Colton Schweitzer

At Kickass UX, we're on a mission to empower graphic designers to craft a career they love and achieve financial success.

Co-Founder

Jeff White

Improving Medtech software ➤ Advancing UX careers with storytelling @ uxstorytelling.io/course ➤ UX Consultant ➤ UX Designer & Educator

In 20+ years as a UX/UI designer I've shipped hundreds of apps, websites, and features for big tech companies like Amazon and Motorola all the way down to tiny startups being run from a garage. 

5 years into my career I co-published an article about Agile UX work a colleague and I were doing at a broadcast retail company.

That led to several speaking engagements, and 1.5 years later I was in Seattle presenting the design for Kindle for iPhone 1.0 to Jeff Bezos.

I worked at Amazon for 6 years where I:

→ Designed and shipped dozens of Kindle reading apps used by millions
→ Got promoted 3 times
→ Managed and lead teams
→ Worked on highly visible "special projects"
→ Presented to Jeff Bezos and other execs more times than I can remember
 
And then I got burned out. 

So to recover I co-founded a tech startup. This is not a joke. This is also probably not advice I would give to anyone. 

The startup fizzled out quickly but it was my first exposure to entrepreneurship and I was hooked.

I didn't know what to do, I just knew I wanted to continue being out on my own.

With the help of others I started contracting. Over time that grew into a 7 figure design firm called Stepladder. 

Things about Stepladder that I'm proud of:

→ Short but impressive list of long time clients. We form partnerships.
→ 100% referral based
→ 97% of clients become return customers
→ Experienced designers come here to have more freedom in their life
→ Younger designers come here to get started and learn

I never dreamed that I would speak at conferences, work at a big tech name, or start companies. Yet here I am 20 years later incredibly fortunate, full of gratitude, sometimes a bit tired, and having learned:

→ You can't do it alone
→ Helping people is the best part of this job

I share what I've learned over the years here on LinkedIn and work with clients at www.stepladderUX.com.

Thanks for reading.

taplio

The Battle

Colton Schweitzer

Jeff White

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?