Clifton Simmons
Clifton Simmons is an award-winning writer, creative leader, and UX content strategist with over 20 years of experience spanning advertising and user-centered design. He currently serves as Associate Content Design Director at Allstate, where he merges storytelling, UX writing, and voice strategy to craft intuitive digital experiences. Clifton began his career at leading advertising agencies—including Campbell-Ewald, DDBO, and The Marketing Store—where he led creative campaigns for major global brands and sharpened his expertise in brand-driven communication.
In addition to his industry work, Clifton is deeply committed to mentorship and education. He is an instructor at Columbia College Chicago and Southern New Hampshire University, where he teaches courses in advertising, content design, and digital strategy. Through mentoring and speaking, he guides the next generation of creatives, encouraging them to embrace emerging technologies like AI as opportunities for growth and reinvention—just as he has throughout his own ever-evolving career.
Presentations
UX Camp Spring 2025
Facing the UX and AI Boogeymen: Conquering Fears to Build Careers
When I first heard about UX design, I feared it was the beginning of the end for my career in advertising. The industry was shifting, and UX felt like a threat—something that would replace the creative work I loved. But curiosity won out over fear, and I leaned in to learn what UX was really about. That decision not only preserved my career—it transformed it.
Today, I find myself at the same crossroads with AI. Once again, it feels like a looming force that could disrupt everything I’ve built in UX. But I’ve chosen to face it with the same mindset: to explore, to understand, and to use it as a tool to elevate my work rather than fear it. This talk is about how embracing change—even when it’s scary—can lead to growth, reinvention, and unexpected opportunity.
UX Camp Fall 2020
“Du” Good: How UXers Can Help Change Our Companies & Communities
As UX practitioners we pride ourselves on human-centered design, but do we really practice what we preach when statistics continually reflect a staggering lack of diversity? Even in a pandemic, studies show industry leaders predict an increased demand for UX design professionals.
You’ve protested. You’ve made public statements to do better. Now you’re probably asking, “What now?” Learn how companies can start to fulfill their promises to create a more diverse UX design workforce. Corporate volunteerism is also a way for companies to empower employees to continue the fight against systemic racism by enabling your UX staff to support community organizations in need of our digital skills. As an example, this talk will include work as a skills-based volunteer for the DuSable Museum of African American history and how we collaborated with museum staff to develop the digital marketing campaign, “this is What We Du.”
UX Camp Fall 2019
Taking the (Em)Path to Human-Centered Design
In UX design, empathy is a critical skill to creating user satisfaction. No one tells us how to develop empathy! Finding that connection starts with drawing from personal resources.
Many people in UX careers started in positions not even remotely connected to UX design—and that’s been their benefit. These non-traditional, if not all, experiences provide unique insight when it comes to improving our empathetic approach to human-centered design. Diversity is also key to collaborating with and understanding unique voices and problem solving to meet the needs of others not like us. Along with consumer data and journeys, empathy helps design teams deeply analyze user situations to create solutions.
