Russell Beaver · Product Design & Design Systems Leader | Enterprise Platforms
I make complicated
things make sense.
I lead design across enterprise platforms, design systems, and digital experiences. I bring Design, Product, and Engineering together to create clearer priorities, shared foundations, and better ways to deliver.
My work connects the big picture to the details: helping teams agree on what matters, building the systems that support them, and staying close to the experience people actually use.
SELECTED IMPACT · ALIGHT
36M+ users
The reach of the Worklife platform supported by our design infrastructure.
~40% less rework
Shared governance and intake helped teams agree on requirements and fidelity earlier.
~35% capacity reclaimed
A system-driven delivery model helped teams spend less time duplicating effort.
SELECTED EXPERIENCE
JAN 2026 – present
Russell Beaver Studio
Design Director
The design industry is changing. Instead of sitting on the sidelines, I started Russell Beaver Studio. I work directly with business owners to bring clarity to their brands, websites, and digital experiences.
OCT 2020 – JAN 2026
Alight Solutions
Product Design Lead
Led the Worklife Design System across web and mobile. Brought designers, developers, accessibility specialists, and content strategists together around component architecture, governance, and a shared roadmap.
Established structured intake and review rituals so teams could clarify requirements before work reached the backlog. Supported 35+ designers, 6+ product managers, 10+ local developers, and hundreds of remote developers.
Built Slack workflows and used LLM assistance to develop a Python inventory comparison, surfacing potential component drift for human review.
Building the team
At Alight, I built and led the design systems team: hired 3 designers and 3 freelancers, managed 9 direct reports at peak, and helped promote 4 of them. My job was to give designers, product managers, and engineers a shared way of working so quality didn’t depend on who was in the room.
One designer joined my team midway through a career switch from project management. With steady feedback and work that stretched them, they grew into a confident product designer and earned a promotion.
"Russell also led the design system team to operate in true agile fashion, with consistent two-week release cycles, a process that few teams managed to achieve at scale within the organization."
Ji-Sook Yim
Product Design Lead, Alight Solutions
"Russell had my back from day 1… His feedback was awesome because it held a consistent narrative and also pushed me to try things I wasn’t sure I could pull off."
Jimmy Barrett
Product Designer, Alight Solutions
SEP 2017 – JUN 2020
Aisle Rocket
Associate Creative Director, Digital
Directed digital brand experiences for Maytag, Whirlpool, and Amana. Led creative reviews and client presentations, working with designers, developers, and copywriters from concept through delivery.
Guided Maytag’s laundry and kitchen web catalog and organic content redesign using reusable templates and content patterns. Built a 7.5-foot-tall touchscreen game and educational tool for the World of Whirlpool showroom, and mentored two junior designers.
Maytag brand experience ↗
Organize It touchscreen experience ↗
NOV 2010 – SEP 2017
Independent
Freelance Design Consultant
Created brand identity systems and digital experiences for Animal Planet, Amgen, MillerCoors, and SC Johnson. Worked across consumer campaigns and enterprise B2B platforms, with component libraries and documentation to support consistent implementation.
HOW I LEAD
Clear direction. Shared responsibility.
Bring people together
I help Design, Product, and Engineering agree on priorities, scope, and what good looks like. Clear expectations give people room to contribute and make decisions.
Build for independence
I build shared components, guidance, and review processes that teams can use without waiting for the system team to answer every question. Accessibility belongs in that foundation.
Stay close to the work
I stay involved in reviews and implementation so I can understand the tradeoffs, coach the team, and help resolve the details that affect the experience.
EDUCATION & CONTINUING LEARNING
BFA, Graphic Design
Kendall College of Art & Design
Professional Scrum Product Owner I (PSPO I) Scrum.org · 2023
Conversational Design for AI
Interaction Design Foundation · 2024
I love collaborating,
so go on. Reach out.
CONTACT
FOLLOW
RESUME
available upon request
FOUNDER WORK
© 2026 Russell Beaver. All rights reserved.