Adam Grabowski
DESIGN LEADER & TEAM BUILDER
Stalwart leader with 20 years experience leveraging human-centered design to solve complex problems and drive business impact. Proven track record in managing and scaling globally distributed research and design teams to deliver innovative solutions. Collaborative innovator who bridges business, technology, and user needs to create user-centric solutions that fuel growth.
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Coach & Team Builder
Determined to help team members grow and develop; constantly looking to mature and add team capabilites
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20 Years Experience
In-house design and research for complex B2B projects in building systems and healthcare procurement
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Multi-Disciplinary
Experienced leading digital UX, user research, industiral design, and service design at scale
Design isn’t aesthetics, human-centered design is a powerful tool that solves complex challenges and can create impactful products and services. It's about understanding people and addressing their needs.
And design is a team sport in which the best outcomes through collaboration.
My Philosophy
Case Studies
Design Thinking Workshops
Built and scaled our team’s workshop capability to enable co-creation with customers and support senior leaders on strategic initiatives; asked to extend a program for C-level client discussions
Research Insights Repository
Launched an AI-powered user research repository, democratizing access to user insights across the enterprise and driving engagement, with ~100 internal subscribers within the first year
Design Team
Charter
Established a team charter that forged a shared team identity during a significant reorganization, served as promotional material for new stakeholders, and made for smoother integration for new members
Featured Work
Metasys Alarm Notification Redesign
This feature was so hated that one customer created a YouTube video instructing others how to turn it off. And it had 5,700+ views!
Redesigning a feature with such a bad reputation is a tall order. But at least the bar was really, really low.
Check out how we turned this around.
SNC On-Device Display
Integrated display on the SNC controller line. The UI displays current values, historical trends, alarm events, and allows users to make local changes, all on a 2-inch display.
My role: Design Director
Fault Triage
This comprehensive report is part of a fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) offering. It provides Technicians with telemetry data for each fault event, a plain language description of the issue, work history, and possible root causes.
My role: Lead Designer
Visual Logic Builder
Johnson Controls developed its own proprietary programming language for their controllers. Originally written in Java, I was tasked with modernizing the look and feel and improving its usability.
My role: Lead Designer
Recommendations
“While I very much respect Adam’s abilities at his craft, he is especially good at talent development. I have seen numerous people on his team move into other greater roles, be stronger in their ability supporting our advisory councils from his ability to coach and support.”
“[Adam] stands out as a servant leader with a positive attitude, and is able to maintain that positively even amidst tremendous change. He ensured that the team’s experience was always prioritized, and his open, transparent style of leadership fostered trust across the board.”
“Adam is a person who you *want* to follow, which is a quality that I’d wager is quite rare in Industry. Adam is a consummate professional, and has a rare management quality in that he effectively balances both the needs of the organization with the needs of his direct reports. I *always knew* Adam was in my corner.”
Want to workshop better?
Download my Field Guide for Workshop Facilitation
for more tips and my favorite workshop activities.
Talks I’ve Given
Storytelling for Influence
Given at Mount Mary University
Key thoughts: Storytelling is an essential skill for designers and researchers to articulate their reasoning and influence decisions.
The Hidden Value of Workshopping
Given at Brew City UX
Workshops are a fantastic way to collaborate with cross-functional partners. They are also a way that design teams can grow relationship power.
Featured Articles
What I’ve Learned About Supporting Career Growth as a Design Leader
by Adam Grabowski
May 21, 2025
When I first became a manager I struggled with meaningful career conversations with my employees. Part of the challenge was that I hadn’t had many of these conversations myself as an individual contributor. So I was occasionally caught off guard by employees asserting their readiness for promotion and I didn’t know how to respond.
Over time I developed a perspective and approach that made me a more confident leader and better supported my team. And in today’s dynamic work environment, it’s even more important to foster growth-minded teams.
📊 According to Gartner:
Employees who feel supported in their career growth are up to 39% more likely to be high performers
And 19% more likely to stay with their organization.
Leaders that invest in clear career pathways and ongoing career conversations can build stronger, more effective teams.