ABOUT ME

My background

Shane Ward

I'm a Senior Manager of UX with over 19+ years of experience creating digital products that are not only visually stunning but also intuitive, efficient, and enjoyable to use. I'm incredibly passionate about my work, and I love solving complex problems through user-centered design. Over the years, I've honed my skills and expertise by working with a variety of clients and teams, both in-house and as a consultant.

Leadership and mentorship have become a space where I excel as a UX Design manager, I am deeply passionate about leadership and mentorship. I believe in fostering a collaborative environment where team members feel empowered to innovate and grow. By providing guidance and support, I aim to help others refine their skills and reach their full potential. My goal is to lead by example, inspiring creativity and excellence while nurturing a culture of continuous learning and professional development.

In 2023, I joined Sam's Club as a Senior Manager of User Experience. I am responsible for overseeing the design process from research and conceptualization to prototyping and implementation. I work closely with cross-functional teams, including product managers, engineers, and researchers, to ensure that every design decision is grounded in user needs and aligns with business objectives.
Expertise

My areas of focus

Design Leadership

Guiding designers to be the best versions of themselves and sparking creativity through curiosity.

Design Strategy

Breaking down problems and keeping the user in focus as we define the problem space, pain points and generate solutions.

Innovation

Developing innovative product ideas and translating them into compelling concepts that resonate with users.
Work HISTORY

My experience

Since 2023

Now

Sam's Club

Sr. Manager UX Design

As a Sr. Manager of UX Design at Sam’s Club, I lead a team of designers and agency resources on multiple projects. I oversee the design process from research and conceptualization to prototyping and implementation. I work closely with cross-functional teams, including product managers, engineers, and researchers, to ensure that every design decision is grounded in user needs and aligns with business objectives.
Since 2022

Now

Empathly

Co-Founder

Empathly is a fun experiment my partner and I created, it’s a platform to evolve personas and how they are used in the design process today. We created the company to learn more about running a SaaS business and integrating AI into productivity tools.
Since 2018

Now

Brander Dash

Co-Founder

As Co-Founder of Brander Dash, I develop and manage a design subscription agency. My partner and our designers produce the work for our clients. I lend a hand with some design work and creative direction as needed in my spare time. We provide services like UI/UX, Product Design, Design Systems, and other design production work.

2019/23

Sabre

Principal UX Designer

As a Principal UX Designer at Sabre, I led the UX initiative of our internal incubator. I worked with a product owner, a development lead, and a marketing expert to formulate and test new business cases. We went through a 90-day cycle to discover, design, and validate new ideas for our Travel Network business. We presented our validated business cases to executive leadership for funding at the end of the first 90 days. If funded, the project moved on to build an MVP product to validate further with customers. We used design strategy and lean startup principles to build our business case and validate it with customers.

2015/19

Citi

Creative director

As UX Creative Director at Citigroup, I led a UX team and our design agencies to create wires, comps, and fully functioning prototypes for user testing and delivery to development. I was actively involved in the recruitment of new designers to the Dallas design team.

2013/15

Southwest Airlines

Assistant Manager Online Design

As Assistant Manager Online Design at Southwest Airlines, I led a UX team and our design agencies to create wires, comps, and fully functioning prototypes for user testing and delivery to development. I also developed the current style guide for the brand refresh.

2006/13

Travelocity

Lead Web Designer

As Lead designer at Travelocity.com, was in charge of managing the day-to-day operations of the design team. We were in charge of designing and developing promotions, microsites, marketing e-mails, and site enhancements. The design team is also the owner of the site design standards, manages the content of the site, and training of the CMS for all internal product owners. The team directly impacts the bottom line by working directly with the brand and marketing teams to deliver media for internal and external clients.
TESTIMONIALS

Linkedin Recommendations

"Shane took on the role of Figma leader when Sabre introduced Figma for all design work. He developed the structure, training weekly 'office hours' to support designers and dev team members that participated. This was in addition to his design and leadership responsibilities within Sabre Design. Shane collaborates with leaders and teams very well and is a wonderful coworker. He is always ready to step up and assist, or perform when situations arise, is dependable and communicates with peers, leaders and those below him exceptionally well. Personally, he is friendly and simply a good person, which makes a great employee and coworker."
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Bret Cullers

Business Ops
"I worked with Shane when our group was small, new and working through process. On top of that, he had a special project that had its own set of challenges. So we combined forces in an effort to better streamline the process and make it as efficient as possible. Cut to 3 years later when said project is long over, but he still has an open ear for collaboration and advice. He's extremely patient, calm and has a wealth of knowledge to share with his team. As a CD/Producer team, he's exactly what I look for in a work partner and would be happy to work with him again."
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Allison Costantino

Design Ops
‘’I've had the pleasure of working alongside Shane and watched him grow from our best prototypers and designers into one of our strongest Creative Directors who's vision, passion, creativity, and leadership is at the heart of our Dallas studio. He turned Citi Wallet which was an app that our leadership wanted to be decommissioned when he got it, and he turned it into one of our strongest examples of modern design and innovation. This is just one example of his leadership and vision in a list that is so long that I lost count. He will always have a place on my teams if he wants it."
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Stephen Gates

Founder CRZY design
"Shane was a hardworking, well organized employee. Shane was someone who always seemed to know every answer to your question and was easy to work with. He would be a great addition to any design team!"
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Heather Terrell

Sr. UX Designer
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Why is Shane leaving Sam's Club?

It has been a wonderful experience working for Sam's Club. I've learned so much, led awesome projects and connected with the best people in the industry. My plan was to stay at Sam's Club longer. Recently, Walmart has decided to consolidate their campuses to Bentonville, AR and the bay area CA. I was offered a relocation package and I wanted to continue my journey with Sam's. However, my family and I decided it was in our best interest to stay in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area where our family and friends are. I hope to work for Sam's Club/Walmart in the future.

How does Shane approach the design process?

I focus on a user-centric approach, starting with understanding user needs and iteratively refining designs for optimal user experience. I use frameworks like design strategy and lean startup to iterate through the double diamond of innovation.

What types of products does Shane specialize in designing?

I specializes in a wide range of digital products like desktop web, mobile web, native mobile apps, SaaS, digital signage and kiosks. I also have become expert level in prototyping and design systems in Figma.

Can Shane help with prototyping and testing product ideas?

Yes, I've run strategy workshops to product rapid clickable prototypes to use in usability research. I am proficient in several prototyping tools like Figma and I have my certification in Webflow to create full websites quickly. This site is built using Webflow!

How does Shane ensure designs are ready for development?

When I'm creating my designs I take the time to build out a proper design system to create consistency across all my output. When leading a team, I coach my designers on quality of our output and standardize our deliverables to development. As a creative director, I create several filter points for designs to be reviewed to catch inconsistency and errors.

What is Shane's leadership style?

As a design leader, I like to showcase my designers and the brilliant work they produce. I empower them to take the lead on the project and provide guidance and support when needed. It's my focus to align my leadership style to the designer and their career goals to encourage growth.