From humble startups to software used by billions, I’ve had a blast designing things that people love. At Square, I'm leading a brilliant team of designers that are ushering in the next generation of eCommerce. Previously, I shaped the future of Chrome at Google, helped establish and lead UX at HubSpot, and spent years traveling while working remotely.
Advisor at Sequoia Capital
Mentor at Columbia and Stanford
Co-Host of the UX & Growth and Decrypting Crypto podcasts
Passionate about remote work, the open web and economic freedom
Work
What I've been up to
Globally adopted software, high converting websites, emerging technology and beyond. This is a detailed chronicle of the stories, processes and results behind a curated selection of projects that I've led and contributed to.
Globally adopted software, high converting websites, emerging technology and beyond. Here are the stories behind my work.
Coming soon
This case study is still being written
Evolving the browser
Chrome is one of the most visible and widely-used products ever made. This is a look at how we evolved it beyond its core browser roots.
Timeline of Work
2003 • Lexington, KY
My first website
I built my first site (and taught myself how to design and code) by reverse-engineering sites that I admired. It was hosted on freewebs.com and had a phpBB forum.
2011 • Lexington, KY
Starting a non-profit
Motivated to combat human trafficking, I founded a 501(c)(3) and built a robust site (for awareness, crime tracking & fundraising), videos, presentations and more.
2012 • Lexington, KY
My first design job
I conducted an unsolicited audit of a local company's website, and as a result, was brought in to lead their design and marketing efforts. This is where my career began.
2014 • Cincinnati, OH
Joining an early stage startup
In a leap of faith, I joined Petbrosia as its UX & Growth Lead and dropped out of college. We raised $5M in funding and grew to 100K+ monthly site visits and 10K+ customers.
2015 • Boston, MA & Rio de Janeiro, BRazil
Rapid growth at HubSpot
Brought in as HubSpot.com's first UX Designer, I established our process, helped take us international and led the site through design changes that multiplied its conversion rate.
2018 • San francisco, CA
Big impact at Google
Fulfilling a dream, I joined Google to help design the future of Chrome for its 3.5+ billion users around the world. From new tech, to core UI, privacy, emerging markets and beyond.
2021 • Austin, TX
Innovating at Square
Today, I'm leading a small, brilliant team of designers that are ushering in the next generation of eCommerce at Square. From retail and restaurants, to digital goods and beyond.
Multiplying conversion rates
How our small multi-disciplinary team iteratively built one of the most-visited SaaS sites on the web, multiplying conversion and revenue in the process.
Growing a startup
A revolutionary idea and a tight timeframe would result in this critical redesign of our fledgling startup's website and product experience.
Building for billions
I've had the pleasure of leading design and field research in places like India, Nigeria, Kenya, Brazil and Indonesia — where billions of new internet users are coming online for the first time.
Designing for a crisis
In a unique partnership between Google and Apple, I helped design the COVID-19 exposure tracing app that would be used around the world.
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A word of thanks
This was a team effort
I'm fortunate to have worked with some truly incredible people. From distinguished PhDs, to early pioneers of the internet, to future household names. I’m humbled to call such remarkable people my friends and collaborators. None of this would’ve been possible without them.
Entering virtual reality
One of my favorite side projects, building a fully functional WebVR experience from scratch.
Coming soon
This case study is still being written
Experiments and fun
ML models, viral products, bots and beyond. Here's what happened between the case studies.
Case Studies
Entering virtual reality
Two weeks and a blank HTML document would turn into one of my favorite side projects. A fully functioning WebVR experience.
Coming soon
This case study is still being written
Involvement
Advising
I advise startup founders at Sequoia Capital, a VC firm based in Silicon Valley, China, India and Israel with a portfolio of companies that represent an aggregate public market value of $3.3 trillion.
I mentor students and entrepreneurs entirely for free at educational institutions like Columbia and Stanford, trade schools like DesignLab and General Assembly, and on an individual basis.
Advising
I advise startup founders at Sequoia Capital, a VC firm based in Silicon Valley, China, India and Israel. The firm has invested early in companies like Apple, Google, Alibaba, PayPal, HubSpot, Stripe, Airbnb, Instagram, Dropbox, and YouTube. Today, its portfolio of companies represent an aggregate public market value of $3.3 trillion.
I mentor students and entrepreneurs entirely for free at educational institutions like Columbia and Stanford, trade schools like DesignLab and General Assembly, and on an individual basis. I've been thrilled to see the people I've worked with go on to start businesses and secure roles at some of the world's most respected companies.
Kind
Words
As a manager, you hope to hire people who are smarter than you, driven to make a big impact, and who constantly push themselves to grow–and Austin was certainly that. I learned a lot from him (his knowledge in UX design is unparalleled) and it was a joy working together.
Jessica Meher
Austin, for being relatively young, exhibits the experience and talent of someone twice his age in years. He is an incredible leader and has a way about him to get the most out of anyone. But most importantly, he's always eager to help others learn, grow and improve.
Jack Farrell
What I enjoyed most about working with Austin was his mix of to-the-point creative vision and direction, while providing it in one of the most humble ways I’ve encountered.
Dan Crask
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