Andrew Spencer

Principal product designer who codes

Greater Boston

About

With a decade of experience as a designer who codes, I specialize in de-risking products, aligning teams, and moving fluidly between clarifying product direction, crafting UI, and shipping frontend code. As a principal designer, I lead by example and stay close to the work across the full product lifecycle, from discovery and research to iteration and building. I’ve mentored designers and led design teams, while staying focused on solving UX problems and advocating for all users. I'm focused on: ⋅ Bridging product, design, and engineering teams ⋅ Validating assumptions through design sprints and user testing ⋅ Scaling design systems ⋅ Innovating in highly complex, greenfield, and regulated industries ⋅ Treating accessibility as a standard, not a feature ⋅ Using AI responsibly to improve velocity without sacrificing quality As a design consultant, I've honed my craft through working with dozens of great teams at companies of all sizes including: the Harvard Business Review, Fanatics, the University of Iowa, Seegrid, Frontrow Health, HopSkipDrive, the National Kidney Foundation, and Tommy John. I do my best work in complex, ambiguous problem spaces where clarity and craft both matter.

Experience

  • thoughtbot (Full-time · 5 yrs)
    • Principal Product Designer
      Oct 2024 - Present · 1 yr 9 mos

      Helping AI startups and enterprise orgs launch innovative products through user validation, de-risking, and tight collaboration between product, design, and dev. Leverage over a decade of experience to help lead teams and get alignment while also jumping into Figma and code to get the details right. Led an internal brand and website refresh.

    • Senior Product Designer
      Feb 2022 - Nov 2024 · 2 yrs 10 mos

      Provides consultant-level product design expertise on client engagements ranging from startups to mature organizations while mentoring designers, conducting user interviews, designing features, and applying styles in code across web and mobile tech stacks. Create unique organization systems and processes for each client to ensure we deliver a final product that exceeds the user’s needs and business goals while maintaining a high visual quality from Figma to production.

    • Product Designer
      Jul 2021 - Feb 2022 · 8 mos

  • Sparkbox (Dayton, Ohio Area)
    • Frontend Designer
      Sep 2016 - Jul 2021 · 4 yrs 11 mos

      Helped bridge client design and dev teams while shipping everything from digital products and design systems to marketing and e-commerce sites. Clients included the National Kidney Foundation, Tommy John, and Dealer Tire.

    • Frontend Design Apprentice
      Jun 2016 - Aug 2016 · 3 mos

      - Learned best practices from an industry-leading team of web design and development professionals. - Built responsive, semantic, and accessible websites using HTML, SASS, and Git.

  • Cedarville University Student Government (Cedarville, Ohio)
    • Marketing Director
      Mar 2015 - May 2016 · 1 yr 3 mos

      - Managed and gave creative direction to a team of nine designers who executed marketing campaigns for 20 campus events and programs. - Balanced creative design concepts with tight financial constraints while working across digital, print, and social touchpoints.

    • Student Graphic Designer
      Feb 2014 - May 2016 · 2 yrs 4 mos

      - Work on various graphic design jobs for Cedarville University. Focusing mostly on print media. - Collaborated with other departments on campus to promote events or recruit students.

  • Graphic Design Intern at Kronos
    Jun 2015 - Aug 2015 · 3 mos

    - Created and pitched brand design concepts for corporate events to executives. - Improved brand consistency by redesigning over 200 icons for digital products.

  • Creative Director at Cedarville University Junior Senior Banquet
    Feb 2014 - Apr 2015 · 1 yr 3 mos

    - Developed the brand of Cedarville University's annual Junior Senior banquet. Worked closely with a student team to plan, market, and execute the event. Implemented the brand across web, print, and social media.