United States

Graphic Design

UX Design

Design Operations

Product Design

Customer Experience (CX)

Hands On / School of Hard Knocks

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)

Continuing Education

Associates Degree in Specialized Technology

Certificate in Fine Art

Certificate

Joey Kilrain

VP / XD Principle

Communication

Problem-solving

Empathy

Customer service

Conflict resolution

Figma

Adobe Creative Suite

Sketch

Understanding factors that lead to a motivated team - recognition, communication and more.

Keeping team members motivated

Understand the process of training, motivating and directing your team members.

Managing people

How to create a positive workplace culture that drives collaboration and productivity?

Fostering a good team culture

Steps to building and maintaining a strong, cohesive and effective team.

Building an effective team

Learn the tips to successfully manage a team in a remote environment.

Managing a remote team

Making remote and globally distributed teams work for you and your needs.

Working remotely

Learn essential burnout prevention techniques and replenish physical and emotional energy.

Managing burnout

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

Dealing with imposter syndrome

Talk to other immigrants about the nuances and challenges of working in the tech industry.

Being an immigrant in tech

Keeping your sanity, career growth and job satisfaction.

Surviving a merger or acquisition

Navigating micro-aggression, getting paid what you are worth and finding a community.

Being a woman in tech

Strategies for maximizing your design internship or co-op program.

Getting the most out of my internship

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

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

How to set up the team for success by defining and measuring team's performance.

Choosing metrics and team goals

Best practices for running productive design critiques.

Running effective design critiques

Methods of prototyping and solution validation. When to use which kind of prototype (eg. Webflow, Notion, etc)

Prototyping methods and tips

Manage team expectations and get the most out of your meetings.

Running effective meetings

Learn how to properly present your work and share ideas and opinions.

Presenting your work with impact

How to work with team members with different skill sets but towards a common goal?

Working cross-functionally

Methods and models of exploring, deciding and delivering design.

Building a design process

Managing being the only designer at your company and working with non-designers.

Being the only designer

Explore different generative and evaluative research techniques. User research synthesis and presentation.

Conducting good user research

Ways and resources to improve your design skills.

Improving design skills

Navigating the working relationship with PM's and engineers as a designer.

Working with product and engineering

How to create personas, and leverage them in design.

Creating and leveraging user personas

Ways to provide constructive feedback to team members.

Giving effective feedback

How to conduct interviews, what to ask, and how to analyze your results? (eg. user interview)

Conducting effective customer interviews

What are design systems and how to work with them?

Building successful design systems

Leading design strategy for a pioneering platform where individuals and brands securely exchange data

- Developed ~10 MVP prototypes evaluating Go-To-Market concepts and strategies.
- Driving user-centered design to ensure fairness, transparency, and trust.
- Collaborating with cross-functional teams creating intuitive & ethical experiences.

• Leveraged AI-driven data analytics to enhance customer experience (CX) engagement, increasing it from 5% to 10%
• Worked with innovative startups and led their competitor analysis, product design
strategies, customer personalizations, and service offerings.
• Developed frameworks for customer-centric product roadmaps and strategies in
financial services.
• Coordinated design thinking workshops with colleagues, stakeholders, and clients.
• Presented product solutions, mockups, and roadmaps to stakeholders, ensuring
compliance with regulatory standards.
• Utilized qualitative (user testing, ethnocentric observations) and quantitative (metrics, patterns) research to inform product and design decisions

I have the amazing responsibility to mentor current and up-and-coming product / research / visual / service designers at all levels of design leadership and career growth.

Book time with me here: https://adplist.org/mentors/joseph-kilrain

Led the Center of Innovation which consisted of a team of 23 onshore and offshore experts in research, design, and development, driving digital transformation through data analytics, cloud apps, and strategic design ops. Oversaw corporate branding, documentation, usability standards, and design patterns.

Key Responsibilities:
• Led digital transformation via data analytics, outsourced product development, and cloud apps at the Center of Innovation.
• Coordinated with stakeholders for a comprehensive Design Ops plan, including branding and design protocols.
• Participation in client workshops and presentation of the proposed solution.
• Managed and mentored 23 global UX researchers, visual designers, and developers.
• Used Azure DevOps, agile methods for ROI, while guiding product direction hands-on.
• Used cloud-based applications such as Figma, Zeplin, Azure DevOps, and Microsoft's AI-Powered Copilot to improve the design process which impacted 55 people, improving DEI and collaboration by 44%.

• Led digital transformation via data analytics, outsourced product development, and cloud apps at the Center of Innovation.
• Coordinated with stakeholders for a comprehensive Design Ops plan, including branding and design protocols.
• Participation in client workshops and presentation of the proposed solution.
• Managed and mentored 23 global UX researchers, visual designers, and developers.
• Used Azure DevOps, agile methods for ROI, while guiding product direction hands-on.
• Introduced effective team strategies for research, design, and collaboration protocols.
• Lead all enterprise level aspects of Visual Design and User Experience.

Conducted workshops presenting effective solutions to clients. Managed assets
facilitating smooth file handoffs, ensuring components aligned with expectations. 

Key Responsibilities:
- Conduct workshops, presenting proposed solutions to clients.
- Created D3.JS friendly data visualization assets for smooth team handoffs.
- Collaborated with product managers and designers to innovate UI concepts
for data visualization.
- Maintained component library and patterns for improved customer experiences.

DED, a digital experience design company, creates unified experiences across enterprise apps. We’re end-to-end, leading projects from ideation through research and execution.

Core skill sets focus on visual design and experience research. We guide front and back-end development teams to ensure consistency between the experience and UI framework too.

Recognized for managing expectations by developing realistic solutions aligned to achievable deadlines.

Primary duties included:
- Lead idea generations based off of product development initiatives
- Provided team direction in competitive research and persona analysis
- Developed complex wireframes and user flows based off of data points
- Scoped and managed projects from kick-off to delivery
- Collaborated with analytics team on A/B usability tests
- Informed Product, Dev, and Stakeholders of features / requirements from Cx feedback

Primary duties included:
• Manage resources for on time delivery of user stories, functionality and infrastructure
improvements
• Provide guidance and leadership to coach, motivate, and lead members to their best
performance levels and career development
• Own the development team’s tools, processes, and QA / performance of the work produced by the teams
• Collaborate with internal and external engineering teams to plan architecture and define technical requirements

- Assisted in developing the User Experience (UX) Design Certificate Program. Creative Workforce of the Future
- Taught courses using a hands-on approach with each student
- Provided step-by-step lectures on Visual Design hand-off protocols
- Guided students on creating customer experience flows and processes
- Helped develop their soft skills for interviewing customers
- Shared current Experience Research to further their understandings.

Subject matters taught:
- Experience Design
- Visual Design
- Lean / Agile Methodologies
- Front End Web / Design (HTML 5, CSS3 (Foundation, SaaS), jQuery)
- Responsive Design
- Common Sense
- Self-confidence

Using softwares:
- Axure RP
- Sketch
- Adobe XD
- InvisionApp
- Zeplin
- Figma
- Webflow

As a B2C an B2B marketing agency, we analyze every facet of your online presence regardless of the size and scope of your business. Through our expertise in analysis, development, and design, we create unique and customized digital marketing solutions for every client.

Taught the following courses:
- Creative Print Production
- Web Design & Development
- User Experience and Visual Design

Keeping alumni connected on current trends, opportunities, and collaborations.

The Hatchery is a venture collaboration forum, building a community of entrepreneurs, emerging companies, and investors, via its events, advisory services, and incubator. It works with investors and companies in 10 countries.

It provides a unique funnel for New York innovators to interact with investors, present their plans, receive expert feedback, and pave the way for them to receive funding. At the heart of our model the Gauntlet, an interactive process that gives entrepreneurs a forum to present their strategies to a range of investors.

Daily duties included:
	-	Team building and cultivation
	-	Working alongside the client in pitching (Presentation, Research, etc.)
	-	Business & product planning and positioning

Gigapixel Creative Inc. partnered with agencies and technology entrepreneurs in building their web experiences and businesses.

Daily duties included:
	-	Team building, creative management, and cultivation
	-	Client and product management (from start-ups, to mvp, to exit)
	-	Business & product branding
	-	Media integration -- print, web, TV, mobile, networking
	-	Strategy, design, architecture, development and marketing for all web based interests.

Hailey Shi

Senior Product Experience Designer

Euphie Zhao

Senior AI Product Manager

Olha Bahaieva

Top UX/UI Design Mentor

Jinanshi Shah

UX Researcher

CeD Mixon

Director of Product Design

Nirbhay Singh

UX Designer

Mentorship Session

With 2024 quickly approaching, I use these last few weeks of the year to map out my plans for the new year. I set new goals, higher than the ones set in 2023. Join me for a 3 part, hands-on mentorship session where we delve into your portfolio’s world. We’ll chop up the nuances, outline the visual narrative, and infuse it with an irresistible curiosity for your audiences. I’ll push you past the limits of yourself, guiding you to create a portfolio that you can show even if you were naked. Your portfolio will not only make an impression, but it will be you. Not some reused template. At the same time, we’ll get on track for our dream role!

Joey Kilrain🇺🇸

About Joey Kilrain

Expertise

Sessions with Joey Kilrain

What mentees say