My name is Brendan Bolton-Klinger. I practice and teach User Experience.
Over the past two decades, I’ve built my skills at some of the world’s most innovative agencies, working with some of the most admired brands in the world. My personal client list includes: Amazon, Massmutual, UnitedHealthcare, LegalZoom, ABCmouse, Volvo, Saab, Lexus, Target, Reuters, Weightwatchers, Temperpedic, Samsung, National Geographic, and Simons Foundation.
I also enjoy sharing this knowledge with others through teaching, which I’ve done at Pratt, School of Visual Arts, UCLA, General Assembly, and Udemy.
Along my journey, I’ve also been part of several funded start-ups. This has been very exciting and has developed my love of helping companies go through transformational growth, which has been my recent career focus, and has included the following:
I worked directly with the CEO of Haven, to define and create the first iteration of their product, which was the first-ever digital life insurance offered nationwide and was acquired by MassMutual.
I helped ABCmouse, a sleeping giant in the online educational space, establish their UX practice, expand their product verticals, and achieve a 1BN dollar valuation.
I helped Refersion, an affiliate marketing platform, mature their product and develop a Design practice and Design System Library as it scaled from a 10-person team to a team of 50+, while getting acquired by Assembly (who reached a 1BN valuation shortly after).
I worked directly with the CEO of DayForward to define and create the first iteration of a new type of life insurance, focused on the more graspable concept of “income replacement” as opposed to the standard “death benefit”. It has since grown to a team of 30+ with a valuation of ~75MM.
Partnering with various executive leaders at Optum, I led multiple workstreams, focused on designing better tools for case evaluation, remote care (“telehealth”), and a Design System library for use across the Optum and UnitedHealthcare product ecosystems.
The spaces in which I have the deepest knowledge include Healthcare, AI, Insurance, Finance, Legal, Education, Automotive, Telecom, and Affiliate Marketing. But, I’m always hungry to learn more and explore new terrain.
When I’m not UXing, I enjoy heated board games with my family, dogs, ceramics, and teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to kids.
Find a fancier more recent version of this information here.