Soft-landing 2024
About
Hey, I’m Brendan, a product designer and leader in early to late stage tech companies.
Working directly with founders, execs, and xfn teams, I’ve shipped products and services used by millions of people every day. Nowadays I build and shape teams that do the same.
I’m a big advocate for applied experimentation, problems being solved in the real world, and helping product teams scale their craft and themselves.
Projects
RIVAL was a design lab I left Google to build in 2019. We worked with startups, scaleups, and shakeups on 0-to-1 and 1-to-N problems. Hired a great team. Did impactful work.
Most service businesses don't have a physical location. At Google, I was the lead designer for a major initiative to connect more people with local businesses—evolving major surfaces like Search and Maps.
Side Projects
My first book, out early 2025 from BIS Publishers.
Available to pre-order from Amazon, Bookshop.org, Waterstones, Blackwells, and other retailers.
Speaking
Writing
Since the industrial revolution in the early 1800s, schools have been given the job of producing people with basic literacy, numeracy, and ability to follow instructions. But at what cost?
In the pursuit of creating something great, we often find ourselves torn between the ideals of quality and quantity.
Mimicking the surface rituals of innovative companies isn't enough, you need to be asking three deeper questions.
Work Experience
I led design and research team across US, EMEA, and Asia. Working with engineering and product partners, designers, researchers, and writers to shape Monotype Fonts as a creative platform.
Tractable AI is a computer vision AI scale up building the standard for visual damage assessment and repair, globally.
Designing products across Search, Maps, and new surfaces. A mix of leadership, design, fact-finding, and pushing people's buttons.
At Google, I used a mix of labs, sprints, and experimentation to create new products and transform old ones.
Lead the design of InVision Enterprise — the driving force behind collaboration at some of the world's most successful companies. Teams at Twitter, Sony, IBM, Uber, Evernote, and Salesforce relied on InVision to power their design process.
Shaping Twitter products and experiences that touched millions of people every day.