Lesley J. Hubbard

Senior UX Designer | Enterprise & Healthcare UX | User Research & Human-Centered Design | AI-Enabled Productivity

ljhubbard005@gmail.com · (860) 212-6427 · linkedin.com/in/lesleyjhubbard · Hybrid / Remote

Download as PDF · Bio & boilerplate · Case studies

Summary

Twenty years designing digital products, ten of them leading UX strategy inside large regulated enterprises in financial services and healthcare. I own the process end to end: research through interviews, surveys, and usability testing, then personas, journey maps, user flows, wireframes, and high-fidelity prototypes, through to implementation with engineering partners. Deep experience with clinical operations workflows, WCAG accessibility, design systems, and tying UX measurement to business outcomes. I mentor designers, run critique, and build AI-assisted workflows that make whole teams faster.

Areas of focus

Experience

Lead Designer, Marketing UX/UI

Empower · Hartford, CT · 2024 to 2026

  • Owned UX strategy for high-visibility product work, setting the bar for quality, accessibility, and AI adoption across the team.
  • Brought AI-assisted workflows (Claude, ChatGPT) into research synthesis, journey mapping, and content generation, then wrote them into team practice so the speed gain belonged to everyone.
  • Mentored designers and ran design critique, building a culture of evidence-based decisions.
  • Turned ambiguous business requirements into clear, buildable, measurable solutions. Promoted from Senior to Lead for design leadership and enterprise AI adoption.

Senior Designer, Marketing UX/UI

Empower · Hartford, CT · 2022 to 2024

  • Ran heuristic evaluations and usability testing, and made sure remediation met enterprise WCAG standards.
  • Diagnosed usability friction and designed solutions grounded in human-factors and UI principles, taking concepts from wireframe to high-fidelity prototype with cross-functional teams.
  • Brought generative AI into research synthesis, journey mapping, and documentation, shortening turnaround and making output more consistent.

UX Architect / Design Experience Manager

Prudential Financial · Hartford, CT · 2014 to 2022

  • Led the redesign of the NewYork-Presbyterian retirement experience for a major health system. Winner, 2020 Pensions & Investments Eddy Award.
  • Built a reusable design system that cut design labor 50% and kept products consistent across platforms.
  • Led responsive web and WCAG accessibility programs across enterprise platforms.
  • Directed UX strategy for complex regulated products, turning ambiguous requirements into research-driven solutions, and made the case for human-centered design through stakeholder training and advocacy.

Senior Business Analyst

Prudential Financial · Hartford, CT · 2013 to 2014

  • Streamlined operations for the Institutional Investment Solutions portfolio, facilitated Agile sprint and release cycles, and built dashboard reporting for senior leadership.

Senior Business Analyst, Clinical Information Technology

CIGNA · Bloomfield, CT · 2009 to 2011

  • Led a cross-functional Agile team on the Clinical Operations Delivery Management program supporting holistic health-management capabilities.
  • Mapped clinical workflows, processes, and interaction behaviors across internal teams and vendors. Early, hands-on grounding in clinician-facing systems.
  • Ran sprint planning and briefings, and reported to a cross-matrixed clinical leadership group.

Additional experience

Skills

Awards & recognition

Education & certifications