Hello. I'm Brian Freeman​
A design leader with over 20 years of experience in digital design.​
A little bit about me
I’m a design leader with over 20 years of experience driving innovation in the financial services marketplace industry. Throughout my career—including key roles at Bankrate/Red Ventures and Forbes—I’ve built and led high-performing, multidisciplinary teams that bridge Product, Engineering, and Content to create exceptional user experiences.
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My strength lies in balancing business strategy with design excellence. I collaborate closely with stakeholders to align design with company objectives while ensuring a seamless, user-centric approach. By fostering a culture of creativity and growth, I empower teams to deliver impactful, innovative solutions that drive both engagement and business success.
What makes teams successful
In my many years in the design field, what I have found is that leaders each have their own style and definition of leadership. Mine is built off of trust, respect, compassion, transparency, radical candor, and a few other "secret ingredients". My methods have been highly successful and have built many successful teams and leaders.
Leadership
I have a proven track record of building and maintaining successful design teams. Through mentorship and fostering a high level of morale, my current teams are all top performers. There are no "soft" skills when it comes to building a team. All skills are important and contribute equally.
Tools
Being a hands-on leader, I'm always researching innovative and current tools to bring to my team to elevate the process and output.
My current tools of choice are:
Figma / FigJam
Sketch / InVision
Adobe Creative Suite
Principal / Axure
Strategy
Whether I get the team together to facilitate a 3 day co-creation, persona workshop, discuss a user testing plan with research, or simply a brainstorming session, this is the area that truly excites me! Any time I can get Product, Research, Engineering and Content together is a good day.
Here is where I've spent some time having a blast!
2024-Current
Forbes Marketplace
Director Product Design
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Led and scaled high-performing, multi-disciplinary design teams of designers, content creators, and UX researchers, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovations, and user-centered design.
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Balanced strategic leadership with hands-on design contributions, ensuring involvement in key projects.
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Spearheaded a rebranding initiative, driving an 8-12% increase in CTL during early testing, positioning the brand for long-term growth.
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Increased on-site conversion rates by over 23% while simultaneously reducing abandonment rates.
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Increased user retention by 25% through strategic UX enhancements and iterative design improvements.
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Reduced time-to-market by upwards of 40% through the implementation of efficient design processes and collaboration frameworks.
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Owned branding and execution across major media outlets, including CNN, USA Today, and Time (Forbes family of partners).
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Implemented streamlined workflows that strengthened collaboration with business leaders and cross-functional teams (product, marketing, and strategy) to enhance alignment and project execution.
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Played a key role in improving team alignment, morale, and the delivery of impactful design solutions directly supporting business objectives.
2018-2024
Red Ventures
Director Product Design
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Built and led cross-functional design teams, including UX designers, content strategists, and researchers, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration.
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Scaled design operations to enhance user-centered experiences, ensuring alignment with business goals and product strategy.
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Provided strategic and hands-on leadership, driving design excellence and fostering collaboration.
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Influenced teams and initiatives across Bankrate, CNet, American Express, Sage Mortgage, Wells Fargo, and AI-focused teams.
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Utilized Jira for project management, ensuring streamlined workflows and efficient tracking.
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Proficient in Figma as the primary design tool, with expertise in developing and maintaining design systems.
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Played a key role in shaping product strategy through close collaboration with product, engineering, and senior leadership teams.
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Delivered innovative, user-centered solutions that aligned with business goals.
2007 - 2018
Bankrate.com
Senior UX Designer / Manager
I was lead designer of a small team that supported a 5,000+ page website and 1Mil+ daily users. Focusing on financial service products and marketing. Bankrate was acquired by Red Ventures and my role and responsibility grew and is reflected in the experience above.
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Served as a key individual contributor, leading design sprints and mentoring junior to mid-level talent.
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Facilitated brainstorming sessions, strategic discussions, and alignment meetings with product and engineering teams to drive innovative design solutions.
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Ensured smooth cross-functional collaboration, fostering a positive and high-performing team environment.
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Committed to nurturing team growth while delivering impactful, user-centered products.
Here's what you came here to see
Want to know more about me?
Just in case you weren't able to get a full grasp on my work, or have any further questions at all... Please reach out to me, and I'd love to spend some time getting to know you a bit more.
Tel: 561-542-5839