About
About
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Hi, I'm Gerren, an outcome-oriented design and research leader based in Austin, Texas. I build cross-functional teams that turn real user problems into efficient, effective, and equitable outcomes for customers and businesses.
Hi, I'm Gerren, an outcome-oriented design and research leader based in Austin, Texas. I build cross-functional teams that turn real user problems into efficient, effective, and equitable outcomes for customers and businesses.
Career
Career
I got into design by way of visual craft and strategic thinking, and stayed because of what it could do to make people's work, and lives, easier.
I started in agencies, then moved to a startup so I could actually own a project start to finish, instead of handing off finished work and never learning what it was worth. From there, I went in-house to see how design works at real scale.
Leadership followed naturally from what I actually cared about: helping people reach their full potential and driving a clear, informed strategic direction. I've learned that mentoring and guiding others compounds impact far beyond what I could do alone.
Senior Director of Design & Research
Senior Director of Design & Research
8am | May 2025 - Current
Products: MyCase, LawPay, DocketWise, CasePeer, CPACharge, ClientPay, AffiniPay, 8am IQ, Design System.Scaled the UX team 233% (6→20) in 16 months across product design, research, and content design, serving 260,000+ professionals
Led three concurrent platform-level initiatives in the first four months, including a company-wide rebrand (60,000+ users migrated, 0% UI-related churn), earning direct executive recognition
Co-developed 8am's Native AI SDLC, establishing the UX Skills Library and AI prototyping as core infrastructure
Lead Product Designer (contract)
Lead Product Designer (contract)
YCombinator | Oct 2024 - May 2025 (7 mos)
Products: Bookface, Design SystemRedesigned YC's internal social network platform for current and past founders, their design system, and native mobile apps.
Led exploratory work for the inaugural YC Startup School event
Senior UX Director
Senior UX Director
Indeed | Jun 2022 - Jun 2024 (2 yrs)
Products: Indeed Hire, Hiring Events, Scheduling & Interviewing Platform, Interoperability (ATS Integrations), Workflow Automation, Indeed Incubator, Equitable Hiring SolutionsScaled the UX team 134% (23→54) in 3 years, mentoring 9 managers
Grew Hiring Events revenue 30% and interviews 108% YoY in 2022
Identified 240 usability/accessibility issues across 8 enterprise product groups and drove remediation
UX Director
UX Director
Indeed | Feb 2019 - Jun 2022 (3 yrs 5 mos)
Products: Indeed Hire, Hiring Events, Enterprise Candidate Management, Equitable Hiring Solutions, Scheduling & Availability PlatformScaled the UX team 280% (6→23) in 15 months
Co-designed product and service strategies that drove a 202% revenue increase, 50% NPS increase, and 280% net hires increase in 2019
Launched a new scheduling and availability platform, capturing 11M+ scheduled interviews and improving schedule rate by 48%
Chief Design Officer
Chief Design Officer
Creative Market | Jul 2017 - Feb 2019 (1 yr 8 mos)
Products: Marketplace, Pro, Design SystemLed experience strategy through a $7M Series A spin-out from Autodesk
Supported platform growth to 5M members, 28K shops, and 2.7M products by year six
Delivered Creative Market Pro's subscription MVP, reaching $1M in revenue within 6 months
Director of Design & Community, Marketplace
Director of Design & Community, Marketplace
Autodesk | Feb 2014 – Jul 2017 (3 yrs 5 mos)
Products: Marketplace, Design SystemAccelerated acquisition of 1M members and 10K shops through community initiatives, content marketing, and growth tests
Chief Design Officer
Chief Design Officer
Creative Market | Sep 2012 – Feb 2014 (1 yr 5 mos)
Products: Marketplace, Design SystemOrchestrated 25+ data-informed features resulting in 24% CMGR, 7x catalog growth, 4x revenue growth, and a 230% increase in purchases
Design Director
Design Director
Creative Market | Apr 2012 – Sep 2012 (6 mos)
Products: Marketplace, Design SystemDirected brand and product design for the Marketplace MVP launch, achieving 37% M/M new user growth and 23% M/M purchase growth
Supported strategies that captured 75K customers and 1K shops before launch
Senior Designer
Senior Designer
GSD&M | Jun 2011 - Apr 2012 (11 mos)
Agency work for clients including US Air Force, HomeAway, Corona
Senior Designer
Senior Designer
Springbox | Jun 2009 - Jun 2011 (2 yrs 1 mo)
Agency work for clients including Livestrong, PayPal, LG, Disney, Central Market, University of Texas
Designer
Designer
Giles Design | Jan 2007 - Jun 2009 (2 yrs 6 mos)
Agency work for clients including Frost Bank, Culinary Institute of America, Valero, Pearl Brewery, Tobin Foundation
Designer
Designer
Verssa Consulting | Jan 2005 - Jan 2007 (2 yrs 1mo)
Graphic Production Intern
Graphic Production Intern
The Independent Weekly | Oct 2004 - Mar 2005 (6 mos)
Philosophy
Philosophy
"Build the right thing, build the thing right."
"Build the right thing, build the thing right."
What I Believe
What I Believe
Equity: Everyone deserves a fair shot, on the team and users of the product.
Efficacy: Do what actually delivers value to customers, not just what looks good.
Efficiency: Respect people's time. Move fast on what matters and cut what doesn't.
How I Work
How I Work
Evidence: I pair data and research with gut feeling and experience.
Outcomes: I measure success by value delivered to the user, not by what ships.
Collaboration: Exceptional work gets built together, not handed down or in a silo.
Quality: High standards should be the norm, not the exception.
Differentiators
Differentiators
Range
Full range across agency (7 yrs), startup (7 yrs), in-house (7 yrs), and consulting, equally strong as a leader and an individual contributor.
Disciplines Led
Product Design, Brand Design, Content Design, User Research, Behavioral Science, Front-End Engineering, Community Engagement, Catalog Curation
Domain Expertise
HRTech, FinTech, LegalTech, Social, E-commerce, Marketplaces, Workflow Automation & AI
AI-Forward Certifications
Testimonials
Testimonials
"When Gerren joined, design wasn't yet woven deeply into how we approached product development. User research didn't exist. He changed that, and he did it by earning trust rather than demanding it, establishing UX and UX research as critical voices at the table."
Leslie Witt, Chief Product Officer | GM | Board Member (ex-8am)"When Gerren joined, design wasn't yet woven deeply into how we approached product development. User research didn't exist. He changed that, and he did it by earning trust rather than demanding it, establishing UX and UX research as critical voices at the table."
"He is well rounded in UX, Design and Product leadership, and I grew to depend on his diplomacy to get things done and align people to priorities across complex matrix team structures.""
John Phillips, GVP - HR & Employee Experience at ServiceNow (ex-Indeed)"He is well rounded in UX, Design and Product leadership, and I grew to depend on his diplomacy to get things done and align people to priorities across complex matrix team structures.""
"He has a knack for organizing and motivating teams to dive into complex spaces, and apply rigorous and creative methods to arrive, together, at the best possible ideas and solutions. He has taught me how to be a better leader myself, and I will take his lessons with me wherever I go.""
Margaret Becker, Research Director (ex-Indeed)"He has a knack for organizing and motivating teams to dive into complex spaces, and apply rigorous and creative methods to arrive, together, at the best possible ideas and solutions. He has taught me how to be a better leader myself, and I will take his lessons with me wherever I go.""
"Gerren is the fastest person I ever worked with and had consistent follow-through. He can lead a complex solution in a fraction of the time that you would expect."
Priya Kothari, Chief of Staff | Executive Operator (ex-Creative Market)"Gerren is the fastest person I ever worked with and had consistent follow-through. He can lead a complex solution in a fraction of the time that you would expect."
Miscellany
Miscellany
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