Nielsen Norman Group Credential ID 1026996
University of St. Thomas
IBM Design Thinking
IBM Design Thinking
Scrum Alliance
Scrum Alliance
The Creative CircusResearch + Strategy
Market and user research, competitive and pattern analyses, user flows
About Dan
I get brought in when a product isn’t working and no one’s sure why. Usually the problem isn’t the one the team is trying to fix. I find the real one, the demand a company is leaving on the table, the reason a system goes unused, the tool no one realized they needed, and make the case for a different direction, usually one that’s cheaper and lower-risk than where things were headed.
I’ve done this across healthcare, government, media, technology, and telecom, from Fortune 500s to Series A startups, with real AI production work going back to 2017.
Dan Benner | UXMC CSM CSPO
• Nielsen Norman Master-Certified
• AI Building
• Product Strategy
• Innovation R&D
• Product Design
• Behavioral Research
• UXMC, CSPO, Mini MBA
Saint Paul, Minnesota
benner.dan@gmail.com
Strategy
Every engagement starts with discovery, immersing myself in the business before recommending anything. I interview stakeholders, research users, map customer journeys, study the competition, and pull the scattered context into one place. What comes out is a clear understanding of the real problem and where to focus, before anyone commits to a direction.
AI
I've been doing hands-on AI work since 2017, before it was the thing everyone claimed to do. I know the difference between the pieces, conversational design, machine learning, automated handling, and I know when a problem actually needs them and when it doesn't. I build and test systems that run, not just concepts, and I keep the language honest instead of calling everything "the AI." My edge is knowing where AI belongs, from someone who's actually shipped it.
Applications
Business software should be as easy to use as the best consumer apps, and most of it isn't. I take old enterprise systems that were built by engineers, for engineers, and turn them into things the people who depend on them can actually use, or at least don't dread opening.
User Experience
Underneath the strategy, the craft still has to be right. I shape products across mobile, web, and multiple platforms, working from design systems and familiar patterns, and breaking them when a problem needs a custom answer. The goal is always the same: the thing works, people get through it, and it gets better each time.
Methodology
The research runs deep but stays in the background. Depending on what a question needs, I'll run surveys, behavioral studies, tree tests, card sorts, usability testing, competitive reviews, or prototypes. I share what I find through site maps, journeys, and scenarios that make the picture clear to everyone, and I'm increasingly focused on turning messy data into something a room can actually read.
Brand
Fifteen years as an agency art director, traditional, digital, and guerrilla campaigns, taught me how to find a brand's real voice and express it in any medium. It's the craft under the product work, and it's why the things I build tend to look like they belong.
Mindset
Ethan Hawke on one of my favorite directors, Peter Weir. I think Ethan would like being a product designer.
Years ago, I was a storyteller in search of a systematic thinker. I couldn't find one, so I became one.
