Howdy, I’m John Wayne, a technically minded Principal Product Designer.

AI and agentic products, shipped in working code. I’ve led design teams and directed a design org, and I’m choosing to build. San Francisco. Intuit. Twitter. Ancestry. 16+ years.

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John Wayne Hill, arms crossed, smiling

About John Wayne

Full-stack craft, hands on.

Hands-on design across a wide range of industries, platforms, and experiences.

I bring the full stack of craft to a product: product thinking, interaction design (UX), visual design, prototyping in code, and research. My approach is data-driven, user-focused, and relentlessly geared toward quality. I'm known for turning complex data into actionable insights, and for setting a high craft bar by example rather than by memo.

Lately I've been most energized by the hardest, most ambiguous problems, including AI. I'm designing agentic experiences where the patterns aren't settled, prototyping them in code, and getting them shipped. I've been trusted to lead teams repeatedly, and I treat that as one more way the work travels, evidence of range and scale, not the headline. The making is where I want to be.

16+
years in product design
20+
teams using patterns I set at Intuit
22M+
AncestryDNA customers, grown from under 1M

View Case Studies →

A prompt bar branching into three action chips, the last one complete

Core Strength 01

Designing AI Products

My most current and differentiated work is designing AI and agentic products in spaces where the interaction patterns aren't established yet. I define the patterns, pressure-test them fast, and ship. The ones I built at Intuit are now used by 20+ teams.

  • Agentic & conversational UX
  • Novel interaction patterns
  • 0-to-1 product design
  • AI product judgment
  • Prototyping to validate
  • Shipping to production
Scattered data points with a rising green line drawn through them and continuing

Core Strength 02

Product Thinking

One of my superpowers is synthesizing tons of data into actionable insights and ideas. I think about the holistic and long-term possibilities and help deliver on business objectives. I lead through storytelling, close collaboration, and deeply understanding customers.

  • Problem Setting
  • Understanding the Audience
  • Knowing the Market
  • Defining Jobs To Be Done
  • Understanding Business Objectives
  • Measuring Goals
  • Considering the whole and individual parts
A design frame and code brackets joined by a two-way arrow

Core Strength 03

Craft & Code

A vision is only as good as its execution. I obsess over the craft of interaction and visual design, and I prototype in real code (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, long before AI made it easy) so ideas ship as working experiences, not static screens. I lead complex, ambiguous projects from concept to shipped product alongside my cross-functional partners.

  • Interaction & Visual Design
  • Prototyping in HTML / CSS / JS
  • Design Sprints
  • Engineering Handoff
  • Design Q.A.
  • Experimentation

Featured Work

My latest product design work and case studies.

Intuit Intelligence

QuickBooks' conversational AI, from a one-week vision sprint to millions of customers

When leadership needed a coherent vision for conversational AI in QuickBooks, I led a one-week sprint to personally design it. On day three, the CEO decided to present the work at the State of the Company. That provocation became Intuit Intelligence: I defined the interaction framework and experience principles, prototyped where no proven pattern existed, and helped ship it to all QuickBooks customers. The patterns I established are now used by 20+ teams across Intuit.

  • AI / Agentic Patterns
  • 0-to-1
  • Product Design
  • Prototyping in Code

View Intuit Intelligence

Intuit Intelligence conversational AI response with insights

TurboTax Full Service & Verified Pro

Making the expert the product, from a 0-to-1 marketplace to a Full Service launch

I was the first and only dedicated designer on TurboTax Verified Pro, a 0-to-1 marketplace matching consumers with the right independent tax pro (84 NPS, 21% referral share against a 5.2% forecast). It proved that people wanted the human, not just the software. I turned that insight into a vision for Full Service built on one idea, the expert is the product, prototyped it end to end, and carried it through a reorg. The CEO and Intuit's founder both reviewed it, and it launched to an unprecedented 50% of early-season customers at 2x engagement.

  • 0-to-1
  • Product Vision
  • Visual Design
  • Motion Design
  • Interaction Design
  • Systems Thinking

View TurboTax Full Service

TurboTax Full Service expert shopping experience on mobile

Twitter - Project Nah

One-tap personalization at massive scale

Project Nah gave customers a lightweight, one-touch way to dismiss recommended Tweets and, if they wanted, tell Twitter why. The interaction had to work in the tightest possible screen real estate across Home, Tweet Details, and Notifications. In experimentation it increased personalization feedback by 7.26% and gave people real control over their Home Timeline.

  • Product Design
  • Systems Thinking
  • Interaction Design
  • Prototyping
  • Experimentation

View Project Nah

Project Nah leave behind menu for Twitter

Additional Case Studies

Work that I've directed, led, and contributed individually.

Experience & Background

Across 16+ years in product design I've worked as a Principal Product Designer, Director, and Head of Design, but the through-line has always been the work. Nine years in leading design agencies like Idean/Frog, Stimulant, and Punchcut sharpened my craft, product thinking, and range. Seven-plus years in-house at Intuit, Twitter, and Ancestry put those to work shipping 0-to-1 products, setting the craft bar, and driving the metrics that matter.

The scope of my work is best measured by how far it travels. The interaction patterns I built at Intuit are used by 20+ teams. I helped grow AncestryDNA from under 1M to 22M+ customers and brought Traits to market. And yes, I've built and led design teams (a 3-person team to 13 at Intuit, a 30+ person org at Ancestry). That's proof of trust and range, another way the work reached further.

“His craft is top notch. He not only leads with a POV doing actual design work, but holds a high bar for amazing work. He operates as a builder, blurring the lines between functions with tight collaboration and incredible velocity.”

Carly Wood, Director of Product Management, Intuit

View Experience

Impact & Awards

  • Took Intuit Intelligence from concept to GA in 5 months
  • TurboTax Verified Pro: 84 NPS, 21% referral share (vs 5.2% forecast), 72 PRS
  • Grew AncestryDNA from under 1M to 22M+ customers; Traits to 5M+ kits
  • Overhauled the AncestryDNA app to a 4.8 rating
  • 2025 Fast Company Innovation by Design (AI, Honorable Mention)
  • 2017 Red Dot Award (Best of the Best)

See all Impact and Awards →

John Wayne Hill with Ancestry UX team designing and painting a mural in Lehi, Utah.

Influence That Travels

The best measure of a senior designer isn't the org chart, it's how far the work reaches and how many people want to build with you. My patterns get adopted across teams, my prototypes become the thing everyone rallies around, and my provocations have redirected product strategy.

I run open design office hours because raising the bar for other teams is part of the job, and the partners I've shipped with keep asking to work together again. If you want to talk craft, AI design, or how I approach the work, I'd love to connect.

Get In Touch

Open To Work

Actively looking for my next great team!

I'm focused on the hardest, most ambiguous AI and 0-to-1 design problems as a senior IC, at the Principal or Sr. Staff level. With deep experience at companies like Intuit, Twitter, Ancestry, and various start-ups, and a track record of shipping novel products in code, I'm ready for the next hard thing. Based in San Francisco, open to hybrid, and remote roles. Let's connect!

Let's Connect