Peter Bartsch — Staff / Principal Product Designer

PETER BARTSCH

I make complex systems usable — and get them adopted — at scale.

I solve the adoption problems that stall organizations: forced adoption, platform fragmentation, trust in uncertain data.

And I don't stop at the spec — I build it: the front-end, the design system in code, the parametric CAD, the hardware. AI-native tooling lets me ship solo.

Email me → See the Work Download Portfolio (PDF) ↓

Prefer to click through it? View the interactive version (Figma) ↗

Peter Bartsch, Staff / Principal Product Designer

34% → 87%Adoption at Deere

$3.8BRevenue enabled

500KUsers reached

6Surfaces in sync

Built & led design teams 1→10. I build the systems, not just design them.

// OPEN TO: Staff, Principal, or hands-on leadership — I optimize for the team and the work, not the title.

DESIGNRESEARCHFRONT-ENDPROTOTYPINGHARDWARE / CADSYSTEMS

// WHAT I DO

Five patterns, one job: I make complex systems trustworthy enough to adopt — at scale.

01Making uncertainty understandableFourKites · +41% retention → 3× expansion
02Driving adoption without coercionDeere · 34%→87% completion · $3.8B enabled
03Unifying fragmented platformsDeere · 47 properties · 0 downtime · 40+ teams
04Finding value inside constraintsGogo · in-flight tracker 0→1 · always-on revenue
05Building systems that stay alignedThios · design systems as executable specs

These patterns repeat across agriculture, aviation, logistics, mobility, healthcare & open hardware.

click this

// HOW I THINK

Most organizations think they have a UX problem when they actually have a trust problem, an incentives problem, or an alignment problem. Adoption is where those collide — you can ship a beautiful flow and still watch people route around it. I look for the leverage point where product, business, and user needs intersect, and design from there. AI just means one operator can now build all the way to that point, not just spec it.

Enterprise Design Systems Design Org Leadership (1→10) Forced Adoption & Retention 0→1 in Complex Domains AI-Native Workflow

// CASE STUDIES

Not a highlight reel — the calls, the tradeoffs, and what I'd do differently.

ENTERPRISE · FORCED ADOPTION

DEERE: 34%→87% ADOPTION AT SCALE

Drove forced adoption 34%→87% across 500K users — unlocking $3.8B without breaking trust.

Challenge: 500K users were actively avoiding profile completion — every empty field blocked $3.8B in connected-services revenue.

Approach: Led design of a multi-channel forced adoption flow across 8 product lines without destroying trust

Result: 34%→87% profile completion in 6 months · $3.8B revenue enabled

VIEW CASE STUDY →

DATA TRUST

FOURKITES: DESIGNING FOR UNCERTAINTY

Turned distrusted dashboards into million-dollar calls — +41% retention, 3× expansion.

Challenge: Enterprise customers were making million-dollar decisions on dashboards they didn't trust — because we hid uncertainty instead of explaining it.

Approach: Led redesign introducing confidence levels that showed uncertainty instead of hiding it

Result: 41% retention increase · 3× customer expansion · $1B+ valuation

VIEW CASE STUDY →

FOUNDER · 6-SURFACE SYSTEM

THIOS: ONE SOURCE OF TRUTH, SIX SURFACES

Built a complete product company solo — six surfaces, one source of truth, agents as the team.

Challenge: 6 sub-brands across 4 production sites plus an OnShape CAD source. Drift is the default, not a possibility.

Approach: Six canonical surfaces (DESIGN.md ↔ tokens.json ↔ main.css ↔ design-system.html ↔ OnShape ↔ Figma) kept aligned by agent-driven audits.

Result: 6 surfaces in sync · 212 design tokens · 7 drift findings caught in May audit · 1 designer

VIEW CASE STUDY →

// MORE CASE STUDIES

From $3M startups to $38B enterprises

Technical Depth

STRATEGY TO CODE — THREE.JS, REACT, AR

Built a real-time 3D product configurator with AR preview as a side project. Staff designers who can prototype in code close the gap between vision and shipping.

Try the Configurator

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2020-2024	Senior Lead UX; Digital Customer Experience	John Deere
	Problem: 500K+ users weren't completing profiles — blocking $3.8B in connected-services revenue Result: 34%→87% completion; unified nav across 8 product lines; design system adopted by 40+ teams Approach: Led multi-channel forced adoption; helped establish the enterprise design system 40+ teams now build on; 45% faster handoffs View Case Study →
2017-2020	Lead UX / Manager	FourKites
	Problem: Customers didn't trust dashboards built on incomplete data Result: $3M→$100M ARR; 41% retention increase; 3× expansion; company reached $1B+ valuation Approach: Led UX redesign showing confidence levels openly; built predictive ETAs ahead of competitors; grew team 1→10 View Case Study →
2014-2017	Senior UX + Agile Lead	MavenWave Partners
2012-2014	Product Marketing Manager	Nokia (HERE Maps)
2024-Pres	Designer & Founder	Thios + Co
	Problem: Between roles: build an entire product company solo — brand, web, configurator, design system, hardware Result: Brand + 3 websites + 6 sphere variants + first revenue, in under two years Approach: AI as the build mechanism (design, code, CAD); proof of end-to-end technical range View Case Study →

OTHER PIXELS

// side projects & experiments — more landing here over time

Complex systems don't fail because they're technically impossible. They fail because people won't adopt them. That's the problem I've spent my career solving.

LET'S TALK

Let's build something that gets adopted.

Chicago-based. Open to remote or relocation. I reply within 1 business day.

Prefer email? peter@peterbartsch.com · LinkedIn