Design that delivers.

Sixteen battle-tested years of transforming complexity into clarity — building products and leading teams where craft, strategy, and humanity converge.

Group of people standing and sitting near large windows displaying photos of cars, with some individuals engaged in conversation.
A presentation slide with three sections titled 'What', 'Why', and 'How'. The content reads: 'Uncover what's needed.', 'Understand what should be built and why.', and 'Figure out how we should get it done.' In the foreground, a woman is sitting in fr
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A whiteboard with a detailed project plan or schedule titled 'DIGITAL STANDARD,' organized by weeks and days. It includes handwritten notes, colorful sticky notes with tasks, and a timeline with clear markers for different activities and deadlines.
A group of people sitting on a wooden floor, engaging in a group activity involving arranging or reading printed cards with words such as 'Careers,' 'Projects,' and 'People.' A woman with short dark hair is pointing at one of the cards, and a man wea
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Design as a strategic discipline.

I'm Kat Keesal — a product design leader who bridges the gap between business vision and human-centered experience. My work spans enterprise UX, consumer products, brand strategy, and design system architecture.

From leading digital transformation at Penn Mutual and Independence Blue Cross, to driving product culture at the Advertising Specialty Institute — I bring equal parts rigor and creativity to every engagement.

A track record of impact.

Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI)

2022 – Present

VP / Director, Product Design & Product Management

Led product design and management teams; transitioned design tooling from Sketch to Figma, improving cross-team collaboration and delivery velocity. Oversaw the end-to-end design of ASI's platform ecosystem.

Independence Blue Cross (IBX)

Earlier Career

Manager, UX Design

Managed UX design across a portfolio of health insurance digital products, leading a team focused on accessibility and patient-facing experience at scale.

Penn Mutual

Earlier Career

Enterprise UX Lead

Directed enterprise digital experience across web, software, and email. Led product initiatives for myWorth, collaborating with IM&T and business stakeholders to elevate digital touchpoints.

Tonic Design Co.

Earlier Career

Director, UX Strategy & Innovation

Core Innovation team member; drove user-centric digital strategy, leading research and conceptual design engagements for diverse clients.

What I bring to every table.

Full-stack design leadership — equally fluent in vision-setting, design sprints, and shipped UI.

Leadership

  • Team management & mentorship

  • Design Ops

  • Cross-functional collaboration

  • Executive alignment

  • Org design & hiring

UX & Product

  • End-to-end product design

  • User research & synthesis

  • Information architecture

  • Interaction design

  • Design systems

Strategy

  • Product roadmapping

  • Brand strategy

  • Digital experience strategy

  • Innovation facilitation

  • Market research

Tools

  • Figma · Sketch · Adobe CC

  • Agile / Scrum

  • Usability testing

  • Prototyping

  • Content strategy

Ready to build something great?

Whether you're looking for a design leader, a collaborator, or a fresh perspective — I'd love to hear from you.

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