Jesse James Garrett

Leadership strategy consultant, author, and speaker

Career Timeline

More than 25 years in digital product design leadership.

In 2000, my diagram “The Elements of User Experience” became one of the most widely referenced frameworks for understanding user experience design for digital products. If you’ve seen any of the hundreds of “UX Iceberg” diagrams out there, it was probably based on Elements.
With six other designers, I co-founded the UX consultancy Adaptive Path in 2001, when few had heard of this kind of work and fewer still believed in its value. We became influential by writing about and teaching our methods and insights (even to our competitors!).
At Adaptive Path, I held the titles of President and Chief Creative Officer, providing creative guidance and mentorship to our team leaders. I led large engagements for clients such as NPR, Allstate, CNN, Nike, and Disney, as well as our pro-bono research and development work.
In 2002, The Elements of User Experience became a book, eventually being used in college courses around the world and introducing thousands of people to the field for the first time. I can’t count the number of people who have personally told me the book changed their lives.
From 2002-2016 we brought our community together for UX Week, a conference of inspiration and education that I hosted as conference chair and onstage MC for many years. We also held events on design methodology, management, and service design.
In 2005, I codified an emerging pattern in Web applications that decoupled user interaction from server communication. I decided that was a mouthful, so I called it “Ajax”. Ajax introduced new interaction models and soon became a part of practically every site on the Web.
After 13 years, Adaptive Path left the consulting business when it became part of Capital One’s newly formed digital design group. Along the way, I became an international public speaker, delivering keynote talks on practically every continent.

At Capital One, I helped build out the infrastructure to support design culture at the scale of hundred of designers, while also spinning up new functions for the organization, including establishing and leading our events, publishing, and Responsible AI teams.

Since 2018, I’ve been a leadership coach for digital product design executives, helping leaders around the world build the skills to achieve their aims. I love applying my years of leadership experience to help other leaders grow.

You can find out more about my executive leadership skills development practice and read client testimonials. The first step on your journey is my free 1-hour introductory session, which you can book right now.