I Lead Design Teams Who
Ship Work That Matters

15 years building complex, high-stakes products for customers and the people who serve them, driving design cultures where great work thrives.

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Case Studies

Case studies from enterprise-scale design leadership

Expert Workspace
Asurion Featured work

Expert Workspace

Redesigning the primary tool for 10,000+ help desk and claims agents—a conversational, AI-powered workspace that makes every customer interaction feel simple, personal, and white-glove.

Sr. Manager, Product Design 2025–Present
Next-Gen Portal dashboard
Asurion Featured work

Next-Gen Portal

Rebuilding the core operating system for 680+ repair stores nationwide—transforming how technicians check in customers, manage repairs, and run their business.

Sr. Manager, Product Design 2022–2025
In-Store Claims Kiosk
Asurion

In-Store Claims Kiosk

Reducing claim resolution from 45 minutes to under 10—helping 10,000+ customers per month self-serve at repair stores.

Principal Designer 2021–2022
Disney Guest Service Suite dashboard and guest management interface
Disney Parks & Experiences

Guest Service Suite

Replacing 60+ disconnected apps with one responsive tool—improving Cast Member efficiency by 25% across 5 parks.

Lead Product Designer 2019–2020
Club Wyndham Vacation Planner Explore Resorts experience
Travel + Leisure Co

Vacation Planner

Trip planning tool helping 809,000+ vacation club owners discover their dream destinations across 270+ resorts worldwide.

Design Manager 2020–2022
Halloween Horror Nights responsive homepage
Universal Orlando

Halloween Horror Nights

Mobile-first e-commerce redesign that broke attendance records and drove double-digit growth in online ticket sales.

UI/UX Art Director 2018–2019

How I Lead

I build teams that understand the why, take ownership of the how, and ship work that moves the business. Here's what that looks like in practice.

Building Teams

Great design culture doesn't happen by accident — I build it intentionally through open critique, inclusive hiring, and a genuine commitment to psychological safety. When someone on my team pushes back on a direction, I take that as a sign the culture is working — not a problem to manage.

Ownership & Clarity

I set a clear product vision and make sure every designer understands how their work connects to it. I stay close to the craft — reviewing work, shaping direction, and contributing directly when the work calls for it.

Growth & Innovation

I give my team stretch opportunities, room to fail, and honest feedback that helps them grow into more well-rounded designers and leaders. I also push early adoption of tools like Cursor, v0, and Figma Make — not to shortcut the craft, but to multiply what's possible.

Driving Impact

Design is a business partner, not a service department. Every decision my team makes is grounded in real user research, validated through feedback, and measured by outcomes that matter to the business.

Ricardo bridges business context, user needs, and thoughtful design strategy in a way that brings clarity to the work and confidence to the team. He's deeply respected by his peers, stakeholders, and the people he leads.

— Lauren Singer Brolan, Director of Product Design, Capital One

How I lead in practice →

About

The products I'm most proud of are the ones where getting it wrong wasn't an option — tools built for people whose jobs depended on every pixel being right. Front-line workers, customer-facing teams, operational systems at scale. But the through-line isn't the industry — it's the standard. I bring that same level of rigor to every product I lead, because the people using what we build deserve nothing less.

I started as a designer who cared obsessively about craft. Over time I learned that craft without strategy is just taste, and strategy without craft is just a deck. The leader I've become holds both.

I write about design leadership on my Substack, No Barriers to Entry. If you're building something that demands great design and you care deeply about the culture behind it, let's talk.

Ricardo De Azua

Let's Talk

I'm not looking for just anything — I'm looking for the right thing. If you're building products that demand great design and you care deeply about the culture behind it, I'd genuinely love to connect.

LinkedIn No Barriers to Entry Email Download Resume