Jason Kunesh
Jason Kunesh finds simple solutions for gnarly problems wherever people meet technology.
He is the Design Director of the City of Chicago, helping ensure the city’s products and services work well for all Chicagoans. Jason is a cofounder of PublicGood.com, and a veteran of the Obama for America 2012 tech team, Orbitz, Groupon and other startups. He’s taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and DePaul University.
He’s spoken at companies including Google, Intuit, and Microsoft and at conferences like SXSW, UX Week, BAYCHI, Web Visions and more. His work has been featured in the New York Times, the Atlantic Monthly, BusinessWeek, TIME, Forbes, Crain’s, the Chicago Tribune and others.
For more, keep up with Jason at jdkunesh.com or on Twitter as @jdkunesh.
Presentations
UX Camp Spring 2018
Fireside Chat with City of Chicago Design & Tech Leadership
Leadership By Design 2015: Prototypes, Process & Play
How to be a Designer CEO at a Startup without Being a Jerk
As designers we’re told to practice empathy, learning our users’ habits, unspoken needs, and desires. We use that knowledge to inform the design of a product intended to delight people. As CEOs, the skills we celebrate are different. Ford, Jobs, Elon Musk and more were known as ego-driven steamrollers who pushed people to the brink all the time.
Here’s what I’ve learned from my time at Public Good about running a business, owning product, and empowering our team to do great work. All without being an a-hole. Most of the time.
