Focused on collaborative techniques to bridge gaps between design
& dev
I have 10+ years of crafting elegant user-centric projects. Guided
by modern web practices, design systems & web components, I
utilize UX research, collaborative design-thinking techniques &
workshops to merge team insights with user needs, to drive the
design & development process forward.
My Details
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Read on to learn more about my skills, tech, projects, work
experience, testimonials & so on.
To design & build next-level quality user experiences that spark joy, by
crafting modern design systems through collaboration with inspired &
dedicated teams.
My core skills
Collaborative design
UX research
Design Thinking
UI & SVG animation
Design systems
Web standards
My tech stack
React & Typescript
Figma
Framer Motion
Web components
Whiteboards
Paper & pens
My loves
Loom
Svelte
Collaboration
Experience
I've worked on teams in large corporations and various shapes & sizes
of projects through freelance work.
Freelance
Product designer & Front-end Developer
3/2012 - present
Spearheaded end-to-end product development for Fortune 500 and high-growth startup clients, delivering $1M+ in project value through integrated design and development solutions
Built and led remote cross-functional teams of 3-8 members across 10+ client projects, achieving average 35% reduction in development cycles through streamlined design-to-development workflows.
Led projects for Deloitte, Galaxies.dev, Recursive, Riedel, Soracom & Atalika, delivering enterprise- grade solutions that aligned with each client's unique business requirements. See select project list.
Ricoh Co., Ltd.
Product designer & Front-end Developer hybrid
7/2019 - 4/2024
Bridged design and development workflows across 5+ projects, reducing time-to-market by 40% through closer integration of UX/UI design and front-end implementation. See select project list
Created org-wide cross-framework design system & component library, reducing workload by 50%.
Fostered design & dev collaboration through education, growing team efficiency significantly.
Select projects
Galaxies.dev
9/2022 - 4/2024
A web dev learning platform from DevdacticView project
Led end-to-end design & front-end implementation, driving 1k new users month over month, resulting in 10x growth compared to sister service, and 6 years' equivalent growth in 6 months.
RicohUI Design System
10/2023 - 4/2024
A UI library based on web components
Architected and implemented web component library, unifying UI components for organization-wide use, reducing development time by 50% across 3 products initially and establishing consistent UI/UX standards.
Ricoh Remote Field
4/2022 - 3/2024
Live 360ยฐ 4K video chat app for the web, Theta & OculusView project
Led end-to-end product design and front-end development for application, including brand strategy, UI/UX design, UI architecture, and interactive animations, driving a 30% yearly increase in user adoption.
Led strategic design initiative to unify multiple AI services under cohesive brand framework, implementing design system that accelerated product development and ensured consistent UX across service portfolio.
Ricoh Design-dev Unified
7/2019 - 3/2021
In-house startup incubator for employee appsView project
Spearheaded unified design system implementation across product suite, establishing cohesive visual language with shared feature patterns reducing design-to-development handoff time by 60%.
Diverst
2/2022 - 4/2022
A site redesign for Diverst, a DE&I platform for improving and managing diversity in the workplace
Guided stakeholders through site redesign process, created design & website.
Deloitte TechHarbor
3/2019 - 6/2020
A start-up database for consultants by Deloitte
Led UX redesign of consultant database platform, innovating search-saving patterns and workflows that increased search efficiency and user retention, resulting in 40% higher saved search usage.
Travelr
2/2020 - 6/2020
A location-based social network for solo travelers
Lead product design, guided development team project management.
Activities & achievements
A list of things that I'm passionate about or worked hard to acheive.
Recipient of the Japanese government Monbukagakusho Scholarship
The Evergreen State College
B.A. in Japanese crafts & aesthetics
Focus in Japanese aesthetics, ceramics, traditional crafts, and language.
One year exchange to Miyazaki University.
Recipient of the Japanese government Monbukagakusho Scholarship
Testimonials
Some kind words from people I've worked with and greatly respect.
Sacha Greif
Creator, The State of JS
Brett has always amazed me with his ability to learn new skills on the fly. Whether itโs design software, front-end frameworks, or even management workflows, heโs always looking to upgrade his knowledge and learn from the best.
Christian Moen
CEO, Atilika
Brett is an experienced and passionate designer with a keen eye for detail. He's great at reaching out to users and he knows a lot about development processes as well, and brings a lot of value to any team. He's also incredibly fun to work with.
Ema Tanaka
CEO, Travelr
Brett isn't a typical designer who just makes โpretty thingsโ. Not only is he knowledgeable in design and development, but he also has a startup mentality and helped me to stay focused on the core value of the product, define the scope/objectives of the MVP, and understand how to do things โagileโ. He is the most dedicated designer I've known. He cares about your service as if it were his own baby.
Peter Payne
CEO, J-List
When J-List needed to rebuild its website and its brand from the ground up, we turned to Brett, and couldn't have been happier with the results. His knowledge of cutting-edge technologies and frameworks like nothing I've ever seen, and he always brings satisfying results.
Jonathan Sleeuw
Dir. of Engineering, Option Research
I've had the pleasure of knowing Brett both as a friend and a collaborator for well on ten years now. I've seen him put his ambition and his great thirst for knowledge to great use on many collaborations, and his enthusiastic approach always brings out the best from those around him. I would highly recommend Brett for anyone looking to up their design capabilities and to confidently pursue their organizational goals.
Thank you! โจ
I really appreciate you taking the time to check out my site. ๐โโ๏ธ
I'd love to know how you found me & make a connection. ๐ค
If you wouldn't mind letting me know, please reach out and say "hi". ๐
