Product Design
Leader

Order

Establish a clean, organized and efficient operation to gain integrity, strength, and confidence.


Strategy

Assess and gain insight into your situation to create plans or policies designed to achieve your goals.


Transformation

Change with intention to create a new and improved version that is authentic and effective.

A-Z Product Design

image introducing Forge Global portfolio project
Forge Intelligence, Sector Insights

Forge Intelligence App

Lead Product Designer

10/2019 – 12/2022

Private companies are notoriously risky, opaque investments, and transactions of private company stock provide investors with new information to plan their investment strategy. I was on a small team that originated this first-of-kind product, and grew it into a major revenue stream for Forge. We brought live market data together with Funding Rounds, mutual fund marks, and other primary sources to make private market insights visible and interactive.

Leading by example, I helped to create a culture of transparency, lean iteration, and high-impact initiative. I modernized Design Team tooling, evangelizing Figma for cross-functional collaboration processes with Product, Engineering, and Data Analytics, and adopted Jira for Design project tracking. I established a design system for use across product surfaces.

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SharesPost Case Study

image introducing SharesPost portfolio project
 

Digital Trading Profiles

Lead Designer

10/2019 – 11/2020

My design journey at Forge Global began as the first design hire at SharesPost, the largest broker of private company stock transactions. I designed a digital trading profile system from legacy, paper documents, collaborating across teams to meet the regulatory requirements of the U.S. government and SEC at a greater speed and scale.

Forge and SharesPost merged in 2020, forming a clear leader in the private market. I advised on design operations and vision, and lead design of a combined Forge Markets web experience. Collaborating with the CPO, I helped hire and onboard a design team, including VP of Design, UX Design Director, and Senior UX Design team members.

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Yahoo! Case Study

image introducing Yahoo! portfolio project
Dashboard screen new design

Ad Platform Redesign

Senior UX Designer

5/2016 – 8/2017

When Verizon acquired Yahoo! in June 2017, “BrightRoll DSP” was Yahoo’s Demand-Side Platform for running advertising campaigns, competing with the likes of Facebook Ads Manager, Google Ad Manager, and other platforms. Agencies and Brands from small to huge spent budgets buying impressions throughout the internet, and Brightroll offered exclusive access to Yahoo’s substantial amount of user data for audience targeting.

I was the first hire to a team dedicated to ground-up redesign of the user experience, and lead design activities which included user research, workflow analysis, design sprint facilitation, information architecture and product navigation, wireframing, prototype testing, visual style, and beta app development. I was also point person for cross-functional strategic and work planning with Research, Product and Engineering teams.

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"...I would highly recommend and endorse him for any position that requires these skills and allows the freedom for his experience to shine through..."

— Jason Hodge, Sr Product Manager, Yahoo!

VISA Case Study

image introducing Visa portfolio project
Responsive Web, Android, iOS

Multi-Channel Platform

Senior UX Designer

5/2015 – 11/2015

Myself and three other UX and Visual designers created an app for VISA card holders, and a consistent experience across channels (Responsive Web, Android, iOS) that provided security and convenience features. VISA’s unique relationship to card issuers (i.e. major banks or small-town credit unions) required a flexible, a-la-carte solution and white label implementation to work with a variety of existing apps and needs. Phased product development, partner on-boarding, and different tiers of branded experience were aspects of this challenge.

The design team worked together to define user flows and UI, and user test prototypes with a 3rd-party agency. A key aspect of my role, specifically, was implementation of the design with the responsive web engineering team, and (following a prior false start) establishing a healthy working relationship and processes with that team.

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SFO Museum Slideshow

  • SFO Museum GraphicsSFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    A collection of favorite images from my work as Curator, Graphic Design at SFO Museum from 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011
    SFOM Curator, Graphic Design 2004-2011

Résumé


I help teams see problems and solutions clearly, asking probing questions to reveal strengths and opportunities. I aim for ideal outcomes, an inspiring vision, and shared understanding of our road map. I foster open communication and efficient collaboration. A hands-on contributor, I articulate design decisions in terms of impact and value to the people who use what we create.

photo of Brian J. Sherman mentoring at UX Night

Design Mentor

I love discussing design approaches and styles, and learn from others whenever I can. In the past, I've talked with attendees of Cascade SF UX Night, which included students and grads, career changers, startup founders, developers, and foreign professionals visiting San Francisco to learn about the tech scene.

I've also mentored through an internal Yahoo! program, and support team members whenever the opportunity arises. We all have design opinions and questions, just ask!

Contact

San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.

photo of Brian J. Sherman mountain biking
photo of Brian J. Sherman snowboarding at Heavenly, CA
photo of Brian J. Sherman with his 2012 Ducati Monster at Lict Observatory, San Jose, CA
photo of Brian J. Sherman backpacking in Yosemite