◈ ABOUT
DANNY
KAUFMAN
Sr. Staff Designer / Senior Manager of Product Design — Chicago, IL
"Design is about creating systems that empower people — not just making things look good."
Danny Kaufman is a senior design leader with over a decade of experience building product design teams and shipping experiences used by millions of people. He currently operates as Sr. Staff Designer and Senior Manager of Product Design, leading both IC craft and a growing team of designers across multiple product surfaces.
His approach to design is rooted in systems thinking — understanding that the best products emerge from clear principles, rigorous process, and genuine curiosity about people's needs. He's equally comfortable in the weeds of interaction details as he is presenting a product vision to executive stakeholders.
Before his current role, Danny held senior and staff design positions at companies across fintech, productivity, and enterprise software — contributing to products at various stages from zero-to-one to mature platform scale. He has mentored dozens of designers and helped build design culture in organizations where design was still finding its footing.
Outside of work, Danny is interested in typography, modernist graphic design history, open-source tools, and the occasional hardware project. He lives in Chicago with his family.
Work History
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ServiceNow
- Senior Manager, Product Design Mar 2025 – Present
- Sr. Staff Product Design Lead Mar 2024 – Mar 2025
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Spotify
- Product Design Lead Sep 2021 – Mar 2024
Leading the design for the platform experience for Spotify for Artists — a tool artists and their teams use to understand their performance and grow their audience.
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Atlassian
- Senior Product and Service Design Lead Sep 2020 – Sep 2021 · Hybrid
- UX / Service Designer Mar 2019 – Oct 2020 · On-site
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USAA
USAA
- Product and Service Designer Mar 2017 – Feb 2019
Leading efforts around scaling financial advice and wealth management experiences for veterans and their families.
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IBM
- Product Designer Sep 2015 – Mar 2017
- Incubator Lead Aug 2016 – Nov 2016
Managed a team of 7 new hires for IBM's rapid innovation initiatives on creating proof-of-concepts to help create more tangible visions.
Education
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Carnegie Mellon University
Photography Minor · Graduated with University Honors
◈ EXPERTISE