Nice to meet you!
Hi there—I'm Robyn Johnson. I have 10 years of experience as a Design Program Director and senior UX designer at IBM. I currently manage a design program of 50 designers and researchers for the IBM Security business unit.
Some of my superpowers are empowering designers, enterprise software UX design, design strategy, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and stakeholder management. I have deep expertise in developing healthy design teams and using software tools to support cross-functional collaboration.
I hold a Master of Design in Communication Planning & Information Design from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Environmental Design (Architecture) from Texas A&M University.
What I believe in
A team can flourish only when they are empowered with what they need to be successful, including autonomy, air cover, and focus. As a manager, my top priority is developing happy and healthy design teams that are equipped to run hard on their own.
1. Empowered teams
2. Human-centered design
I believe it is critical to be incredibly empathetic toward the real people who use our products. We let data about these people drive our design decisions. If we don't have user research, we find a way to get it or approximate it.
3. Design quality
Excellent user experiences are a delicate balance of innovation and feasibility. Compromise too much and the quality will be off, but compromise too little and the work will never be done. As a design leader, I am deeply concerned with shipping high quality design work that works for our users.
4. Business outcomes
Design must serve our users and be good for the business. In an ideal world, these are the same thing. I believe design teams have a unique ability to bring cross-functional stakeholders together and build alignment to support business goals.
Experience
Education
Master of Design
Carnegie Mellon University
2012–2014
Bachelor of Environmental Design
Texas A&M University
2008–2012
Skills
Design Program Director
IBM Security
Aug 2023 – present
Design Manager
IBM Security
May 2021 – Aug 2023
User Experience Design Lead
IBM Security
Apr 2019 – Apr 2021
User Experience Designer
IBM (various teams)
Jul 2014 – Mar 2019
Design leadership
Design management
Product & UX strategy
Cross-functional collaboration
Enterprise software design
Interaction & information design
Scalable design systems
Inclusive & accessible design
AI-augmented productivity
Stakeholder communication
Design operations
Agile & lean UX
User research
Full resume available upon request.
