Digital Product Design Leader

I craft consumer-grade experiences for enterprise software.

Design leader with 20+ years shaping products at Adobe, Microsoft, and IBM. I transform complex business problems into elegant, human-centered solutions.

Chris Bernard
20+ Years
Enterprise UX
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Adobe Microsoft IBM CDK Global Truth Labs Design Systems Adobe Microsoft IBM CDK Global Truth Labs Design Systems

Expertise that delivers results

01

Product Design

End-to-end product design for complex enterprise applications. From research and strategy through detailed UI design and developer handoff.

  • UX Strategy
  • UI Design
  • Prototyping
03

Design Leadership

Building and mentoring high-performing design teams. Establishing design culture, processes, and systems that scale with your organization.

  • Team Building
  • Mentorship
  • Culture
Chris Bernard

Designing the future of enterprise software

I'm a design leader currently at Adobe in the Experience Cloud team focused on Customer Journey Management. My career has integrated storytelling, business, design, and technology, beginning as a motion and graphic designer in film and video.

At IBM, I established my creative leadership in web design and customer experience strategy, serving as one of the founding creative directors in IBM's Chicago studio. At Microsoft, I built the design ecosystem for Expression Studio Suite, helping customers ship products with emerging technology. At Truth Labs, I led this Chicago-based design studio, doubling revenues. At CDK Global, I served as head of design, elevating design's impact at the executive level.

I hold a Master of Science in Communication from Illinois Institute of Technology and a Master of Design Methods from the Institute of Design, where I later taught as an adjunct professor.

20+ Years Experience
5 Companies
50+ Products Shipped

A career at the intersection of design & technology

My career has been shaped by a single driving question: how do we create digital experiences that truly serve people? This journey has taken me from the precision of frame-by-frame storytelling to the high-stakes energy of live production, and eventually into Fortune 500 boardrooms—always at the intersection of storytelling, business, design, and technology.

The Beginning

Film & Motion Design

I began my career as a motion and graphic designer in film and video production. This foundation in visual storytelling taught me that design isn't just about aesthetics—it's about communicating ideas and evoking emotions. Those early lessons in narrative structure and visual communication continue to inform my approach to digital product design today.

IBM

Founding Creative Director

At IBM, I established my creative leadership in web design and customer experience strategy. As one of the founding creative directors in IBM's Chicago studio, I helped build a design practice from the ground up—defining processes, mentoring talent, and delivering enterprise solutions at scale. This experience taught me how to navigate complex organizational structures while maintaining creative excellence.

Education

Institute of Design & IIT

I hold a Master of Science in Communication from Illinois Institute of Technology and a Master of Design Methods from the Institute of Design (ID). ID's rigorous approach to human-centered design and systems thinking fundamentally shaped my practice. I later returned as an adjunct professor, teaching the next generation of designers how to tackle complex problems through structured innovation methods.

Microsoft

Expression Studio Suite

Ready to apply my skills as a systems thinker and design advocate, I joined Microsoft to work on Expression Studio Suite, a competitor to Adobe Creative Suite tailored for UX designers. I built the design ecosystem for the UX community and helped Microsoft customers ship products using Microsoft's emerging technology and design platforms. This role provided valuable experience in business development, collaborating with Silicon Valley startups and companies across consumer and enterprise domains. It further honed my storytelling skills, creating presentations and events for organizations including SXSW, IxDA, SCAD, SAIC, Kellogg, HBR, TedX, and Service Design Week.

Truth Labs

Design Studio Leadership

As the leader of Truth Labs' Chicago design studio, I took on the challenge of running a design consultancy—balancing creative vision with business realities. Under my leadership, we doubled revenues while maintaining the quality and craft that defined the studio's reputation. Working across diverse clients and industries expanded my ability to adapt design thinking to any context.

CDK Global

Head of Design

As Head of Design at CDK Global, I elevated design's impact at the executive level. Working within a complex enterprise environment serving the automotive industry, I built design systems, established research practices, and championed user-centered approaches in a traditionally technology-driven organization. This role reinforced my belief that design leadership is as much about organizational change as it is about craft.

Adobe

Experience Cloud — Customer Journey Management

Currently at Adobe, I'm focused on Customer Journey Management within the Experience Cloud. This role brings together everything I've learned about enterprise software, design systems, and user experience at scale. As AI transforms our industry, I'm deeply engaged in exploring how these technologies will reshape both the tools we build and the practice of design itself.

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Exploring the future of design & AI

I'm passionate about how AI and emerging technologies are reshaping the UX profession. If you're a fellow design leader navigating this transformation, or simply want to exchange ideas on the evolving landscape of digital product design, I'd love to connect.

chris.bernard@hey.com

Chicago, IL, USA