I’m James Young, a hands-on product designer with decades of experience bringing digital products to life across B2C and enterprise environments, including regulated finance and healthcare. I’m especially drawn to the craft of user research, interaction design, design systems, and prototyping—often in real code—so the intent survives contact with implementation. More recently, I’ve focused on designing trustworthy enterprise AI experiences: citation-driven response patterns, retrieval-augmented interfaces, human-in-the-loop workflows, and integration approaches (including MCP-style tooling) that help teams build AI features users can rely on. I also bring VP- and director-level leadership experience, partnering with engineering and stakeholders to turn research and strategy into shipped products that get adopted.…

James Young

I’m James Young, a hands-on product designer with decades of experience bringing digital products to life across B2C and enterprise environments, including regulated finance and healthcare. I’m especially drawn to the craft of user research, interaction design, design systems, and prototyping—often in real code—so the intent survives contact with implementation. More recently, I’ve focused on designing trustworthy enterprise AI experiences: citation-driven response patterns, retrieval-augmented interfaces, human-in-the-loop workflows, and integration approaches (including MCP-style tooling) that help teams build AI features users can rely on. I also bring VP- and director-level leadership experience, partnering with engineering and stakeholders to turn research and strategy into shipped products that get adopted.…

Available to hire

I’m James Young, a hands-on product designer with decades of experience bringing digital products to life across B2C and enterprise environments, including regulated finance and healthcare. I’m especially drawn to the craft of user research, interaction design, design systems, and prototyping—often in real code—so the intent survives contact with implementation.

More recently, I’ve focused on designing trustworthy enterprise AI experiences: citation-driven response patterns, retrieval-augmented interfaces, human-in-the-loop workflows, and integration approaches (including MCP-style tooling) that help teams build AI features users can rely on. I also bring VP- and director-level leadership experience, partnering with engineering and stakeholders to turn research and strategy into shipped products that get adopted.

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Skills

Experience Level

Work Experience

Principal UX Designer, Product Strategy & Design at Lab49
September 1, 2025 - July 31, 2026
Led design and shipping of tactfully integrated AI features for enterprise workflow use cases across web and mobile in regulated industries. Modernized an internal financial services data/research content management platform from early vision to working beta in 6 months, evolving semantic search into a reusable AI tooling platform with MCP integration and defining structured, citation-driven response patterns linked back to source records to improve trust and reduce hallucination risk. Built high-realism interactive prototypes in Figma with AI-assisted tools, replacing click-through prototypes and validating complex role/permission interactions; supported phased rollout with in-person sit-down feedback and partnered closely with product and engineering to sequence delivery against dependencies.
Independent Consultant at J.Y. Design
May 1, 2025 - Present
Provide senior-level hands-on IC design services, fractional design leadership, and AI transformation guidance for agencies and B2B/B2C companies. Led concepting for a redesign to modernize workflow tools for a major entertainment media distribution platform in partnership with a digital agency.
Vice President of User Experience Design at Paysign, Inc.
September 1, 2024 - April 30, 2025
Led front-end experience vision across Financial Services and Patient Affordability verticals, evolving B2B and B2C features based on synthesized client and user feedback. Accelerated ideation and stakeholder alignment by introducing AI-powered prototyping tools to reduce feedback cycles; modernized internal operations tools across program creation and fulfillment; advised C-suite on multi-track digital product growth strategy and supported organizational change via acquihire.
Director of Strategy and Innovation at SS&C Health
June 1, 2024 - September 30, 2024
Incubated an internal AI health innovations team and shipped a conversational LLM query layer on top of a core pharmacy claims processing platform. Delivered a role-centric AI feature that enabled non-technical claims analysts to investigate issues via natural language, replacing cumbersome legacy data UIs with an adopted solution. Led cross-product audits aligning medical and pharmacy technology roadmaps, collaborated with Blue Prism on automation/digital worker integration strategy, and contributed to enterprise-wide AI governance pods informing the launch of SS&C AI Gateway.
Director of User Experience Design at SS&C Health
July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Led UX research and UI design to modernize legacy pharmacy claims technology into DomaniRx, a unified SaaS platform supporting 30M+ covered lives and reducing plan implementation timelines. Implemented accessible, themeable design systems for responsive web applications, coordinated expert research on modernizing medical claims, and ran a virtual collaborative UX research approach using live wireframing with stakeholders and customers to compress requirements gathering. Participated in AI governance groups by analyzing emerging AI UI patterns and documenting best practices for accuracy, safety, and regulatory compliance; onboarded and coordinated external design squad partnerships across product teams, and partnered with corporate marketing on IA/creative direction for the 2023 company website redesign.
Director of User Experience at SS&C Technologies
February 1, 2018 - July 31, 2021
Led UX research, design, and front-end development for SS&C Aloha, driving adoption across client sales and upgrades and earning the 2023 FTF News Technology Innovation Award for Best Cloud-Native Computing Initiative. Architected a code-centric design system versioned in Storybook to standardize UI implementation across distributed teams. Conducted moderated usability testing and fed findings back into the design system; modernized SS&C SKYLINE with streamlined workflows and navigation; defined and shipped a mobile chatbot experience expanding adoption across user segments; improved client implementation speed through streamlined processes and purpose-built front-end configuration UIs; helped shape an eight-person design-to-development capability.
Creative Director at Guidea
March 1, 2016 - February 28, 2018
Led RITE (Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation) usability testing for Deserve’s credit application mobile flow, shipping improvements within two weeks and increasing completed applications by ~30%. Ran moderated usability testing across engagements (including WSECU and Ascension Seton Medical) to validate UI decisions before release. Led UI/UX strategy for clients across industries and facilitated alignment sessions with CEOs and CTOs to define objectives and direction, improving satisfaction and embedding teams for ongoing continuity post-engagement.
Creative Director at Pingup
November 1, 2012 - March 31, 2016
Designed branded and white-label front-end experiences for Microsoft Bing, YP, and other search partners, leveraging Pingup’s B2C API platform for booking appointments and local services. Applied Agile principles to accelerate R&D via limited-release web and iOS/Android apps to test product-market fit across segments. Co-authored U.S. Patent No. 8,965,976 B2 for managing user chat experiences with businesses—an early innovation in conversational UI for appointment booking across mobile and web touchpoints.
Senior Web Designer at Extraprise
January 1, 2000 - December 31, 2001
Established a digital design group expanding agency capabilities into service design and user research.
Independent Consultant at J.Y. Design
May 1, 1997 - November 30, 2012
Provided web, mobile, and native app product design engagements for clients including Adobe, AT&T, BabyCenter (J&J), Cloudera, IHS Markit, InterSystems, PayPal, Paydiant, and Unica. Served as design lead for PayPal’s early branded iPhone v1 mobile checkout flows supporting high transaction volume, including launches for Starbucks and other major consumer brands deploying mobile-native checkout at scale.
Senior Designer at Monitor Group
January 1, 1995 - December 31, 1997
Led UI visual design in the Decision Architects group supporting the launch of the firm’s first commercial software.
Senior Designer at Frame Technology
January 1, 1992 - December 31, 1995
Designed UI artwork, icon assets, and marketing collateral for multiple releases of FrameMaker (acquired by Adobe).

Education

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) at The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at the George Washington University
January 11, 2030 - August 28, 2026

Qualifications

U.S. Patent No. 8,965,976 B2 (Apparatus and method for managing user chat experiences with businesses)
February 1, 2015 - August 28, 2026

Industry Experience

Financial Services, Healthcare, Media & Entertainment, Software & Internet, Telecommunications, Other

Skills

Experience Level