Aaron Tate
Director of User Experience Design & Research
Summary
UX executive with 20+ years building design and research organizations that shape product strategy and business outcomes. Joined CHG Healthcare as the first UX hire and scaled the function to 21 people on a $3.25M budget, advancing maturity from Level 1 to Level 5 (NN/g). Architected an enterprise design system projected to deliver $19M in annual velocity value. Currently authoring an AI-forward squad model and Experience Architect role rolling out across the digital marketing organization.
Work Experience
CHG Healthcare
Director, User Experience and Research
- Authored the Experience Architect role and AISquad operating model: one Experience Architect, one product manager, one to two engineers. Piloted in fall 2025, currently rolling out across the digital marketing organization.
- Designed and led a year-long internal AI curriculum for 20 designers and researchers covering AI fluency, designing for AI, and ongoing foresight practice.
- Built and led a 21-person user experience design and research organization on a $3.25M annual budget, spanning seven major product initiatives across a healthcare staffing platform.
- Architected an enterprise design system projected to deliver $19M in annual velocity value, reducing engineering front-end build time from 30% to 4–6% of capacity. Currently at 40% portfolio adoption, on track to 100% by 2027.
- Advanced CHG's UX maturity from Level 1 to Level 5 on the Nielsen Norman Group scale through structured discovery, a product triad operating model, and research-informed roadmap planning.
- Championed a shift to native mobile applications for the provider audience after user research exposed critical behavior gaps. Mobile now exceeds web on engagement, contributing 3–5% to days booked at NPS 88.
- Reunified design and research under a single leadership structure to support AI-integrated product work, with new behavior-specification capability built into the operating model.
- Established UX as a strategic partner at the C-suite level, presenting directly to the CDO, Chief Growth Officer, and VP of Product.
- Primary cross-functional facilitator running design thinking workshops and roadmap validation sessions that align product, engineering, and executive stakeholders around user-centered outcomes.
- Owned full departmental P&L: headcount, tooling, talent development, and annual planning with finance leadership.
CHG Healthcare
Senior Manager / User Experience Manager, UX & Research
- Joined as CHG's first UX hire, transitioning the first digital product from agency to in-house and building the UX function from scratch.
- Grew the team from 1 to 8 designers, built the case for UX Research as a distinct practice, and expanded to a combined team of 8 designers and 4 researchers.
- Co-created a UX discovery playbook standardizing research methodology across all product teams; established shared design standards that became the foundation of the enterprise design system.
EdSurge
Lead Product Designer
- Led UX strategy, rebranding, and full platform redesign for a venture-backed edtech startup; developed brand identity systems for subsidiary products.
YouNoodle
Lead User Experience Designer
- Led platform rebranding and UX strategy across the product suite; translated user needs into organizational product strategy.
FindFred
Co-Founder & Lead Designer
- Co-founded a social matching startup; led UX design, brand identity, social media strategy, and national marketing campaigns across print and digital channels.
Education
West Virginia University
Bachelor of Science, Graphic Design
Thought Leadership
After the Interface — essay series on system governance, trust design, and the evolution of UX practice in the AI era. Published at tateux.com.
Core Competencies
UX Organization Design & ScalingExecutive Stakeholder ManagementBudget & P&L ManagementTalent Development & MentorshipDesignOpsResearch OpsOrganizational Change ManagementService DesignOKR & KPI AlignmentDesign Systems ArchitectureDesign System GovernanceAI-Integrated Product DevelopmentGenAI Product StrategyLLM-Integrated UXResearch Strategy & RoadmappingMixed-Methods ResearchContinuous DiscoveryGenerative & Evaluative ResearchStrategic ForesightResearch Repository StrategyConversational & Agentic UXBehavior SpecificationUX Maturity DevelopmentProduct Triad Operating ModelWorkshop FacilitationVoice of Customer (VoC)Cross-functional LeadershipFigma & FigJam