John J. Hegener
Principal UX Designer
Creating meaningful digital experiences through human-centered design and strategic thinking
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Case Studies
Over a decade of transforming complex business challenges into intuitive digital experiences for industry leaders across healthcare, finance, fitness, and enterprise technology.
Product Design • E-commerce
Interactive Product Locator
Business Initiative: PharmaCann needed to improve its online product locator experience, as customers struggled to find in-stock products at nearby locations—leading to high customer service inquiries and abandoned purchases.
My Role, Team, Timeline: As Principal UX Designer, I led the end-to-end design over ~2 months, collaborating closely with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders. Design Process: I began with comprehensive UX research, conducting stakeholder interviews to align on business goals and usability testing to uncover pain points in the existing locator. Users reported confusion navigating to inventory and store details. I synthesized insights into a journey map, prioritized scenarios, and designed a simplified, Mapbox-powered locator. Through iterative prototyping and validation, I ensured the solution addressed both user and business needs. Outcome: The redesigned locator reduced customer inquiries by 35% and improved task completion by 20%, delivering a more intuitive and efficient user experience.
Design Systems • Brand Strategy
Multi-Brand Digital Ecosystem
Business Initiative: Discover Card and Cox Communications partnered with Foote, Cone & Belding to unify their digital brand experiences across multiple platforms, improve accessibility, and reduce design inconsistencies that were creating user frustration and technical debt. My Role, Team, Timeline: As Senior UX Lead, I guided the UX vision and execution over two years, collaborating with client stakeholders, product managers, developers, and brand teams from both Discover Card and Cox Communications. Design Process: I established UX principles and developed a scalable design system in Figma, ensuring a consistent and responsive experience across web and mobile platforms for both clients. I embedded WCAG accessibility standards into team workflows, created documentation, and led training sessions to build team-wide accessibility expertise. Working closely with engineering, we integrated these best practices into the development pipeline to ensure quality at launch. Outcome: The unified design system improved accessibility by 25%, reduced post-launch defects by 30%, and delivered a cohesive, inclusive digital presence for both Discover Card and Cox Communications.
Mobile • Fitness Tech
Life Fitness App & Equipment UI
Business Initiative: Life Fitness needed to improve the usability and engagement of its mobile app and connected equipment UIs, as users found the experience fragmented and unintuitive—hurting satisfaction and retention. My Role, Team, Timeline: As Senior UX Designer, I led the redesign over the course of a year, working closely with product managers, engineers, writers, researchers, and analysts in an agile environment. Design Process: I began by auditing the current user flows and gathering research insights to pinpoint pain points in the app and equipment interfaces. I redefined key workflows and interaction patterns, creating streamlined, intuitive designs for both mobile and hardware displays. I standardized Figma as the team’s core design tool, improving collaboration and consistency, and partnered with product analysts to run A/B tests and usability studies that informed iterative improvements. Outcome: The redesigned experience increased user engagement by 30% and improved user satisfaction by 20%, delivering a more cohesive and enjoyable fitness journey.
Enterprise • Healthcare
Salesforce Lightning Design System
Business Initiative: During the COVID-19 crisis, Pfizer needed to rapidly scale its call center management software to support a surge in inquiries, requiring streamlined workflows and faster development without sacrificing usability. My Role, Team, Timeline: As Senior UX Designer, I led the design over ~6 months, collaborating with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders in a fast-paced startup environment. Design Process: I designed end-to-end interfaces leveraging the Salesforce Lightning Design System (SLDS) to ensure usability, consistency, and development speed. Starting with stakeholder workshops to align goals, I created detailed wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes that addressed complex user workflows under crisis conditions. Close collaboration with engineering ensured designs fit SLDS components and could be implemented quickly and accurately. Outcome: The SLDS-based designs increased engineering efficiency by 25%, streamlined call center workflows, and enabled Pfizer’s support teams to respond effectively to COVID-19 demands.
FinTech • Credit Services
Citibank/Sears Credit Card Platform
Business Initiative: Citibank and Sears needed to improve the usability and retention of their joint credit card platform, which was experiencing user drop-off and accessibility issues that also threatened corporate compliance. My Role, Team, Timeline: As Freelance Senior Product Design Lead, I led the UX improvements over several months, partnering with product managers, engineers, and compliance stakeholders to align user needs with business and regulatory goals. Design Process: I conducted a UX audit to identify critical pain points in the platform’s workflows, accessibility, and branding. I then designed and tested solutions that improved navigation, clarified key interactions, and aligned the interface with both brand guidelines and accessibility standards. Throughout the project, I collaborated closely with developers to ensure feasible, accessible implementation. Outcome: The redesigned platform improved corporate compliance, resolved critical usability issues, and increased user retention by 20%, delivering a more accessible and trustworthy experience.
E-commerce • Enterprise
Enterprise E-commerce Platform
Business Initiative: The client faced high cart abandonment rates and low user engagement on their large-scale enterprise e-commerce platform, impacting overall revenue and customer retention. My Role and Team: As the lead UX strategist, I collaborated with a cross-functional team of product managers, developers, and analysts over a 12-month period to revamp the user experience. Design Process: I began by conducting a comprehensive analysis of user behavior and pain points during the checkout journey. Through stakeholder workshops and usability testing, we identified key friction points causing users to abandon their carts. I then developed a UX strategy focused on simplifying the checkout flow, improving interface clarity, and enhancing mobile responsiveness. After implementing the redesign, I led post-launch behavioral analysis to measure effectiveness and identify areas for continuous improvement. Outcome: The redesigned platform reduced cart abandonment by 22% and increased overall user engagement by 30%, significantly improving conversion rates and customer satisfaction.
Brand Management • Enterprise
Global Brand Management Portal
Business Initiative: Leo Burnett needed a unified solution to manage brand assets globally and reduce inconsistencies across their creative teams operating in over 50 markets, which were causing diluted brand impact. My Role and Team: As the lead UX designer on a multi-disciplinary team, I worked closely with brand strategists, developers, and regional stakeholders over two years to design and implement a scalable brand management portal. Design Process: Starting with user research and interviews with global creative teams, I mapped existing workflows and identified pain points related to asset management and brand guideline adherence. I designed an intuitive portal that centralized brand assets and incorporated automated checks to enforce consistency. Prototypes were tested with users across multiple markets to ensure usability and cultural relevance. The platform was then iteratively refined post-launch based on feedback and analytics. Outcome: The portal reduced brand inconsistencies by 40% and streamlined workflows for creative teams across 50+ global markets, improving brand cohesion and operational efficiency.
Menu Boards • Digital Tech
Digital Menus
Business Initiative: McDonald’s aimed to modernize their in-restaurant experience by implementing dynamic digital menu boards that would improve order clarity and speed up customer decision-making. My Role and Team: As lead UX designer on a cross-functional team of designers, data analysts, and product managers, I led the design of digital menu boards over a year-long project. Design Process: I collaborated closely with McDonald’s marketing and operations teams to understand customer behaviors and key metrics to highlight on the menu boards. Using data-driven insights, I designed clear, visually engaging digital menus optimized for quick readability and easy navigation. Iterative testing in test locations ensured the designs improved order speed and accuracy. Post-launch analytics helped refine content and layout for maximum impact. Outcome: The new digital menu boards enhanced customer experience by improving order clarity and contributed to faster service times, helping McDonald’s drive operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Credit Card Application • Redesign
Credit Card Application Redesign
Business Initiative: Citibank aimed to streamline and modernize their online credit card application process to reduce application drop-off and improve overall user experience for prospective customers. My Role and Team: As lead UX designer on a cross-functional team of product managers, developers, and compliance specialists, I led the end-to-end design of the credit card application interface over a year-long engagement. Design Process: I started by analyzing user data and feedback to identify friction points in the existing application flow. Through wireframes, prototypes, and usability testing, I simplified form fields, clarified instructions, and enhanced mobile responsiveness. Compliance requirements were carefully integrated without compromising usability. Post-launch, I collaborated with analytics teams to track performance and iterated on design updates based on user behavior and feedback. Outcome: The redesigned online credit card application reduced drop-off rates significantly, improving completion rates and enhancing the overall customer experience.Featured Work Samples
Visual examples of user experience design solutions delivered for leading brands across healthcare, finance, fitness, and cannabis industries
PharmaCann
Interactive Product Locator
Mapbox-powered cannabis product locator with real-time inventory tracking
Life Fitness
Life Fitness Mobile Experience
Fitness tracking and equipment integration mobile interface
Pfizer (via Mavens)
Salesforce Lightning Healthcare Platform
COVID-19 healthcare call center management dashboard
Citibank/Sears
Citibank Credit Card Platform
Enhanced user experience for Sears credit card services
Leo Burnett Worldwide
Global Brand Management System
Worldwide asset management portal for creative teams
Critical Mass
Enterprise E-commerce Platform
Large-scale shopping experience optimization and analytics
About Me
With over 20 years of experience in UX design, I've led design initiatives for Fortune 500 companies and innovative startups, always focusing on creating solutions that delight users and drive business success.
My Approach
I believe great design happens at the intersection of user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility. My process combines rigorous research with creative problem-solving to deliver experiences that are both beautiful and functional.
As a Principal Designer, I not only craft exceptional user experiences but also mentor design teams, establish design systems, and advocate for user-centered thinking across organizations.
Human-Centered
Every design decision starts with understanding user needs and behaviors
Innovation
Pushing boundaries while maintaining usability and accessibility
Results-Driven
Measuring success through user satisfaction and business impact
Collaboration
Building bridges between design, development, and business teams
Skills & Expertise
User Research
Information Architecture
Interaction Design
Prototyping
Usability Testing
Design Systems
Product Strategy
Agile Methodology
Figma
Sketch
Adobe Creative Suite
HTML/CSS
Let's Work Together
I'm always interested in discussing new opportunities, design challenges, or simply connecting with fellow design enthusiasts.
Get In Touch
chicagouxguy@gmail.com
Connect with me professionally
Schedule a Call
Book a 30-minute consultation
Location
Chicago, IL (Remote Friendly)