Sean Warsaw

design leader | based in Chicago

I am a creative and analytical thinker skilled at contextualizing complexity and creating insightful blueprints for solving organizational and product problems. Through cross-functional collaboration, I help bring clarity to user and business needs, promote the value of design systems and systems thinking, and foster inclusive design cultures that brings the best out of product development teams.

Armed with a unique blend of bold vision and balanced pragmatism, I approach life and design with passion, creative confidence and a ‘do what you love, love what you do’ attitude.

 
Resume (2026)
Project Sample
Management Snapshot
 
 

Defining new ways of teaming

Design Organization

Portfolio of Experience

Design skills | Design Leadership

Capstone: User Research, Game Design & UX Design

Enterprise Design Project (IBM): UX & UI Design

For more work samples, click the Hamburger menu.

 
 

conference talks


Title:IC, more people” - ConveyUX ‘23

Description: Growing as a designer doesn’t have to stop when you become a design manager. Position yourself for growth by looking at the transition from an individual contributor to design manager as a change of scope, not a change of skills. 

You will hear:

  • How to identifying and enacting new values…

  • How to understand team culture(s) and building influence…

  • How to determine what culture you’re in and how to push the envelope with wisdom…

 
 

Writing about Design…

DESIGNER IN CHIEF

Designers: the next vanguard of political leadership in America

 

THE MEME GENERATION

Memes help us expose invisible truths

As we forge ahead into an era with new challenges, design can help assemble coalitions, align stakeholders around high-impact opportunities, and prototype solutions to wicked problems that keep our democracy from fully realizing
the audacious nature of this country.
— Sean Warsaw
 
We also love memes because they are about honesty. Often lighthearted and always devastatingly true, memes allow us to express feelings, thoughts and attitudes we wouldn’t share otherwise.
— Sean Warsaw