Frank
Illustration of Frank Barnhardt at his desk
Barnhardt Product Designer

Turning complexity into clarity

With 15+ years as a trusted product designer for enterprise systems and B2B products.

Enterprise UX is about efficiency.
B2B UX is about adoption.
I do both.

View Selected Works

Based In
San Rafael, CA

Open to
Full-Time Roles

CLIENT WORK

Selected Works

Selected works for various clients, ranging from 2016 to 2026 Click any of the tiles below to view its case study.

Product Design / Enterprise Systems / Workflow

Millions in parcel fees were going uncaptured across a complex network of 100+ locations.

I led the redesign of the system that connected parcel activity to revenue—simplifying how operations teams identify, assign, and recover missed charges.

Redesigned the Charge Slip workflow and five supporting dashboards, reducing repetitive work while giving teams a clearer path from parcel → charge → revenue.

Business impact: $5M+ in recoverable revenue

View case study →

Product Design / Enterprise Systems / Learning

Cisco’s learning experiences had grown across products, platforms, and teams—making it difficult for learners to see the bigger picture. I helped define a unified experience across Cisco.com and Cisco U., connecting content, certifications, and learning paths into a more coherent system. The work focused less on redesigning individual pages and more on designing the system that connected them.

Business impact: From fragmented experiences to connected learning

View case study →

Strategy / Rapid Prototypes / Executive Presentation

Globe Telecom wanted to see outside-the-box thinking before a week of executive meetings in the Philippines.

We had 10 days to go from a standing start to three interactive experiences—concepted, built, and ready to experience live.

As UX Lead at Amdocs Studio, I led the three prototypes from concept through delivery, shaping the interface, functionality, and motion while collaborating across continents and disciplines.

We developed personas, mapped four life contexts, and explored a broader story space before selecting three concepts to bring to life.

The result was an immersive executive presentation that helped Amdocs Studio win the Globe engagement.

Business Impact: 10 days. 3 prototypes. 1 client win.

View case study →

Product Design / Self-Service / Design Systems

Chase’s customer service experience offered little real self-service, leaving customers to call support for common banking questions.

I led the redesign of its Help Tips experience within a platform serving 50M+ monthly users—turning a shallow video carousel into a structured, device-aware system organized around the problems customers actually needed to solve.

I designed a 7-category video gallery and step-by-step topic pages spanning mobile, desktop, and ATM experiences, working entirely within Chase’s existing design system.

Business Impact: 40K+ average monthly views — 16× growth in usage

View case study →
MUFG case study preview

Case Study Four for Client

Short project description placeholder.

Coming Soon
Vestis case study preview

Case Study Six for Client

Short project description placeholder.

Coming Soon

Hi, I’m Frank.
I’m a Staff Product Designer based in San Rafael, California.

For 15+ years, I’ve been designing complex products, systems, and workflows.

I’m a systems thinker. I look for the connections between people, data, and technology—and ways to make complicated things feel simpler.

I’ve worked across enterprise and consumer experiences with teams at FedEx, T-Mobile, Cisco, Chase, Disney, and EA.

I also have a background in 2D animation, which gives me another way to think about motion, storytelling, and ideas.

I do my best work with talented teams, big challenges, and a shared goal.

Today, I’m increasingly designing with and for AI—reimagining workflows and experiences.

Service & Skills

What I Do Best

I love figuring things out. New teams. New industries. New technology.

I bring a broad set of skills to every stage of a product—from discovery to deployment.

  • User Flows
  • Site & Product Architecture
  • Service Blueprints
  • Design Systems
  • Interactive Prototypes
  • Research & Strategy
  • AI-Powered Concepts

Built for Complexity

Enterprise UX

Fortune 500 organizations trust me to design solutions that drive measurable impact.

I've uncovered $5M+ revenue recovery opportunities at FedEx and improved JPMorgan Chase customer support and payment experiences at millions-of-user scale.

End to End Journey

Product Design

I thrive on ambiguous, complex product challenges, especially the ones with no obvious starting point.

I took FedEx’s Charge Slip Generator from concept to launch and led key parts of Chase’s customer service redesign—work that shipped, scaled, and delivered real-world impact.

Building with AI Workflows

Designing with AI

AI has accelerated how I explore, prototype, and iterate, turning ideas into tested concepts faster than ever.

I built fbdesign.org and frankpaints.com end-to-end with AI as a research and build partner, taking vision to prototype in record time.

At Scale

Systems Design

I bring structure to complex products, shaping systems that feel like natural extensions of what people actually need.

I built the end-to-end service design system behind FedEx's charge slip workflow, and audited enterprise platforms for Cisco and Vestis to find where structure was missing.

Beyond the System

Design at Scale

Design at scale means creating consistency without slowing the work down—evolving the experience as products, teams, and requirements change.

I helped rebuild Chase.com’s secure login experience over 3.5 years, shaping the design language in real time across phased releases that reached 50M+ customers.

Story in the Room

Client Chemistry

Good client relationships are built on trust, candor, and knowing when to listen—and when to push.

I build trust quickly with clients and teams, creating the space for honest conversations, better ideas, and stronger work.

As a hybrid designer, I move fluidly between structure and instinct.

One side of my brain is mapping systems, information architecture, logic, flow.

Illustration of analytical and creative thinking

Additional Powers

A Few More Tricks

Product design is my foundation, but I've picked up a few other tools along the way—skills and instincts that can bring a different perspective to the work.

  • Innovation Sketches
  • Concept Illustrations
  • Storyboards
  • Executive Presentations
  • Workshop Visuals
  • Visual Narratives
  • Rapid Concepts

01

Innovation & Concepting

I enjoy working in the messy space before the answer is obvious—exploring possibilities, challenging assumptions, and helping teams turn early thinking into something tangible.

I’ve worked with innovation teams to explore new ideas through rapid concepts, prototypes, and visual thinking—helping turn “what if?” into something a team can actually react to.

02

Low Ego, High Commitment

I love a good brief, a smart team, and a shared goal. I’m not interested in protecting my design—I’m interested in making the work better.

The best teams I’ve worked with know how to challenge ideas, share the credit, and stay focused on the thing we’re trying to accomplish together.

03

Learn Fast. Keep It Moving.

I don't spend much time complaining about the learning curve. Give me the problem, the software, or the system — I'll figure it out.

I've picked up tools like ProtoPie under pressure, taught myself to bend Cursor to my will, and dropped into fast-moving projects with enough speed to start contributing almost immediately. I like learning fast, getting useful, and keeping things moving.

04

Pushing Ideas Forward

I’m rarely satisfied with the first good idea. I like exploring the edges, asking what else might be possible, and finding the idea that makes everyone sit up a little straighter.

I respect budgets and deadlines. But when there’s an opportunity to make something sharper, clearer, smarter, or simply more interesting, I’m usually the person asking, “What if we pushed this a little further?”

05

Visual Storytelling

I’m rarely satisfied with the first good idea. I like exploring the edges, asking what else might be possible, and finding the idea that makes everyone sit up a little straighter.

I respect budgets and deadlines. But when there’s an opportunity to make something sharper, clearer, smarter, or simply more interesting, I’m usually the person asking, “What if we pushed this a little further?”

A mix of long-term partnerships and short, focused engagements. The indented rows are client projects delivered through the company listed above them.

  1. 2026–2021 Amdocs Studio (fka Stellar Elements)
  2. 2 months T-Mobile UX Consultant / Strategist
  3. 18 months FedEx Principal UX Designer
  4. 3 months Vestis Lead Product Designer
  5. 6 months AWS / HealthOmics Lead Product Designer
  6. 4 months Rosindale UX Design Lead
  7. 3 weeks Globe Hi Fi Prototype Artist
  8. 3 months MUFG UX Consultant / Strategist
  9. 4 months Si-Five UX Consultant / Strategist
  10. 3 months Cisco UX Consultant / Strategist
  11. 14 months Chase Auto UX Design Lead
  12. 10 months Chase Support Overhaul Product Design Lead
  13. 2 months Innovation Lab Story Artist & Visionary
  14. 8 months You Invest UI&UX Design Lead
  15. 24 months Chase Payments UX Design Lead
  16. 6 months JPMC Corporate Website Overhaul UI/UX Design Lead
  17. 8 months SIMS Medieval Story Artist
  18. 5 months SIMS Character Content Artist
  19. 24 months Animated Content UX & Story Artist
  20. 24 months Visual Content Visual Designers

HOW I WORK

Discovery to Delivery

Working on end-to-end projects is my preference. Especially the early stages, where the project is craving fresh ideas and high level solutions.

But I'm just as comfortable jumping into a project mid-stream, picking up where someone else left off without missing a beat.

  1. 1. Discover

    Research, stakeholder interviews, problem framing

  2. 2. Define

    Synthesis, strategy, success metrics

  3. 3. Design

    Wireframes, AI-assisted prototypes, design systems

  4. 4. Validate

    User testing, iteration, feedback loops

  5. 5. Build

    Engineering partnership, AI-assisted build, QA

  6. 6. Deliver

    Deployment, launch, real-world impact

The Era of AI

Designing With AI, And For It

AI is changing how products are built, but great products are still built around people.

Here's how I'm thinking about it, and where I draw the line between speed and judgment.

I'm currently building a small set of AI-native explorations, real projects, not just principles, coming soon.

Rapid Prototyping

What used to take me days now takes hours.

AI-Augmented Research

More research, not less. That's the real trade AI offers.

Strategic Product Thinking

Execution moves faster. That just means more time deciding what's worth building.

Cross-Team Alignment

A working prototype convinces a room faster than any deck ever could.

Human-in-the-Loop, by Design

Not every step should run on autopilot. I decide when, where, and how a human needs to step in.

Family photo

Let's work together.

Do You Have A Cool Project?

Illustration of a raccoon holding a UX sign

Send me a message

Call or Text 415-272-9869

I'm currently open to full-time roles and selective consulting engagements.