Hi, I'm Dan Whelan, a senior/lead product designer who thrives in fast-paced environments. I've led large projects with multiple dependencies and stakeholders, and I excel at prioritisation, decisive decision making, and delivering high-impact work quickly. As a T-shaped designer, I combine UX/UI skills with graphic, branding and motion design, and I also code in HTML/CSS with basic JS and PHP. I’ve got people-management experience, including performance management, coaching and mentoring. I’ve helped uplift design culture and strategy at HubSpot and Distilled, led AI-driven product initiatives, and collaborated across product and engineering teams to deliver measurable business outcomes. I enjoy mentoring peers, driving design systems, and delivering consistent experiences across platforms, including mobile and web.

Dan Whelan

Hi, I'm Dan Whelan, a senior/lead product designer who thrives in fast-paced environments. I've led large projects with multiple dependencies and stakeholders, and I excel at prioritisation, decisive decision making, and delivering high-impact work quickly. As a T-shaped designer, I combine UX/UI skills with graphic, branding and motion design, and I also code in HTML/CSS with basic JS and PHP. I’ve got people-management experience, including performance management, coaching and mentoring. I’ve helped uplift design culture and strategy at HubSpot and Distilled, led AI-driven product initiatives, and collaborated across product and engineering teams to deliver measurable business outcomes. I enjoy mentoring peers, driving design systems, and delivering consistent experiences across platforms, including mobile and web.

Available to hire

Hi, I’m Dan Whelan, a senior/lead product designer who thrives in fast-paced environments. I’ve led large projects with multiple dependencies and stakeholders, and I excel at prioritisation, decisive decision making, and delivering high-impact work quickly. As a T-shaped designer, I combine UX/UI skills with graphic, branding and motion design, and I also code in HTML/CSS with basic JS and PHP. I’ve got people-management experience, including performance management, coaching and mentoring.

I’ve helped uplift design culture and strategy at HubSpot and Distilled, led AI-driven product initiatives, and collaborated across product and engineering teams to deliver measurable business outcomes. I enjoy mentoring peers, driving design systems, and delivering consistent experiences across platforms, including mobile and web.

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Language

English
Fluent

Work Experience

Design Lead (Product Design Lead) at HubSpot
September 1, 2019 - October 1, 2025
At HubSpot I built products that are powerful, yet easy to use to help our customers grow. I integrated AI into our products, reimagining how we help users get their work done. I uplifted design culture internally, coaching and mentoring peers and direct reports, and set design strategy and vision while collaborating with product and engineering teams. I oversaw usability testing, customer interviews, design concepts and prototype development, and worked with tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe Suite, Flinto, HTML and CSS. Achievements include leading the redesign of HubSpot Forms Product (Marketing Hub), the redesign of the HubSpot CTAs Product (Marketing Hub), leading a team of 5 designers, designing a new HubSpot AI Personalisation tool, championing accessibility, a rotation on the design systems team contributing to CANVAS and Trellis, and influencing hiring decisions.
Senior Product Designer at Distilled
February 1, 2013 - September 1, 2019
Led design for Distilled's Classified ads and marketing/sales platforms. Reimagined place ad funnels, delivering measurable improvements in conversions, and contributed to the redesign of Ireland’s leading classified ads site. Responsibilities included growing the design team, shaping product design strategy, and mentoring teammates to elevate design quality and impact.
Analyst / Front End Developer at Equifax
October 1, 2007 - February 1, 2013
On-site at Equifax, contributed to front-end development and product interfaces. Involved in training delivery and improving internal systems, including customer support portals and intrawebs, with responsibilities spanning design execution, QA, and process improvements.

Education

Junior Certificate & Leaving Certificate at CBS Secondary Wexford
January 1, 1999 - January 1, 2004
FETAC Level 5 Business Course at FETAC
January 1, 2006 - January 1, 2007
Junior Certificate & Leaving Certificate at CBS Secondary Wexford
January 1, 1999 - December 31, 2004
FETAC Level 5 – Business Course at FETAC (Ireland)
January 1, 2006 - December 31, 2007
Nielsen Norman Group UX Certification: Design Trade-offs and UX Decision Making at Nielsen Norman Group
December 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023
Nielsen Norman Group Certification: Leading Highly Effective UX Teams at Nielsen Norman Group
May 1, 2022 - May 31, 2022

Qualifications

Nielsen Norman Design Trade-offs and UX Decision making
December 1, 2023 - January 13, 2026
Nielsen Norman Leading Highly Affective UX Teams
May 1, 2022 - January 13, 2026
Nielsen Norman Group UX Certification: Trade-offs and UX Decision Making
December 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023
Nielsen Norman Group Certification: Leading Highly Effective UX Teams
May 1, 2022 - May 31, 2022

Industry Experience

Software & Internet, Media & Entertainment, Professional Services, Education, Retail