Tanner Christensen

Tanner Christensen

Product Designer in Greater Chicago Area, He/him

About

I design and build software.

Work Experience

2022 — 2024
Product Designer at Netflix

Started by building innovative, proprietary tools to help internal Netflix teams generate, negotiate, manage, and report on entertainment content. Moved to working on foundational systems design for all the different ways Netflix engages with Netflix consumers.

2022 — 2022
San Francisco, CA

Helping designers and businesses find the best in each other through design interviewing prep, coaching, and community.

2020 — 2022
San Francisco, CA

As the first design hire at Gem, I was tasked with introducing the function of design into the organization. Today I spend time defining and leading the product design process, team, and strategy for Gem. Overseeing design across the entire organization to ensure consistent, measurable design impact.

• Shipped a comprehensive brand refresh of the company in first year.
• Established all design recruiting, processes, and benchmarks for Gem.
• Led production of internal design system.
• Founded and scaled the Gem design team from zero, including UX research.

2018 — 2020
San Francisco, California

Helped lead design for the future of autonomous transportation with Lyft's Level 5. Was responsible for product strategy, defining metrics and objectives, producing interaction and visual designs, high-fidelity prototyping (including 3D environments and tooling), as well as user research.

2018 — 2018
Mountain View, California

Helped lead mobile platform design across all of Atlassian, to build products which propel the future of teamwork anywhere you go.

2014 — 2018
Menlo Park, California

Worked with a diverse, multi-faceted team of designers, strategists, engineers, and researchers to create products that make the world more open and connected.

2011 — 2014
Salt Lake City, Utah

I began working at CLEARLINK as a Content Strategy Director, leading a building team to design and develop world-class content for large national brands.

Projects

2023

Learn what it takes to shine in design interviews.

After more than 20 years in design—including working for companies like Meta, Netflix, Lyft, Atlassian, and more—I wrote this book to help designers everywhere.

With the book, you'll discover strategies to communicate well, tell a compelling story, and ace your next design interview.

No matter who you are, what industry you are in, where you are in the world, how you learn best, or where you are in your career journey, this guide has something for you.

Side Projects

2021

A Mac status bar app for logging daily activities, your responses to them, and analyzing trends.

2018

Center is a plain and elegantly designed meditation timer for your phone. No unnecessary voiceover, music, or lessons. Just you and your mind, the way meditation was meant to be.

2015

Snap a photo, highlight text in it, save and share. Just like that.

2014

The most fun creative brain games for both kids and adults!

What better way to pass the time on-the-go, in the classroom, or at home, than with games that exercise your brain? Brainbean has 8 unique games perfect for ages 10 to 110. Puzzles, memory games, drawing challenges, and other educational games

2013

One of the #1 creative app for all writers. Open to write and follow the prompt suggestions, it's that easy.

Speaking

2020
San Francisco, United States

Instinct plays a major part in any creative endeavor, but what about preparation and luck? Whether you’re a photographer looking to capture the perfect moment, an artist hoping to encapsulate a fleeting feeling, or a designer working to recognize a powerful opportunity, it’s always a juggling act.

Writing

2021

What does a modern interview process look like for digital designers? Design leaders building their design team, and individual designers looking to join one, can get incredible value from knowing what a typical interview process looks like today.

2021

How do you know what design's impact is on the product you're building? Even if you could measure design, how do you identify what parts of the product experience are worth measuring in the first place?

2021

What does a modern interview process look like for digital designers? Design leaders building their design team, and individual designers looking to join one, can get incredible value from knowing what a typical interview process looks like today.

2020

"If you want to be a better contributor to the human condition, you have to understand that the most powerful thing you can be is yourself." — James Victore

2019

The answer is often: to an entirely different role.

This is an unfortunate reality playing out in product companies today, where after a few years those in IC—or “individual contributor”—roles find themselves seemingly stuck.

Contact

GitHub