Hello! I’m Felipe Villarreal, a product design leader with 20+ years of experience turning complex platforms into intuitive, high-performing user experiences. I’ve built and led design teams across startups, SaaS, enterprise tools, and consumer platforms, with roots in the New York agency and consulting world. I thrive on turning ambiguity into clarity and delivering measurable product impact by aligning stakeholders, shaping scalable design systems, and elevating everyday user experiences. I’m passionate about mentorship, collaboration, and building design ecosystems that scale. Whether partnering with product, engineering, or executives, I aim to create clear strategies, foster creative problem solving, and ship thoughtful, user-centered solutions that drive business success.…

Felipe Villarreal

Hello! I’m Felipe Villarreal, a product design leader with 20+ years of experience turning complex platforms into intuitive, high-performing user experiences. I’ve built and led design teams across startups, SaaS, enterprise tools, and consumer platforms, with roots in the New York agency and consulting world. I thrive on turning ambiguity into clarity and delivering measurable product impact by aligning stakeholders, shaping scalable design systems, and elevating everyday user experiences. I’m passionate about mentorship, collaboration, and building design ecosystems that scale. Whether partnering with product, engineering, or executives, I aim to create clear strategies, foster creative problem solving, and ship thoughtful, user-centered solutions that drive business success.…

Available to hire

Hello! I’m Felipe Villarreal, a product design leader with 20+ years of experience turning complex platforms into intuitive, high-performing user experiences. I’ve built and led design teams across startups, SaaS, enterprise tools, and consumer platforms, with roots in the New York agency and consulting world. I thrive on turning ambiguity into clarity and delivering measurable product impact by aligning stakeholders, shaping scalable design systems, and elevating everyday user experiences.

I’m passionate about mentorship, collaboration, and building design ecosystems that scale. Whether partnering with product, engineering, or executives, I aim to create clear strategies, foster creative problem solving, and ship thoughtful, user-centered solutions that drive business success.

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Language

English
Fluent
Spanish; Castilian
Fluent
Portuguese
Advanced

Work Experience

Design Director/Co-Founder at Magnifico Creative LLC
July 1, 2023 - Present
Leading design practice focused on transforming complex platforms into intuitive, productive experiences through UX/UI, user research, and product strategy. Highlights include an Oil & Gas Executive Dashboard that enabled real-time monitoring and proactive operations, and a redesigned Consolidated Communications PEGA-based system improving outage management, usability, and engineer productivity.
Creative Design Consultant at Self Employed (NYC+)
July 1, 2019 - Present
Provided lead design services for startups, established brands, and agencies, specializing in UX/UI, product design, branding, and service design. Facilitated client workshops to define priorities and align business goals with user needs; contributed to Verizon Conversational Design System at Publicis Sapient and supported Harley-Davidson e-commerce redesign at Droga5.
Design Lead at Idean, NYC
June 1, 2018 - June 1, 2019
Led end-to-end design projects from scoping and client workshops to delivery of digital products, service design blueprints, and visual systems. Built a design system for a major malpractice insurer to boost employee efficiency and improve cross-team collaboration; directed a speculative design sprint for a tobacco company that secured executive buy-in.
Visual Design Lead at Fjord (Accenture), NYC
November 1, 2014 - June 1, 2015
Co-led visual design craft for the NYC studio, delivering UX/UI design, strategy, and client presentations across digital transformation programs. Mentored four designers, driving career growth and team capability. Co-led a high-profile insurance engagement that secured a renewed, profitable client partnership.
Sr. Art Director at Acquity Group, NYC
June 1, 2012 - November 1, 2012
Directed visual design for large-scale e-commerce and digital initiatives in agile and waterfall environments. Successfully redesigned Payless.com, improving UX and customer appeal while meeting budget and platform constraints.
Design Director / Co-Founder at Magnifico Creative
July 1, 2023 - Present
Defined UX strategy and product direction for SaaS and enterprise platforms, aligning stakeholders and reducing product ambiguity. Designed an oil & gas executive dashboard to improve real-time monitoring and reduce reporting/response time by ~25%. Redesigned telecom internal tools, streamlining outage workflows and reducing task time for engineers by ~30%. Established scalable design patterns and information architecture to support future product expansion.
Creative Design Consultant at Independent
July 1, 2019 - Present
Partnered with JPMorgan Chase to evolve and maintain their design system across Figma and Zero-height, improving consistency and scalability across products. Designed an Advisor Fund Recommendation tool, including an investment heat map analysis feature that enabled advisors to interpret large datasets and identify higher-performing JPM products more efficiently. Contributed to Verizon’s conversational design system, enabling scalable AI-driven experiences. Contributed to Harley-Davidson e-commerce redesign, elevating UX/UI, establishing a scalable design system, and expanding customer engagement.
Design Lead at Idean (Capgemini)
June 1, 2018 - June 1, 2019
Directed end-to-end product design across digital services, from discovery through delivery. Built design system for an insurance platform, improving cross-team efficiency and reducing design/dev inconsistencies by ~20%. Facilitated design sprints and stakeholder workshops, accelerating alignment and product direction.
Visual Design Lead at Fjord (Accenture)
November 1, 2014 - June 1, 2018
Delivered UX/UI design for enterprise digital transformation initiatives across multiple industries. Mentored designers and elevated team output quality and consistency. Supported high-value engagements that led to retained and expanded client partnerships.
Senior Art Director at Acquity Group
June 1, 2012 - November 1, 2014
Directed UX/UI design for large-scale e-commerce platforms. Redesigned Payless.com, improving usability and modernizing the customer experience.
Senior Art Director at The Vidal Partnership
June 1, 2006 - June 1, 2012
Led integrated digital campaigns for multicultural audiences.

Education

BFA at Rutgers University - Mason Gross School Of The Arts
January 11, 2030 - May 1, 2005

Qualifications

Add your qualifications or awards here.

Industry Experience

Energy & Utilities, Software & Internet, Media & Entertainment, Professional Services, Education, Retail, Telecommunications
    paper Enterprise Case Management: Internal Tool

    About

    We partnered with Consolidated Communications, a broadband and business communications provider, redesign the internal system used by agents and engineers to manage outages, customer support, and network operations. Grounded in deep user research and iterative design, we developed a streamlined, role-specific prototype that enhances usability and optimizes workflows—all within the PEGA framework.

    The Challenge

    The primary challenge was to capture the right balance of realism and versatility in each scene, ensuring the mockups would complement different design styles and industries. Lighting, angles, and depth needed to be carefully controlled to create visually engaging setups without overpowering the displayed content. Additionally, each scene had to be adaptable, with customizable features like backgrounds, surfaces, and lighting adjustments, to allow users flexibility in tailoring scenes to their needs.

    The Outcome

    The work unified critical workflows, reducing friction in outage management and customer service processes. By ensuring the prototype was clear and development-ready, we minimized implementation confusion and set the stage for a more efficient, role-based system that enhances both engineer productivity and customer support operations.