We coach, consult, and scale design culture.
Empowering leaders and companies to jump the Design S-Curve
UX Advisors helps design leaders and companies jump the "Design S-Curve".
To reach the full value of design, companies must transform their design leader, their design team and their design culture.
One of the hardest things to do as a design leader is to grow from thinking, speaking, and acting like a "designer" into being a strong business leader.
We’ve come a long way, but we’re still not there…
Most Fortune 500 companies spend an average of 10% of their total budget on building their brands but only a fraction on building design capability.
Our Services
Transform the Design Leader
Transform the Design Culture
Transform the Design Leader
- Advise on building their powers of influence to create win-win scenarios
- Inspire their teams and peers to think about design as a business strategy
- Navigating the culture and your role as the design lead
- Shift from design craft outcomes to design business outcomes strategy
- Improve internal partnerships and build trust
- Building a communication plan
- Building a business plan
- Building a budget
Transform the Design TEAM
Transform the Design Culture
Transform the Design Leader
- Design outcomes aligned to business outcomes
- Building a growth strategy roadmap (vision/org/capabilities/operations)
- Optimize teams workflow (remote)
- Mature key practices
- Role definition, skills taxonomy, and scope of influence
- Budget setting and management
- Dual track: balancing business and team velocity with quality
- Create systems of alignment and tracking goals/KPIs
- Resources and operation systems
Transform the Design Culture
Transform the Design Culture
Transform the Design Culture
- Navigating internal company change management around design maturity
- Tools to plan, hire, inspire and deliver within the constraints of corporate culture (strategically scaling design)
- Building strong partnerships at scale
- Setting social map alignments
- Building design credibility with smallBIG wins
About the founder
Gene Lee
Gene is an award-winning design leader who combines analytical precision with emotional intelligence to create impactful customer experiences. Passionate about using design to drive cultural and business transformation, Gene brings expertise in experience strategy, user research, marketing design, product design, and operations. Known for fostering innovation and collaboration, Gene has a proven track record of delivering measurable outcomes that enhance customer satisfaction and organizational success.
Gene brings over 27 years of design experience, having held executive positions at companies such as Atlassian, Autodesk, Nickelodeon, Landor, and Sony PlayStation. He also served as the Chief Experience Officer at Mailchimp, where he was part of the executive team that led a record-breaking $12 billion acquisition.
Key Values & Principles
- Advocate for customer-centered solutions.
- Align holistic design systems with brand promises.
- Lead by example and empower team success.
- Foster a culture of collaboration to deliver delightful experiences.
- Simplify processes to achieve clarity and efficiency.
- Elevate design from a service function to a strategic partner.
Accomplishments
- Awards Judge: Fast Co. Innovation, Webby, One Show
- Recipient of multiple regional and national awards: Clio, Webby
- Adjunct Professor, Parsons School of Design, NYC
- Keynote Speaker: UX World (Korea, 2017)
- Published brand identity work (Rockport Press)
- Speaker at prestigious events: Awwwards NYC, Moda, Adobe 99U, AIGA, MIT, and others
- Board member and advisor
- Completed a full Ironman
Gene actively engages with the CX and design communities to share insights, exchange ideas, and stay inspired. Guided by the philosophy, “Be humble, be teachable, and always keep learning,” Gene embodies a lifelong commitment to growth and innovation.
A few testimonials
