Daniel RileyProduct design · AI interfaces
Leadership · For design leadership roles

I build the design capability an organization doesn’t yet have.

And I govern it once it exists. I have built design from zero three times, converged five analytics platforms into one, and helped move an IBM division to a new design operating model in about three months.

Leadership cases Start a conversation
Design leadership at
  • IBM
  • NielsenIQ
  • LoyaltyOne / Precima

Scope, in numbers

From IBM, NielsenIQ and LoyaltyOne / Precima.

1 of 6

executives on the committee that moved an IBM division from embedded UX to Design-as-a-Service

~3 mo

from that decision to a live operating model, division-wide

14

people in my IBM design organization, designers through managers, across 6–8 products

5

independently grown analytics platforms converged into one ecosystem at NielsenIQ

3

organizations where I built or governed the design system: LoyaltyOne, NielsenIQ, IBM

2

acquisitions where the practice I built was part of what the buyer acquired

Leadership cases

Outcome first. Each links to the full case with the decisions and the work.

Precima performance monitoring dashboard
LoyaltyOne / Precima · Director of User Experience

Built UX from zero. The workflow became core to the acquisition.

Hired by the CTO with a presidential mandate for customer-centric design. Built the practice, seated design at the architecture table for a full replatform, and won skeptical VPs one by one with evidence, testing and speed-to-market return.

The guided-workflow model was core to what Nielsen acquired Precima for in 2020. A net-new SaaS MVP shipped for a major enterprise client in about nine months.

Read the case

NielsenIQ share-of-wallet comparison view
NielsenIQ · Director of UX

Five platforms, one ecosystem, through an acquisition and a rebrand.

Led 6 design leaders and senior designers across 5 enterprise analytics platforms serving a Fortune 500 client base, while teams kept shipping.

Shared information architecture, object model and navigation logic; design-system governance with a contribution model, maintenance roadmap and documented decisions.

Read the case

IBM AI search agent returning an editable table
IBM · Senior Design Manager

A new operating model for a division, live in about three months.

Led a 14-person design organization across 6–8 enterprise products, with 10+ product leaders and 50+ engineers. Defined with AI and data science how AI behaves when it is uncertain or wrong.

One of six executives who moved the division to Design-as-a-Service. Moved the team onto AI-centered tooling as an operating change with new working standards.

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Operating-model change at IBM

Division-wide, across a pipeline of about 300 products.

Before

Embedded UX

A design team sits inside each product.

After

Design-as-a-Service

Central allocation. Product teams request design through an SOW intake, with stronger governance across the portfolio.

The pattern across roles

What I tend to be hired to do, and do again.

Build

Design from zero, three times

Lifecapture Interactive, Surround Integrated and the Precima UX practice. Twice, what I built was part of what an acquirer bought.

Govern

Systems that hold under delivery pressure

Design systems built or governed at three organizations, including token-driven governance in Figma and Storybook at division scale.

Persuade

Evidence over opinion

Customer-centric design won VP by VP through testing, evidence and speed-to-market return.

Change

AI as an operating change

New tooling introduced with new working standards, not as a tools rollout.

Hiring for design leadership?

Director, head of design and senior design manager roles. Remote, Eastern Time. A leadership resume is available on request.

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