Luke James
Product Designer
Product Designer
Hey, I'm Luke - a Lead Product Designer, Teacher, and dark mode enthusiast, with a passion for creating beautiful and intuitive experiences that people enjoy using. I'm an end to end product designer who believes that great design is not just about aesthetics, but about solving problems and making people's lives easier.
About me…
Hey! 👋 I'm Luke a Lead Product Designer@Wordsmith AI
Here's a little bit more about me:
BSc in in Business Information Systems, graduating with First Class Honours
Originally from Ireland, I'm currently working remotely in the UK, based out of Edinburgh
Experienced IC leader and mentor, I'm a hands-on end to end product designer who loves all facets of design, and being involved in all stages of product lifecycle.
Over 8 years experience designing for a huge companies from start-ups, to scale-ups and large scale MNCs and SaaS products, across a broad spectrum of sectors including Sports, FinTech, EdTech, Web3, eCommerce, and currently AI.
Pivot
Hosted by Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway
Pivot
Hosted by Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway
Radical Candor
Written by Kim Scott
Radical Candor
Written by Kim Scott
End-to-end Design
Taking products from 0-1 and leading all aspects of the product design lifecycle.
End-to-end Design
Taking products from 0-1 and leading all aspects of the product design lifecycle.
Industry dispruption
Legal AI for in-house teams
Designing for the future of the legal tech industry leveraging AI
Leading design for Wordsmith, a secure GPT built for lawyers, built to streamline legal workflows, perform AI powered first pass contract reviews, and create dynamic knowledgebases to enabling businesses to field questions directly within Slack, email, or web. I've also been responsible for managing the company's online presence, both designing and building the marketing site.
Industry dispruption
Legal AI for in-house teams
Designing for the future of the legal tech industry leveraging AI
Leading design for Wordsmith, a secure GPT built for lawyers, built to streamline legal workflows, perform AI powered first pass contract reviews, and create dynamic knowledgebases to enabling businesses to field questions directly within Slack, email, or web. I've also been responsible for managing the company's online presence, both designing and building the marketing site.
Lead Designer
Responsive Web
UX
UI
B2B
SAAS
AI
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First pass reviews
Review NDAs, DPAs, and Vendor Agreements in seconds
Case study coming soon
Translate entire docs
Translate to any language you need
Auto fix numbering in MS Word
Quickly and easily readjust numbering in any Word doc
Redact personal information
Quick and easy document redaction
Summarize
Summarize email threads, documents, and agreements
Compare docs
Compare any two agreements
First pass reviews
Review NDAs, DPAs, and Vendor Agreements in seconds
Case study coming soon
Translate entire docs
Translate to any language you need
Auto fix numbering in MS Word
Quickly and easily readjust numbering in any Word doc
Redact personal information
Quick and easy document redaction
Summarize
Summarize email threads, documents, and agreements
Compare docs
Compare any two agreements
First pass reviews
Review NDAs, DPAs, and Vendor Agreements in seconds
See all tools
Crafting the #1 sports betting app in the US
FanDuel Sportsbook
Fully native sportsbook application built from the ground up to cater for an emerging market in the US
For 2 years I spearheaded design on a cross functional team responsible for the online experience, and subsequent major upgrade of FanDuel’s Sportsbook app, directly contributing to solidifying its position as the #1 Sportsbook in America, capturing over 50% market share and achieving an iOS App Store score of 4.9 with over 1.6 million reviews. Scaled the product’s operational presence from 2 to over 23 states
Crafting the #1 sports betting app in the US
FanDuel Sportsbook
Fully native sportsbook application built from the ground up to cater for an emerging market in the US
For 2 years I spearheaded design on a cross functional team responsible for the online experience, and subsequent major upgrade of FanDuel’s Sportsbook app, directly contributing to solidifying its position as the #1 Sportsbook in America, capturing over 50% market share and achieving an iOS App Store score of 4.9 with over 1.6 million reviews. Scaled the product’s operational presence from 2 to over 23 states
Senior Designer
Responsive Web
iOS
Android
B2C
Leadership
Stakeholder management
Strategic thinking
Storytelling
The #1 Sportsbook in America
Over 1.9 million reviews on iOS and Android
4.9 - 1.6M Ratings
Improved app store rating
App store reviews rose from 4.6 to 4.9 within 3 months of launch
Increase in handle and user satisfaction
Following its release, the new app saw significant growth in transactions and csat scores
Increased coverage
App improvements and localisation meant FanDuel were able to expand offering to 18 new states post launch
Strategy & Vision
Bridging business strategy and design through cross-functional collaboration and thoughtful execution
Strategy & Vision
Bridging business strategy and design through cross-functional collaboration and thoughtful execution
Navigation overhaul for industry leading UX Research platform
UserTesting Global Navigation
Reimagining and driving a platform wide overhaul of information architecture
This project was undertaken to improve the UX of the company's product, which had become increasingly hard to navigate and disjointed due to a rapidly growing feature set and user base. I was responsible for leading the feature from insight gathering through to defining the customer problem, mentoring designers, high fidelity design, delivery, measurement and optimisation all while keeping stakeholders informed and aligned along the way.
Navigation overhaul
UserTesting Global Navigation
Reimagining and driving a platform wide overhaul of information architecture
This project was undertaken to improve the UX of the company's product, which had become increasingly hard to navigate and disjointed due to a rapidly growing feature set and user base. I was responsible for leading the feature from insight gathering through to defining the customer problem, mentoring designers, high fidelity design, delivery, measurement and optimisation all while keeping stakeholders informed and aligned along the way.
Senior Designer
Responsive Web
B2B
B2C
Leadership
Stakeholder management
Strategic thinking
Storytelling
The world's first fully licensed web3 sports exchange
BetDEX Exchange
A pioneering decentralised, fully licensed, P2P sports betting exchange, which leverages the Solana blockchain to reduce fees and counterparty risks.
As one of the founding designer at BetDEX, I had the unique opportunity to spearhead the design of the world’s first fully licensed, decentralised betting exchange. My role was comprehensive, covering every facet of the design process from defining the product strategy, establishing research and testing methodologies, and delivering high-fidelity design outputs.
The world's first fully licensed web3 sports exchange
BetDEX Exchange
A pioneering decentralised, fully licensed, P2P sports betting exchange, which leverages the Solana blockchain to reduce fees and counterparty risks.
As one of the founding designer at BetDEX, I had the unique opportunity to spearhead the design of the world’s first fully licensed, decentralised betting exchange. My role was comprehensive, covering every facet of the design process from defining the product strategy, establishing research and testing methodologies, and delivering high-fidelity design outputs.
Principal Designer
Responsive Web
B2C
Web3
Leadership
Stakeholder management
Strategic thinking
Storytelling
Scaling trade volume
Since leaving beta, BetDEX has successfully scaled to handling over 8.5m trades on the exchange
Consistent stake and handle growth
~$500k in avg. monthly handle, with an increasing weekly avg. customer stake of $1k
Product offering growth
Since launch, BetDEX now fully licensed and caters to users in 100+ countries
Mentoring & Leadership
Empowering designers to grow through guidance, collaboration, and creative leadership
Mentoring & Leadership
Empowering designers to grow through guidance, collaboration, and creative leadership
Mentoring the next generation of Product Designers
Memorisely
Mentoring and coaching 300+ students through live weekly classes, 1:1 coaching and on demand content
For the last 4 years, I’ve been a proud teacher and mentor to over 300+ students at one of the most popular design bootcamps Memorisely. I have thoroughly enjoyed giving back to the design community by teaching live weekly classes, 1:1 coaching and creating on demand content for their socials.
Mentoring
Memorisely
Mentoring and coaching 300+ students through live weekly classes, 1:1 coaching and on demand content
For the last 4 years, I’ve been a proud teacher and mentor to over 300+ students at one of the most popular design bootcamps Memorisely. I have thoroughly enjoyed giving back to the design community by teaching live weekly classes, 1:1 coaching and creating on demand content for their socials.
Industry leader
UX/UI Design
Mentorship
Live classes
Network of 15k designers on Slack
Design Systems
Meticulously crafted UX/UI design curriculum
I have crafted and taught several design fundamental courses at Memorisely, including UX/UI Fundamentals, Design Systems, and Advanced UI Design. Each course consists of a cohort of 20+ students, and durations of 5-15 weeks comprised of 2 live weekly classes, and async feedback sessions.
Facilitating live 90+ min sessions twice a week
Weekly 1:1 feedback coaching sessions with students
Taught 300+ students over 4 years
On demand content for Instagram and video platform
Organised and hosted design meetups across the UK
Meticulously crafted UX/UI design curriculum
I have crafted and taught several design fundamental courses at Memorisely, including UX/UI Fundamentals, Design Systems, and Advanced UI Design. Each course consists of a cohort of 20+ students, and durations of 5-15 weeks comprised of 2 live weekly classes, and async feedback sessions.
Facilitating live 90+ min sessions twice a week
Twice a week, I facilitate live design sessions with 20+ students. Honing my presentation skills, giving feedback and ensuring equal student participation. At the core of these classes my top priority is to create a fun and engaging environment, so that students enjoy learning and graduate from Memorisely equipped with all the basic design fundamentals.
Weekly 1:1 feedback coaching sessions with students
An essential part of the bootcamps is giving students feedback both live in class and async throughout the weeks. Here I typically drill into and critique their design decisions, give constructive feedback, and help educate them on industry best practice and elevate their UX/UI craft.
Luke O’Sullivan
10 mins ago
Great start John, what could help is following the 4px rule in your spacing...
John Thomson
10 mins ago
Thanks Luke, I’ll follow that spacing system and check color styles
Luke O’Sullivan
10 mins ago
Perfect, really great work on these designs! Let me know if I can help with anything else
John Thomson
is typing...
Thanks Luke, I’ll follow that spacing system and check color styles
Taught 300+ students over 4 years
During my time at Memorisely, I have proudly taught 300+ and counting students from across the globe, trusted by industry leading teams such as Google, Figma, Revolut, and Shopify.
Design team sync
Logged: 10hrs
🎨 Competitor analysis
10am - 11am
🌯 Lunch
1pm - 2pm
On demand content for Instagram and video platform
I’m a core contributor to the Memorisely socials and platform. Having created 100's of videos teaching design and sharing resources achieving 1,000,000+ views over the past several years.
Organised and hosted design meetups across the UK
Hosted design meetups helping foster a strong network and community of designers across the UK and increased exposure of open roles that were being hired at the companies I worked for.
Meticulously crafted UX/UI design curriculum
I have crafted and taught several design fundamental courses at Memorisely, including UX/UI Fundamentals, Design Systems, and Advanced UI Design. Each course consists of a cohort of 20+ students, and durations of 5-15 weeks comprised of 2 live weekly classes, and async feedback sessions.
Facilitating live 90+ min sessions twice a week
Twice a week, I facilitate live design sessions with 20+ students. Honing my presentation skills, giving feedback and ensuring equal student participation. At the core of these classes my top priority is to create a fun and engaging environment, so that students enjoy learning and graduate from Memorisely equipped with all the basic design fundamentals.
Weekly 1:1 feedback coaching sessions with students
An essential part of the bootcamps is giving students feedback both live in class and async throughout the weeks. Here I typically drill into and critique their design decisions, give constructive feedback, and help educate them on industry best practice and elevate their UX/UI craft.
Luke O’Sullivan
10 mins ago
Great start John, what could help is following the 4px rule in your spacing...
John Thomson
10 mins ago
Thanks Luke, I’ll follow that spacing system and check color styles
Luke O’Sullivan
10 mins ago
Perfect, really great work on these designs! Let me know if I can help with anything else
John Thomson
is typing...
Thanks Luke, I’ll follow that spacing system and check color styles
Taught 300+ students over 4 years
During my time at Memorisely, I have proudly taught 300+ and counting students from across the globe, trusted by industry leading teams such as Google, Figma, Revolut, and Shopify.
Design team sync
Logged: 10hrs
🎨 Competitor analysis
10am - 11am
🌯 Lunch
1pm - 2pm
On demand content for Instagram and video platform
I’m a core contributor to the Memorisely socials and platform. Having created 100's of videos teaching design and sharing resources achieving 1,000,000+ views over the past several years.
Organised and hosted design meetups across the UK
Hosted design meetups helping foster a strong network and community of designers across the UK and increased exposure of open roles that were being hired at the companies I worked for.
Design Systems
Creating seamless user experiences through cohesive visual languages for world leading companies
Design Systems
Creating seamless user experiences through cohesive visual languages for world leading companies
DUX Design System
The DUX design system was established to help BetDEX and other products on the Monaco Protocol scale quickly via an easily accessible design system.
Toolkit Design System
A complete rebuild of UserTesting’s existing Design System from the ground up to create a more unified product experience for a scaling design team.
Pod Design System
Nespresso's native apps design system, reworked to support a cohesive suite of new iOS and Android apps
Case study coming soon
Leadersip
Design values
Below are some of the design values that I live by and always consider in my day to day work.
Leadersip
Design values
Below are some of the design values that I live by and always consider in my day to day work.
Design QA > Update spacing
Upholding design quality
Integrity
Building pragmatic design roadmaps
Efficiency
Data driven design decisions
Results
Always curious about latest design trends
Self starter
Sketching workshop: XXX
Weekly 1:1 design feedback sessions
Deep dive mentor sessions
Elevating other designers through mentorship
Mentorship
Feedback
Colleague testimonials
Here is some of my most recent feedback from colleagues
Feedback
Colleague testimonials
Here is some of my most recent feedback from colleagues
Oriol Valenti
Senior Product Designer @Nespresso
Working with Luke has been such a great experience. He has managed to effectively streamline a Design system for mobile apps while contributing to create a solid design foundation for all the upcoming products. His pragmatism and orientation towards solutions makes him a key player on any team looking to level up the design bar.
Oriol Valenti
Senior Product Designer @Nespresso
Working with Luke has been such a great experience. He has managed to effectively streamline a Design system for mobile apps while contributing to create a solid design foundation for all the upcoming products. His pragmatism and orientation towards solutions makes him a key player on any team looking to level up the design bar.
Oriol Valenti
Senior Product Designer @Nespresso
Working with Luke has been such a great experience. He has managed to effectively streamline a Design system for mobile apps while contributing to create a solid design foundation for all the upcoming products. His pragmatism and orientation towards solutions makes him a key player on any team looking to level up the design bar.
James Rice
Lead Product Designer @Quorum Cyber
I highly recommend Luke for any product design role. During our time working together, I had the opportunity to witness Luke's impressive skills firsthand from comprehensive user research through to pixel perfect UI design.
James Rice
Lead Product Designer @Quorum Cyber
I highly recommend Luke for any product design role. During our time working together, I had the opportunity to witness Luke's impressive skills firsthand from comprehensive user research through to pixel perfect UI design.
James Rice
Lead Product Designer @Quorum Cyber
I highly recommend Luke for any product design role. During our time working together, I had the opportunity to witness Luke's impressive skills firsthand from comprehensive user research through to pixel perfect UI design.
John Thomson
Engineering Lead @BetDEX Labs
I can honestly say I've never worked with a better designer. Luke is a master of creating and documenting design systems that translate effortlessly into current coding best practices that I promise you will speed up development in your team. His Figma work is a joy to look at for developers.
John Thomson
Engineering Lead @BetDEX Labs
I can honestly say I've never worked with a better designer. Luke is a master of creating and documenting design systems that translate effortlessly into current coding best practices that I promise you will speed up development in your team. His Figma work is a joy to look at for developers.
John Thomson
Engineering Lead @BetDEX Labs
I can honestly say I've never worked with a better designer. Luke is a master of creating and documenting design systems that translate effortlessly into current coding best practices that I promise you will speed up development in your team. His Figma work is a joy to look at for developers.
Daniel Bathurst
Product Lead @Nscale
I've seen many designers in my career, but Luke stands in a league of his own. He tackled complex UX issues new to us and the betting industry. Luke's blend of creativity, technical prowess, and an uncanny knack for user-centric design makes him an invaluable asset to any forward-thinking team.
Daniel Bathurst
Product Lead @Nscale
I've seen many designers in my career, but Luke stands in a league of his own. He tackled complex UX issues new to us and the betting industry. Luke's blend of creativity, technical prowess, and an uncanny knack for user-centric design makes him an invaluable asset to any forward-thinking team.
Daniel Bathurst
Product Lead @Nscale
I've seen many designers in my career, but Luke stands in a league of his own. He tackled complex UX issues new to us and the betting industry. Luke's blend of creativity, technical prowess, and an uncanny knack for user-centric design makes him an invaluable asset to any forward-thinking team.
Will Loveland
Product Designer @Caesar's
Luke has an amazing talent for turning complex ideas into visually stunning and user-friendly designs. He really knows his stuff when it comes to user experience principles, and his designs always go above and beyond expectations.
Will Loveland
Product Designer @Caesar's
Luke has an amazing talent for turning complex ideas into visually stunning and user-friendly designs. He really knows his stuff when it comes to user experience principles, and his designs always go above and beyond expectations.
Will Loveland
Product Designer @Caesar's
Luke has an amazing talent for turning complex ideas into visually stunning and user-friendly designs. He really knows his stuff when it comes to user experience principles, and his designs always go above and beyond expectations.
José Santos
Global Product Design Lead @Nespresso
Luke was our exceptional Design System Designer at Nespresso. He played a pivotal role in transforming our design ecosystem, showcasing an outstanding ability to reorganise our entire system with unparalleled expertise. His dedication to excellence and attention to detail were evident in every aspect of the design system. Luke's commitment to innovation and his forward-thinking approach make him an invaluable asset to any team. His ability to seamlessly blend creativity with practicality sets him apart, making him a driving force behind the success of our design initiatives.
José Santos
Global Product Design Lead @Nespresso
Luke was our exceptional Design System Designer at Nespresso. He played a pivotal role in transforming our design ecosystem, showcasing an outstanding ability to reorganise our entire system with unparalleled expertise. His dedication to excellence and attention to detail were evident in every aspect of the design system. Luke's commitment to innovation and his forward-thinking approach make him an invaluable asset to any team. His ability to seamlessly blend creativity with practicality sets him apart, making him a driving force behind the success of our design initiatives.
José Santos
Global Product Design Lead @Nespresso
Luke was our exceptional Design System Designer at Nespresso. He played a pivotal role in transforming our design ecosystem, showcasing an outstanding ability to reorganise our entire system with unparalleled expertise. His dedication to excellence and attention to detail were evident in every aspect of the design system. Luke's commitment to innovation and his forward-thinking approach make him an invaluable asset to any team. His ability to seamlessly blend creativity with practicality sets him apart, making him a driving force behind the success of our design initiatives.
Zander Whitehurst
Founder & CEO @Memorisely
I highly recommend Luke O'Sullivan as a Product Designer. Luke is a brilliant designer who excels in collaborative team environments. He possesses both exceptional technical skills and a remarkable ability to connect with others. Luke's designs are not only visually appealing but also highly functional, reflecting his deep understanding of user-centered design principles. His attention to detail and creativity consistently exceed expectations.
Zander Whitehurst
Founder & CEO @Memorisely
I highly recommend Luke O'Sullivan as a Product Designer. Luke is a brilliant designer who excels in collaborative team environments. He possesses both exceptional technical skills and a remarkable ability to connect with others. Luke's designs are not only visually appealing but also highly functional, reflecting his deep understanding of user-centered design principles. His attention to detail and creativity consistently exceed expectations.
Zander Whitehurst
Founder & CEO @Memorisely
I highly recommend Luke O'Sullivan as a Product Designer. Luke is a brilliant designer who excels in collaborative team environments. He possesses both exceptional technical skills and a remarkable ability to connect with others. Luke's designs are not only visually appealing but also highly functional, reflecting his deep understanding of user-centered design principles. His attention to detail and creativity consistently exceed expectations.