Jeff Humble

Jeff Humble

DESIGN STRATEGY & INNOVATION

DESIGN STRATEGY & INNOVATION



← FORMER CLIENTS & EMPLOYERS → Twitter・Victoria's Secret・Lufthansa・The Olympics・Facebook・Chase Bank・NBA・Instagram・CareerFoundry・IBM・Funny or Die・Grammys・Target・ABC Family・Spredfast・Paramount Pictures・Pepsi

← FORMER CLIENTS & EMPLOYERS → Twitter・Victoria's Secret・Lufthansa・The Olympics・Facebook・Chase Bank・NBA・Instagram・CareerFoundry・IBM・Funny or Die・Grammys・Target・ABC Family・Spredfast・Paramount Pictures・Pepsi

portfolio strategic designer innovator design strategist

Hi, I’m Jeff! I’m a UX design leader, manager, and trainer from the U.S. I can spearhead innovation projects or scale design teams.

I’m based in Berlin where I train senior UX designers in the latest product skills at the Fountain Institute. I also work as an in-house design coach for teams like Lean IX.

I’m currently open to work/gigs in design leadership and strategy in EU time zones.

Learn more or contact me at jeffreyhumble(at)gmail.com

What is design strategy? What is design innovation?

What is design strategy? What is design innovation?

What is design strategy?

Design or UX Strategy is how design becomes a unique differentiator for the business. You create one by understanding the right user needs for the business strategy. A design strategy helps the team focus on the user opportunities that will strengthen the business.

What is design innovation?

Design or UX Innovation is how we move beyond user expectations into user aspirations. When you design the right features in a completely new way, that’s design innovation. It takes a lot of research and imagination to reach this aspirational level, but it’s worth it.

Need a speaker for your event? Let's talk.

Need a speaker for your event? Let's talk.

What goes into digital products that people love?

What goes into digital products that people love?

The 3 Pillars of Jeff’s Design Practice

  • Research is so critical to products and services that I make it a ritual.

    Research can come before or after the design phase because it should happen continuously. Insight-rich qualitative research can be a powerful way to see the future. And don’t forget to check those insights with quantitative data to get a healthy dose of reality.

    There is no “i” research. It’s a team sport. If only one person researches, you don’t have the whole story. I try to bring in as many viewpoints as possible because you don’t want to outsource understanding. The more eyes you get on research, the more accurate it will get.

    Read more about this pillar

  • Untested research might make sense in theory, but even well-researched designs can fail in practice.

    In design, everything is an assumption until it’s in the hands of a customer. So, I try to get ideas in front of customers early and often…even if the design isn’t “perfect” yet.

    I take an analytical, scientific approach and can test concepts for viability, feasibility, desirability, and usability.

    Read more about this pillar

  • Strategic design goes way beyond design thinking. It can be designing a strategy outright or supporting the work of strategy operations.

    With some extra effort, that continuous research & rapid experimentation work above can build into something strategic that guides future work. A well-researched strategy can act like a high-level theory that explains the world. A winning strategy can be an incredible decision-making aid for teams. I use my design skills to make strategies as tangible as possible. The biggest barrier to strategy success is poor communication. Any team can benefit from a strategy, but it only works when everybody gets it.

    I take a very collaborative approach to strategy because I think it should be co-created with the team using it if possible. It’s hard to ignore or forget a strategy when we create it ourselves.

    Read more about this pillar

TL;DR: Jeff is your product lead’s secret weapon.

A monthly-ish advice letter for designers of products.

A monthly-ish advice letter for designers of products.

Jeff’s Newsletter