Sean Keating
Leadership as Mentorship
I believe that the strongest design organizations are built on a foundation of psychological safety and complementary skill sets, not interchangeable parts. Whether leading a global team through a corporate acquisition or guiding students through intensive UX/UI curricula at EdX and ThriveDX bootcamps, leadership is not about a position of authority for me, but rather the opportunity to serve as a force multiplier for others.
I take pride in identifying the unique "puzzle piece" strengths of each designer, helping them move from prescriptive output to strategic outcome. For me, success isn't just a high-fidelity prototype; it’s a designer reaching a new career milestone or a team maintaining resilience through organizational ambiguity.
Making Sausage
I thrive in environments where constraints are the primary creative lever. My expertise lies in architecting systems that bridge legacy technical debt with modern user expectations. From leading zero-new-backend overhauls for institutional financial tools to scaling modular, white-label platforms for global brokerages, I focus on building the internal and partner-facing frameworks that allow products to function at scale.
The Future of the Craft
The design landscape is shifting, and I am currently exploring how AI-augmented workflows and Generative AI can act as strategic partners in the design process. I am a firm believer in the Continuous Learner mindset: actively experimenting with how intelligent agents can accelerate research synthesis and rapid prototyping without losing the essential human-centricity of our work.
Beyond the Screen
When I’m not digging into information architecture or mentoring my team, you will find me caring for the ~45 animals on my small suburban hobby farm, designing and building new outbuildings all by myself, remodelling my basement, cheering on my daughters at their competitive dance conventions, or – should it ever snow again – shredding the gnar in the back bowls of the local ski resorts.
