planner.
2007 - 2009

Technical Specialist at Apple
- Provided technical consultation on Apple products, troubleshooting hardware and software issues and translating complex technical concepts for non-technical customers.

I take a pragmatic, adaptable approach to design informed by design thinking and Lean UX. I don’t believe in a single “right” process—effective design depends on the problem, the team, and the constraints.

For small teams, I favor a fast “Think, Make, Check” loop that prioritizes speed and collaboration. In larger organizations, I’m comfortable working within more structured processes that support deeper research, validation, and alignment, always with the goal of shipping meaningful work efficiently.

Research: Establishing Why

The Research Phase is where we identify the purpose for all the decisions we will eventually make. At this point, I determine goals/outcomes and challenge assumptions by using user research, mental models, and storyboards to help define how users think. I use user research and Mood Boards to build a rich foundation for all our design decisions. To build on the previous step, the primary goal is to first figure out what users want and why they want it — this forms the basis for all our future design decisions. I utilize tools such as PlaybookUX, Userbrain, Dovetail, and Maze during this stage.

Ideate: Explore and Expand Options

In Ideation, we brainstorm ideas and collaborate to explore possibilities through various exercises using Mural (or Miro, if you prefer). Although Ideation may need to be streamlined to meet the needs of a startup project, it is critical for more complex, larger initiatives. Design Sprints, either with fellow designers or stakeholders, are central to this stage. We use techniques such as "How Might We" exercises, Crazy 8s, and Spicy Debates to generate multiple possible solutions. Although these exercises may take up a significant amount of time, they provide us with numerous ways to innovate and force us to rethink how we traditionally design.

Make: Realizing Our Vision

In the Make Stage, we transform our ideas into tangible products — my favorite part of the design process. Based on our research findings from the Research Phase, we begin forming hypotheses and developing our products. Whether we are working in Figma or rapidly prototyping using modern tools such as Bolt and V0, this is where the product takes shape and comes alive. As a designer, I can express my creativity at this stage while also making meaningful contributions to the end product 🔥.

Check: Ongoing Improvement

The Check Phase is the core of my design process — it's where we validate our assumptions and continuously improve and refine our work through user testing and data analysis. This is an ongoing process that continues long after the design is complete. Occasionally, we discover that our data-backed assumptions were wrong, or users reacted negatively to specific aspects of the product 🤔. This is why the Check Phase is so important — it provides us with real-world opportunities for growth. Whether we are improving a 25% conversion rate to 50% or fine-tuning user flows based on user feedback, this is where we measure the success of our designs and ensure they serve our users' needs.

My design process.

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

Recent work.

What I've been up to.