Michael Nix
Michael Nix
Page 01
Hi! I'm Michael - A 15+ year design veteran hailing from Denver, Colorado USA.
I'm traditionally trained in design, an expert in UX/UI, leveraging AI and code, and have gained expertise as both a product development expert and people manager. But ultimately, I love to design and build cool things. I'm open to remote roles and hybrid ones in the Denver region.
Hi! I'm Michael - A 15+ year design veteran hailing from Denver, Colorado USA. I'm traditionally trained in design, an expert in UX/UI, leveraging AI and code, and have gained expertise as both a product development expert and people manager. But ultimately, I love to design and build cool things. I'm open to remote roles and hybrid ones in the Denver region.
Hi! I'm Michael - A 15+ year design veteran hailing from Denver, Colorado USA. I'm traditionally trained in design, an expert in UX/UI, leveraging AI and code, and have gained expertise as both a product development expert and people manager. But ultimately, I love to design and build cool things. I'm open to remote roles and hybrid ones in the Denver region.
VCA Strategy
UX / UI
AI
Strategy
Marketing
Dev
April 2024 - Present
Principal Designer & Owner
VCA is my solo consulting agency. As lead UX/UI designer, I also act as a UX engineer and product strategist, driving CX strategy, brand discovery, and deliver design and development of websites, apps and digital brands varying from e-commerce B2C brands to SaaS startups and B2B FinTech platform design. This includes everything from product development, customer research, high-fidelity and rapid prototypes, wireframes, user flows, competitive analysis, and on-site workshops. I build AI agents and tools both for VCA and my clients – everything from social media content generation and management to conversational UI tools.
VCA Strategy
UX/UI
AI
Strategy
Marketing
Dev
April 2024 - Present
Principal Designer & Owner
VCA is my solo consulting agency. As lead UX/UI designer, I also act as a UX engineer and product strategist, driving CX strategy, brand discovery, and deliver design and development of websites, apps and digital brands varying from e-commerce B2C brands to SaaS startups and B2B FinTech platform design. This includes everything from product development, customer research, high-fidelity and rapid prototypes, wireframes, user flows, competitive analysis, and on-site workshops. I build AI agents and tools both for VCA and my clients – everything from social media content generation and management to conversational UI tools.
VCA Strategy
UX / UI
AI
Strategy
Marketing
Dev
April 2024 - Present
Principal Designer & Owner
VCA is my solo consulting agency. As lead UX/UI designer, I also act as a UX engineer and product strategist, driving CX strategy, brand discovery, and deliver design and development of websites, apps and digital brands varying from e-commerce B2C brands to SaaS startups and B2B FinTech platform design. This includes everything from product development, customer research, high-fidelity and rapid prototypes, wireframes, user flows, competitive analysis, and on-site workshops. I build AI agents and tools both for VCA and my clients – everything from social media content generation and management to conversational UI tools.
VCA Strategy
UX/UI
AI
Strategy
Marketing
Dev
April 2024 - Present
Principal Designer & Owner
VCA is my solo consulting agency. As lead UX/UI designer, I also act as a UX engineer and product strategist, driving CX strategy, brand discovery, and deliver design and development of websites, apps and digital brands varying from e-commerce B2C brands to SaaS startups and B2B FinTech platform design. This includes everything from product development, customer research, high-fidelity and rapid prototypes, wireframes, user flows, competitive analysis, and on-site workshops. I build AI agents and tools both for VCA and my clients – everything from social media content generation and management to conversational UI tools.
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
UX / UI
Leadership
Strategy
Player Coach
AI
April 2022 — April 2024
Senior Design Manager
Led design for 3 cloud architecture microservices at AWS ($1B+ annual revenue). Managed team of 8 senior designers focused on iterative design, data-driven CX, research, and stakeholder communication. Facilitated cross-functional workshops, influenced operational strategy, and balanced blue-sky innovation (including AI/ML) with tactical MVP delivery.
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
UX / UI
Leadership
Strategy
Player Coach
AI
April 2022 — April 2024
Senior Design Manager
Led design for 3 cloud architecture microservices at AWS ($1B+ annual revenue). Managed team of 8 senior designers focused on iterative design, data-driven CX, research, and stakeholder communication. Facilitated cross-functional workshops, influenced operational strategy, and balanced blue-sky innovation (including AI/ML) with tactical MVP delivery.
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
UX/UI
Leadership
Strategy
Player Coach
AI
April 2022 — April 2024
Senior Design Manager
Led design for 3 cloud architecture microservices at AWS ($1B+ annual revenue). Managed team of 8 senior designers focused on iterative design, data-driven CX, research, and stakeholder communication. Facilitated cross-functional workshops, influenced operational strategy, and balanced blue-sky innovation (including AI/ML) with tactical MVP delivery.
Oracle
UX / UI
Leadership
Strategy
Player Coach
Design Systems
Jan 2021 — May 2022
Senior Design Manager
Primary goal was growing and managing creative teams spread across the EU and US. Next generation software development for Oracle NetSuite SaaS both B2B and B2C, managing a team utilizing discovery, ideation, and prototyping to influence innovative concepts, architecture, and delivery. Leadership for two cross-functional UX teams highlighting collaboration skills: UI Components, a high impact design system team focused on best practices and consistent, optimized processes and a UX Foundation Discovery design team delivering data science features to customers. Ability to communicate confidently to VP stakeholders on a weekly basis. Gold award for Redwood design system at 2021 San Francisco Design Week: Enterprise User Experience.
Oracle
UX / UI
Leadership
Strategy
Player Coach
Design Systems
Jan 2021 — May 2022
Senior Design Manager
Primary goal was growing and managing creative teams spread across the EU and US. Next generation software development for Oracle NetSuite SaaS both B2B and B2C, managing a team utilizing discovery, ideation, and prototyping to influence innovative concepts, architecture, and delivery. Leadership for two cross-functional UX teams highlighting collaboration skills: UI Components, a high impact design system team focused on best practices and consistent, optimized processes and a UX Foundation Discovery design team delivering data science features to customers. Ability to communicate confidently to VP stakeholders on a weekly basis. Gold award for Redwood design system at 2021 San Francisco Design Week: Enterprise User Experience.
Oracle
UX/UI
Leadership
Strategy
Player Coach
Design Systems
Jan 2021 — May 2022
Senior Design Manager
Primary goal was growing and managing creative teams spread across the EU and US. Next generation software development for Oracle NetSuite SaaS both B2B and B2C, managing a team utilizing discovery, ideation, and prototyping to influence innovative concepts, architecture, and delivery. Leadership for two cross-functional UX teams highlighting collaboration skills: UI Components, a high impact design system team focused on best practices and consistent, optimized processes and a UX Foundation Discovery design team delivering data science features to customers. Ability to communicate confidently to VP stakeholders on a weekly basis. Gold award for Redwood design system at 2021 San Francisco Design Week: Enterprise User Experience.
CVS Health
UX / UI
Strategy
SAFe
Player Coach
Oct 2019 — Jan 2021
Senior Design Manager
Strategic design leadership for a team of 6 UX/UI, research and content designers, focused on customer experience tied to Covid-19 as part of a search and transparency team. As design PO, I wrote our team's scaled Agile development (SAFe) program increment (PI) planning strategy and facilitated Design Thinking ideation workshops. During my tenure, we saw a 14% increase in engagement for telehealth benefits and an 18% increase in patients finding the providers for whom they were searching. We increased usage from 24.1 million active members using our apps to 27.56 million and an increase in App Store ratings from Apple App Store 4.5 to 4.6 and Google Play 3.0 to 3.8.
CVS Health
UX / UI
Strategy
Agile & SAFe
Player Coach
Oct 2019 — Jan 2021
Senior Design Manager
Strategic design leadership for a team of 6 UX/UI, research and content designers, focused on customer experience tied to Covid-19 as part of a search and transparency team. As design PO, I wrote our team's scaled Agile development (SAFe) program increment (PI) planning strategy and facilitated Design Thinking ideation workshops. During my tenure, we saw a 14% increase in engagement for telehealth benefits and an 18% increase in patients finding the providers for whom they were searching. We increased usage from 24.1 million active members using our apps to 27.56 million and an increase in App Store ratings from Apple App Store 4.5 to 4.6 and Google Play 3.0 to 3.8.
CVS Health
UX / UI
Strategy
SAFe
Player Coach
Oct 2019 — Jan 2021
Senior Design Manager
Strategic design leadership for a team of 6 UX/UI, research and content designers, focused on customer experience tied to Covid-19 as part of a search and transparency team. As design PO, I wrote our team's scaled Agile development (SAFe) program increment (PI) planning strategy and facilitated Design Thinking ideation workshops. During my tenure, we saw a 14% increase in engagement for telehealth benefits and an 18% increase in patients finding the providers for whom they were searching. We increased usage from 24.1 million active members using our apps to 27.56 million and an increase in App Store ratings from Apple App Store 4.5 to 4.6 and Google Play 3.0 to 3.8.
CVS Health
UX / UI
Strategy
Agile & SAFe
Player Coach
Oct 2019 — Jan 2021
Senior Design Manager
Strategic design leadership for a team of 6 UX/UI, research and content designers, focused on customer experience tied to Covid-19 as part of a search and transparency team. As design PO, I wrote our team's scaled Agile development (SAFe) program increment (PI) planning strategy and facilitated Design Thinking ideation workshops. During my tenure, we saw a 14% increase in engagement for telehealth benefits and an 18% increase in patients finding the providers for whom they were searching. We increased usage from 24.1 million active members using our apps to 27.56 million and an increase in App Store ratings from Apple App Store 4.5 to 4.6 and Google Play 3.0 to 3.8.
TD Ameritrade
UX / UI
Leadership
Design Systems
Marketing
Apr 2011 — Apr 2019
Principal Designer & UX Manager
Led UX/UI team of 8-10 designers across multiple cities, maintaining 0% turnover in 40-person group over 3 years. Products awarded #1 in platform/tools by Barrons and StockBrokers.com for 6 consecutive years. Secured 3 design patents through agile product design and research-driven solutions. Digital releases contributed to 70% stock increase since 2011 with profits every quarter. Key initiatives included AI customer tools, major redesigns, and company-wide digital visual language development. Digital brand identity and UX lead for product marketing team, providing interactive art direction for designers and product owners. Focused on user interface, UX, and simple, clean design on trading platforms and systems including retail trading platform, information architecture, and TDA's design language.
TD Ameritrade
UX / UI
Leadership
Design Systems
Marketing
Apr 2011 — Apr 2019
Principal Designer & UX Manager
Led UX/UI team of 8-10 designers across multiple cities, maintaining 0% turnover in 40-person group over 3 years. Products awarded #1 in platform/tools by Barrons and StockBrokers.com for 6 consecutive years. Secured 3 design patents through agile product design and research-driven solutions. Digital releases contributed to 70% stock increase since 2011 with profits every quarter. Key initiatives included AI customer tools, major redesigns, and company-wide digital visual language development. Digital brand identity and UX lead for product marketing team, providing interactive art direction for designers and product owners. Focused on user interface, UX, and simple, clean design on trading platforms and systems including retail trading platform, information architecture, and TDA's design language.
TD Ameritrade
UX / UI
Leadership
Design Systems
Marketing
Apr 2011 — Apr 2019
Principal Designer & UX Manager
Led UX/UI team of 8-10 designers across multiple cities, maintaining 0% turnover in 40-person group over 3 years. Products awarded #1 in platform/tools by Barrons and StockBrokers.com for 6 consecutive years. Secured 3 design patents through agile product design and research-driven solutions. Digital releases contributed to 70% stock increase since 2011 with profits every quarter. Key initiatives included AI customer tools, major redesigns, and company-wide digital visual language development. Digital brand identity and UX lead for product marketing team, providing interactive art direction for designers and product owners. Focused on user interface, UX, and simple, clean design on trading platforms and systems including retail trading platform, information architecture, and TDA's design language.
MapVida
UX / UI
Marketing
Leadership
Strategy
Jan 2014 — Jan 2017
Founding Lead Designer
Digital brand creation and highly analytical UX design for patented IOS mapping and real estate app, awarded 2017 Big50 Startup. Managed design and development team to articulate solutions for complicated interactions involving diagrams and map overlays to bring awareness, potential and comparison between neighborhoods. Through problem-solving and flexibility, successfully moved through rigorous ideation phases into design and various testing methods. Startup successfully sold to global real estate firm.
MapVida
UX/UI
Marketing
Leadership
Strategy
Jan 2014 — Jan 2017
Founding Lead Designer
Digital brand creation and highly analytical UX design for patented IOS mapping and real estate app, awarded 2017 Big50 Startup. Managed design and development team to articulate solutions for complicated interactions involving diagrams and map overlays to bring awareness, potential and comparison between neighborhoods. Through problem-solving and flexibility, successfully moved through rigorous ideation phases into design and various testing methods. Startup successfully sold to global real estate firm.
MapVida
UX / UI
Marketing
Leadership
Strategy
Jan 2014 — Jan 2017
Founding Lead Designer
Digital brand creation and highly analytical UX design for patented IOS mapping and real estate app, awarded 2017 Big50 Startup. Managed design and development team to articulate solutions for complicated interactions involving diagrams and map overlays to bring awareness, potential and comparison between neighborhoods. Through problem-solving and flexibility, successfully moved through rigorous ideation phases into design and various testing methods. Startup successfully sold to global real estate firm.
MapVida
UX / UI
Marketing
Leadership
Strategy
Jan 2014 — Jan 2017
Founding Lead Designer
Digital brand creation and highly analytical UX design for patented IOS mapping and real estate app, awarded 2017 Big50 Startup. Managed design and development team to articulate solutions for complicated interactions involving diagrams and map overlays to bring awareness, potential and comparison between neighborhoods. Through problem-solving and flexibility, successfully moved through rigorous ideation phases into design and various testing methods. Startup successfully sold to global real estate firm.
Pinatubo Creative
UX / UI
Strategy
Dev
Marketing
May 2009 — Apr 2011
Senior Interaction Designer
Delivered creative direction for 5-person team of designers and developers, nominated for Westword’s “Best of Web” in 2013. Improved branding efforts for clients such as Harvard University, Alloy Media, House of Blues, and HSBC through effective marketing and research strategies, delivering in both print and digital.
Pinatubo Creative
UX / UI
Strategy
Dev
Marketing
May 2009 — Apr 2011
Senior Interaction Designer
Delivered creative direction for 5-person team of designers and developers, nominated for Westword’s “Best of Web” in 2013. Improved branding efforts for clients such as Harvard University, Alloy Media, House of Blues, and HSBC through effective marketing and research strategies, delivering in both print and digital.
Pinatubo Creative
UX / UI
Strategy
Dev
Marketing
May 2009 — Apr 2011
Senior Interaction Designer
Delivered creative direction for 5-person team of designers and developers, nominated for Westword’s “Best of Web” in 2013. Improved branding efforts for clients such as Harvard University, Alloy Media, House of Blues, and HSBC through effective marketing and research strategies, delivering in both print and digital.
Duo Consulting
UX / UI
Dev
Jan 2008 — May 2009
Interaction Designer
• Led design on 4 open source CMS web applications, specializing in accessibility, usability analysis, UX and UI, online branding, pitches, and client tutorial • Delivered interaction design as tasked with projects ranging from user experience tasks like wireframing, user flows, user research and prototyping to finalized visual designs and testing. Included front-end coding support in HTML, CSS and jQuery
Duo Consulting
UX / UI
Dev
Jan 2008 — May 2009
Interaction Designer
• Led design on 4 open source CMS web applications, specializing in accessibility, usability analysis, UX and UI, online branding, pitches, and client tutorial • Delivered interaction design as tasked with projects ranging from user experience tasks like wireframing, user flows, user research and prototyping to finalized visual designs and testing. Included front-end coding support in HTML, CSS and jQuery
Duo Consulting
UX / UI
Dev
Jan 2008 — May 2009
Interaction Designer
• Led design on 4 open source CMS web applications, specializing in accessibility, usability analysis, UX and UI, online branding, pitches, and client tutorial • Delivered interaction design as tasked with projects ranging from user experience tasks like wireframing, user flows, user research and prototyping to finalized visual designs and testing. Included front-end coding support in HTML, CSS and jQuery
Northwestern University
Education
Leadership
UX / UI
Content Strategy
Sep 2006 — Dec 2007
Adjunct Instructor
Consultant and web instructor for graduate Medill School of Journalism
Northwestern University
Education
Leadership
UX / UI
Content Strategy
Sep 2006 — Dec 2007
Adjunct Instructor
Consultant and web instructor for graduate Medill School of Journalism
Northwestern University
Education
Leadership
UX / UI
Content Strategy
Sep 2006 — Dec 2007
Adjunct Instructor
Consultant and web instructor for graduate Medill School of Journalism
Rotary International
UX / UI
Dev
Content Strategy
Non-Profit
2006 — 2007
Web Designer
One of my first jobs as a designer, I helped redesign their massive international site in 8 languages. I drove the early vision and strategy for accessibility for this global non-profit focused on Polio eradication, clean water, and outreach to less developed nations.
Rotary International
UX / UI
Dev
Content Strategy
Non-Profit
2006 — 2007
Web Designer
One of my first jobs as a designer, I helped redesign their massive international site in 8 languages. I drove the early vision and strategy for accessibility for this global non-profit focused on Polio eradication, clean water, and outreach to less developed nations.
Rotary International
UX / UI
Dev
Content Strategy
Non-Profit
2006 — 2007
Web Designer
One of my first jobs as a designer, I helped redesign their massive international site in 8 languages. I drove the early vision and strategy for accessibility for this global non-profit focused on Polio eradication, clean water, and outreach to less developed nations.
Rotary International
UX/UI
Dev
Content Strategy
Non-Profit
2006 — 2007
Web Designer
One of my first jobs as a designer, I helped redesign their massive international site in 8 languages. I drove the early vision and strategy for accessibility for this global non-profit focused on Polio eradication, clean water, and outreach to less developed nations.
Skills
Design & Strategy
User-centered Design Solutions
Design Systems (incl. MCP)
Design Thinking Methodology
Visual Design Excellence
Information Architecture & Navigation
Behavioral Analytics & User Research
Interaction Design Expertise
Design Strategy & Planning
Enterprise Service Design
Scalable UX/UI Patterns
Process & Collaboration
Cross-functional collaboration
Design Team Leadership
Scaled Agile (SAFe) and Lean SDLC
Rapid Prototyping & Testing
Adaptive & Responsive Design
Iterative Design Process
Stakeholder Management & Communication
Design Quality Assurance
Fast-Paced Environment Expertise
Tools & Technical
Figma
Adobe CC
Bolt.new, Cursor, v0, Replit
ChatGPT+, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Perplexity
Wireframes & User Flows
AI for UX
Business Objectives & User Balance
HTML 5, CSS 3
AR/VR Concepting
JIRA, Confluence, and Asana
Tableau, Google Analytics, etc
GitHub, JavaScript, PHP
Tools & Technical
Figma
Adobe CC
Bolt.new, Cursor, v0, Replit
ChatGPT+, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Perplexity
Framer, Webflow, Canva, and WordPress
Wireframes & User Flows
AI for UX
Business Objectives & User Balance
HTML 5, CSS 3, Javascript, Next.js and React
AR/VR Concepting
JIRA, Confluence, and Asana
Tableau, Google Analytics, etc
GitHub, JavaScript, PHP
Accolades & Achievements
3
TD Ameritrade
Approved design patents (U.S. Patent & Trademark Office)
3
TD Ameritrade
Approved design patents (U.S. Patent & Trademark Office)
3
TD Ameritrade
Approved design patents (U.S. Patent & Trademark Office)
3
TD Ameritrade
Approved design patents (U.S. Patent & Trademark Office)
Gold Award
Oracle Redwood Design System
San Francisco Design Week: Enterprise UX
2021
Gold Award
Oracle Redwood Design System
San Francisco Design Week: Enterprise UX
2021
Gold Award
Oracle Redwood Design System
San Francisco Design Week: Enterprise UX
2021
Gold Award
Oracle Redwood Design System
San Francisco Design Week: Enterprise UX
2021
CX
Michael Nix
Program Advisor - University of Colorado
2024
CX
Michael Nix
Program Advisor - University of Colorado
2024
CX
Michael Nix
Program Advisor - University of Colorado
2024
CX
Michael Nix
