United States

UX Design

UI/ Visual Design

Design Operations

Service Design

Content Design

Product Design

Generalist Product Management

Growth Product Management

Interaction Design

Growth Design

Design Systems

Chris Shepard

Design Coach & Founder

Product strategy

Communication

Collaboration

Problem-solving

Critical-thinking

Empathy

Presentation skills

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Negotiation

Design systems

Human computer interaction

Webflow

Airtable

Bubble

Canva

ChatGPT

Figma

Framer

HubSpot

Intercom

Jira

Notion

Adobe Creative Suite

Introduce yourself, define mentoring expectations and goals. Learn and grow together.

General mentorship

Talk to people who have learned to manage their imposter syndrome.

Dealing with imposter syndrome

Tips for transitioning into a new role or company.

Changing roles

How to successfully prepare and position yourself for a job promotion?

How to get promoted

How to ask for a promotion and negotiate for salary raise?

Negotiating a job offer

How to think about design career paths and what progression looks like for designers?

Design career path

Learn the career path and progression for product managers.

Product management career path

Get actionable feedback on your resume or portfolio.

Resume and portfolio review

Practice HR, technical and behavioural interviews with mentors.

Practice mock interviews

Talk to people who've broken into the tech industry and learn their stories.

Breaking into tech

Learn the best ways to answer technical interview questions with frameworks

Acing technical interview questions

As Founder and Coach at The Design Co (thedesign.co), I run a platform and community designed to help designers build sustainable, resilient careers. I provide 1:1 coaching, resources, and tools that supports designers in their job search, career growth, or starting your own venture.

I design and deliver training around portfolio design, interview readiness, long-term career strategy, and business planning — with an emphasis on building connections and opportunities. I’m also building a community that supports designers through mentorship, warm introductions, and peer-to-peer learning.

This work builds on my 12+ years in UX and product design — from leading teams at startups and enterprises to founding my own startup. It’s been a meaningful way to stay connected to the design community and support folks trying to find their footing in a challenging landscape.

Learn more about what I'm building at thedesign.co

Product Manager for Tulip Apps and App Builder. 
Product operations for starting and improving internal initiatives.

Designed, built, and launched design QA platform and Chrome extension. 
MassChallenge Early Stage 2022 participant. 
Acquired 500+ users and raised a $100K pre-seed round.
Built advisory team with former execs from Acquia and Brightcove.

Acquired in 2021 by Curriculum Associates
Built and led the Product Design team.
Defined hiring process, performance standards, and design culture.
Led the creation and maintenance of our design system.
Helped design and launch a new product to market.

Product designer for all Boston product teams, deliver designs for 3 product areas, consisting of 3 product managers and 30 engineers.

Owned all design initiatives across platform product, end-user apps, and company brand. 
Led design from Series A to C.

Lead designer and manager for Robotic Automation products, Pega Platform core capabilities, and Communications Industry Solutions. 

Mentored and trained two designers to successfully plan and deliver for product initiatives.

Design owner for analytics capabilities in SmartCompliance Tax Solutions and Tax Credit products.

Overhauled and validated designs for Tax Credit mobile app that streamlined tax credit processing for most valued enterprise customers.

Collaborated with Strategy Team to kickstart mobile design patterns and data visualization standards that were presented globally.

Mentored design intern on a Mobile Accessibility project that defined several accessibility patterns and standards.

Led design and research effort for company’s first-ever web-based enterprise PaaS/SaaS solutions. 

Established reusable design patterns and a user-centered design process to increase productivity, communication, and consistency across the UX department. 

Consistently delivered UI designs, specifications, and research results to ensure projects were shipped on schedule, met quality standards, and within scope.

Chris Shepard🇺🇸