Photo by Elizabeth Gilmore.
A curious, multi-disciplinary design leader with more than 10 years of experience building digital products.
I believe great design comes as the result of deeply understanding problems and creating space for creative solutions to populate.
Currently I am a product designer Lyft in San Francisco, designing software for autonomous vehicles.
Previously I worked at Atlassian, where I helped build a comprehensive mobile platform to help teams collaborate on-the-go. Before Atlassian I spent nearly four years at Facebook, helping design creative tools and platforms for more than 2 billion people.
“The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Tanner is that he is someone who figures out a way to get things done. He is creative, ambitious and driven...he will do whatever it takes to succeed.”
In addition to product design, I’m also an independent developer, responsible for designing and building some of the top creativity apps for both the iPhone and iPad.
I am also a design advisor for numerous startups around the world, including at the University of Chicago and as part of the SparkLabs Global Accelerator program.
Additionally, I am a writer. I’ve spent more than a decade researching and writing on the subjects of creativity and design. I’ve written for Inc magazine and Adobe’s 99u publication. In 2015 my first book was published: The Creativity Challenge.
Before all of this, I led design and marketing strategy teams, founded the renown creativity blog Creative Something, and co-founded several small ventures including Shape Design Company LLC (2017-Current), Aspindle Digital Publishing House LLC (2013-2015), UAO Design Agency LLP (2012-2013), and Tanner Christensen Freelance Design (2001-2009).
“Tanner is a thoughtful designer and a well recognized author and design community organizer. He has led several important processes within Facebook, including critique, visual quality improvements, and design sprints.”
My career has helped shape the way companies like Lyft, Facebook, Twitter, Atlassian, Adobe, HP, Franklin Covey, AT&T, GOOD, Comcast, and Moz think about design and content. My thoughts and ideas have been published in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Forbes, Fast Company, Lifehacker, Wired, Kottke, The New Yorker, Boing Boing, and American Express OPEN Forum.
“Tanner’s strong communication skills and willingness to ask tough, yet critical, questions has seen him constantly pushing the quality bar of our design team. He is exceptionally detail oriented and has strong writing skills which have enabled him to shine as a true leader.”