Justin
Smith

Product Design Leader

Senior Manager of Product Design with nearly two decades crafting user-centered experiences across entertainment, sports, and gaming — blending design craft with deep domain expertise.

Sports & Gaming Entertainment Design Systems Team Leadership Product Strategy
View My Work Get in Touch
~20
Years of experience
1
Emmy award winner
1
Awarded patent
10+
Direct reports led
🏆
Emmy Award
Honored for outstanding digital experience design.
📋
Patent Holder
Awarded for an design of a recommendation engine innovation
🎓
Georgia Tech
MS in HCI & BS in Computational Media

About me

Design leader at the
intersection of craft & strategy.

I'm a Product Design Leader based in Atlanta, GA, with close to two decades of experience building digital products that reach millions of users. My career has lived at the intersection of fun and functional — from the creative chaos of Cartoon Network to the data-intensive world of fantasy sports, prediction markets, and betting.

What makes my work distinct isn't just design craft — it's the rare combination of deep domain expertise and genuine user empathy. I've shipped award-winning products, built and mentored high-performing teams, crafted visionary product strategies, and translated complex business goals into experiences that feel effortless.

I hold a Master's in Human-Computer Interaction and a BS in Computational Media from Georgia Tech I and bring a strategic, systems-thinking lens to every project I lead.

I'm currently targeting Director of Product Design roles in sports, gaming, or entertainment — where the stakes are high and design genuinely moves the needle.

Senior Manager, Product Design
PrizePicks · 2025–Present
Senior Manager, Product Design
FanDuel · 2021–2025
Senior Product Designer / UX Manager
Cartoon Network · 2011–2020
MS, Human-Computer Interaction
Georgia Institute of Technology
BS, Computational Media
Georgia Institute of Technology

Selected work

Case studies.

A look at the problems I've led, the teams I've built, and the outcomes that followed.

Product Design Kids & Families UX Research

Cartoon Network · 2011–2020

Reimagining digital entertainment for the next generation of fans

Led end-to-end design for flagship digital experiences serving millions of kids and families globally — from web and mobile apps to interactive streaming features — earning Emmy and Peabody recognition along the way.

Led design across the full CN digital portfolio, including web, iOS, and Android apps
Contributed to Emmy Award-winning and Peabody-recognized projects
Grew from individual contributor to managing a team of designers
Request full case study
Sports Betting Data Visualization Design Leadership

PrizePicks · 2020–Present

Scaling design at a hyper-growth fantasy sports platform

Built and led a product design team through rapid growth, shaping the user experience of one of the fastest-growing daily fantasy platforms in the country — balancing user trust, regulatory complexity, and competitive engagement mechanics.

Managed a team of 5 designers across multiple concurrent product lines
Owned end-to-end UX for core pick entry, contest, and onboarding flows
Drove design process standardization and cross-team alignment with Engineering and Product
Request full case study
Design Systems Team Leadership Systems Thinking

Cross-company · Ongoing

Building design systems that scale teams, not just interfaces

Across both Cartoon Network and PrizePicks, I've architected and evangelized design systems that reduced inconsistency, accelerated delivery, and helped design teams operate as strategic partners rather than order-takers.

Established component libraries, token systems, and documentation standards
Reduced design-to-handoff cycle times through shared patterns and tooling
Enabled faster onboarding of new designers by codifying decisions and rationale
Request full case study

Experience

Where I've been,
what I've built.

A career defined by high-profile products, great teams, and relentless focus on the user.

2020 — Present
Senior Manager, Product Design
PrizePicks · Atlanta, GA
Leading a team of 5 product designers on one of the fastest-growing daily fantasy platforms in the US. Responsible for end-to-end UX strategy, design team operations, cross-functional collaboration with Product and Engineering, and elevating design's role as a strategic business partner.
2011 — 2020
Senior Product Designer → Design Manager
Cartoon Network / Turner / WarnerMedia · Atlanta, GA
Spent 9 years helping define digital entertainment for kids and families globally. Progressed from IC to people manager, leading design across web, mobile, and streaming products. Contributed to Emmy Award-winning and Peabody-recognized work. Drove design system adoption and cross-functional alignment across a large, distributed org.
Prior roles
Product & UX Designer
Various agencies & digital studios · Atlanta, GA
Built a foundation in interaction design, user research, and digital media across agency and in-house environments — developing the full-stack design sensibility that underpins everything I do today.
Core Skills
Product Strategy
UX / Interaction Design
Design Systems
User Research
Team Leadership
Figma / Prototyping
Data-Informed Design
MS, Human-Computer Interaction
Georgia Institute of Technology
BS, Computational Media
Georgia Institute of Technology
Request My Resume

Let's connect

Open to the right
opportunity.

I'm actively exploring Director of Product Design opportunities in sports, gaming, and entertainment. If you're building something ambitious and need a design leader who gets the domain — let's talk.

Email xenoabe@gmail.com
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/xenoabe
Location Atlanta, GA · Open to remote