# Austin Keeble

**Design Leader · Player-Coach · Builder**  
Status: Working at Dune

Design leadership for teams that ship daily. Player-coach mentality, builder by default.

Work with robots, design for humans.

## Looking for

Director / Head of Design at top-tier product companies — a place where one Head of Design owns the whole function and still ships. Anthropic, Linear, Vercel, Ramp, Deel, Figma, Stripe — and high-growth scale-ups of the same shape. Open to Principal or Design Engineering Lead at smaller cos.

Berlin · Lugano · Athens · remote-friendly · Q3 2026

## Stats

- **20K+ companies** — Lead design at Dune, the data platform 20,000 companies trust.
- **1 rebrand** — Orchestrating Dune's company-wide rebrand — product, web, events, merch, system.
- **1,600+ designers** — Taught and mentored 1,600 designers across six regions.
- **7 hires** — Built the FT design team as Interim Lead — trained seven, mentored two.
- **$6M Series A** — Brand at Voltz / Reya through a Framework Ventures Series A.
- **Chair advisory** — Chaired GA's Product Advisory Board — curriculum across 38 markets.

## Mentors and mentees say

> "A powerhouse of a person. I transitioned my career into UX under Austin and quickly found myself in a safe, creative space where we were free to experiment and learn. I wouldn't be the designer I am today without him."  
> — **Kelly Palmer**, Apple

> "Super engaging, clearly passionate about design and education. Equipped me with the skills I needed — I've been offered a UX Researcher role at the NHS."  
> — **Hannah Sawbridge**, NHS

> "Austin has a rockstar quality — cool, likable, excellent in his craft. Crisp, clear, engaging as a speaker and startup mentor."  
> — **Rio Otoyo**, Google

> "Even though he didn't know me well when we first met, he went the extra mile to listen to my career aspirations so I could have the best start possible in UX. Knowledgeable, approachable, kind."  
> — **Helene O'Brien**, Manifesto

> "He created an inclusive, comfortable environment and tailored the workshop to our organisation's needs. Cross-cultural sensitivities and a friendly teaching environment."  
> — **Hina Siddiq**, CNN

> "Brilliant teaching assistant on the GA UX course. He went above and beyond — started a pre-class coffee club so we could get extra feedback on our projects."  
> — **Amy Goodchild**, UsTwo

> "Super engaging, useful tips and tricks, always there to lend a hand. Highly recommended for anyone looking to switch or level up creative careers."  
> — **Debbie So**, Deloitte Digital

> "Put aside how obviously talented he is with UX — his consistently kind and sincere approach is an incredibly valuable skill. Look at UX as a larger picture; have principles and stick to them."  
> — **Mark Winter**, British Telecom

## Activity

- `2026.05.01` **PROJECT** — Dune's Data Discovery Reset _(Dune)_
- `2026.03.01` **WRITING** — 200 PRs and counting — A Designer's Retrospective _(LinkedIn)_
- `2025.12.08` **PROJECT** — DuneCon25 Buenos Aires _(Dune)_
- `2025.11.01` **PROJECT** — Rebrand: A New Dune _(Dune)_
- `2022.05.01` **TEACHING** — Leveling up 4,000+ Designers _(Google · General Assembly)_
- `2016.07.01` **PROJECT** — Timeless Design at the Financial Times _(Financial Times)_
- `2025.02.28` **TALK** — Bridging Worlds: Welcoming Users Without Losing Natives _(ETHDenver)_
- `2024.11.14` **TALK** — Do you really know your users? _(Devcon SEA)_
- `2024.05.01` **PROJECT** — Joined Dune — crypto's data platform _(Dune)_
- `2022.06.01` **PROJECT** — Founding designer at Otterspace _(Otterspace)_
- `2022.03.30` **PROJECT** — Founded Human Robot — design studio _(Human Robot)_
- `2022.03.29` **PROJECT** — Brand & landing page for Taxtris _(Taxtris)_
- `2022.02.28` **PROJECT** — Brand for $6M Series A — Voltz / Reya _(Voltz)_
- `2022.01.31` **TALK** — Lead Instructor — UX Immersive, 4,000 students _(General Assembly)_
- `2022.01.31` **PROJECT** — Pixel Cyborgs NFT collection _(Unemployables)_
- `2021.12.31` **TALK** — Product Discovery course — 2,000+ enrolled _(Adevinta)_
- `2021.12.31` **PROJECT** — Design ops & accessibility for UN ITU _(United Nations)_
- `2021.12.01` **TALK** — Talks & startup mentorship — Launchpad _(Google Developers)_
- `2021.11.30` **TALK** — Launched Creative Career Lab _(Career Lab)_
- `2021.06.01` **TEACHING** — UX in EdTech: Designing Good User Experiences for Learners and Educators (1x) _(General Assembly)_
- `2021.03.01` **TEACHING** — Start Up Your Idea in 5 Days (1x) _(General Assembly)_
- `2020.10.01` **TEACHING** — Navigate Your Design Career & Fulfill Your Creative Potential (2x) _(General Assembly)_
- `2020.06.01` **TEACHING** — User Experience Design Remote / Online (9x) _(General Assembly)_
- `2020.02.01` **TEACHING** — Break Into User Experience Design: A Free Class (2x) _(General Assembly)_
- `2019.11.01` **TEACHING** — Intro to Wireframing & Prototyping: A Free Class (2x) _(General Assembly)_
- `2019.10.01` **TEACHING** — Two-day User Experience Design Bootcamp (9x) _(General Assembly)_
- `2019.06.01` **TEACHING** — User Experience Design Bootcamp (14x) _(General Assembly)_
- `2019.04.01` **TEACHING** — Prototyping Bootcamp: Intro to Sketch3 & InVision (3x) _(General Assembly)_
- `2019.03.01` **TEACHING** — User Experience Design Immersive (5x) _(General Assembly)_
- `2019.01.01` **TEACHING** — User Experience Design (22x) _(General Assembly)_
- `2016.07.01` **PROJECT** — Interim Design Lead — myFT, FastFT, mobile nav _(Financial Times)_
- `2016.05.01` **PROJECT** — Redesigned STA Rail online booking _(STA Travel)_
- `2016.01.01` **PROJECT** — Audi apprenticeship recruitment _(Audi)_

## Elsewhere

- [Email](mailto:austin@humanrobot.io)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/austinkeeb)
- [Substack](https://keebs.substack.com/)
- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinkeeble)