Hi there! I’m Nick Heggestad. I’m a UX leader, product designer, design thinker, and human-loving realist. I'm passionate about design, humanity, and fostering spaces where product can flourish.
I’m an established design leader with a range of experiences and past lives (ask me about the circus!). I lead design work on product teams, fostering relationships with designers, engineers, and stakeholders to establish design practices that people want to work with and be a part of.
I approach design with a focus on people, establishing empathy for the people who make and the people who use the products and services I help bring to life. I believe the key to a successful solution almost always involves balance and simplicity. Throughout my career, I’ve collaborated in a diverse set of spaces, including human resources, automotive, commercial (growth), insurance, and financial services. I have worked on and led teams to create insight-led, human-centered experiences that ensure both business and user needs are met. My UX practice combines product design, service design, design thinking, research, and content and experience strategy, all with a relentless focus on the end user.
I currently work for Steampunk, where I lead design on a product team focused on delivering new and improved human resource experiences for a federal government client. Before that I worked for Thrivent Financial where I worked as an interdisciplinary manager of folks including product design, content, and user research.
I am passionate about career-change and helping others uncover how, with the right framing, their strengths and talents can fit in new spaces or better be utilized in the space they are already in.
Extra! Extra!
I'm a husband and a dad to 1 human and 1 dog. I love hiking, exploring, baking, gardening, and outdoor adventures. I’m obsessed with all things mid-century.