Phillip Le
Phillip Le

Phillip Le:
Product Designer
& Storyteller

I design by building bridges between users and interfaces, ideas and action, cultures and behavior, products and people, teams and their work, stakeholders and makers, thinkers and doers, communities and individuals.

 
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Directing Product Design & Strategy

I love experiences and I love stories. And in loving them so much I spend most of my time designing them and telling them. I currently do so for Xfinity Mobile as an Associate Creative Director.

What does that mean exactly?

It means I live at the intersection of technology and product, leading a nimble and tenacious band of forward-thinking designers to tactically execute while simultaneously working to identify unique and uncontested white-spaces all in service of a new, more modern approach to mobile. I use storytelling and framing and design to uncover north stars, to find the centerline in crafting a vision for the products, services, teams, and people for whom I create.

Below are some principles I’ve borrowed from some of the greats, applying them to the way I do work:

  • People first, always

  • There is a difference between working towards the evolution versus the revolution of a product or design—both are important

  • The experience is the product

  • Doing is the best kind of thinking

  • The middle gets messy and that’s where the real work begins

  • It’s all the job

  • To do it all, learn to care less without being careless

  • Embrace open-mind and close-mind in the right places

  • Learn positive inversion: every stumbling block is a potential for opportunity

  • Stay curious and seek awe in the seemingly mundane

  • Always forward

Resume

Directing product, strategy, design, and experience, I oversee product teams, design teams, and work streams associated with a new Xfinity Mobile strategic initiative. I partner alongside our internal lines of business as well as our external partners to provide creative guidance on the end-to-end cross-channel experience. I work to optimize forward progress while identifying unique, uncontested white-spaces by reconstructing existing market boundaries. Prior, I led a team to design, implement, and launch core parts of Xfinity Mobile’s digital-first experience. I am always seeking to innovate designs alongside the teams I lead, raise, uphold, and serve.

 

Experience

Xfinity Mobile, Comcast Associate Creative Director
Philadelphia, PA
Nov 2017 — Present

Xfinity Mobile, Comcast
Senior Design Lead
Philadelphia, PA
Sep 2016 — Nov 2017

Think Company
Senior Experience Designer
Philadelphia, PA
Apr 2015 — Sep 2016

RJMetrics
Product Designer
Philadelphia, PA
Feb 2015 — Apr 2015

Leadnomics
Digital Strategist
Philadelphia, PA
May 2014 — Feb 2015

Alzheimer’s Association  Education & Experience Coordinator
Philadelphia, PA
Sep 2012 — Jun 2014

Alteva
Designer
Philadelphia, PA
Oct 2010 – Jun 2012

 

Education

M.S. User Experience + Interactive Design
Philadelphia University
(Thomas Jefferson University)
Jan 2007 — May 2009

B.A. Visual Communication
Arcadia University
Sept 2001 to May 2005

Film Studies + Sociology
Auckland University
Jul 2003 to Nov 2003

 

Organizations

Emerging Leader
Greater Philadelphia
Cultural Alliance    
Oct 2018 — Present

Chair
PhillyCHI
Dec 2013 — Jan 2015

AIGA Mentor
AIGA
Jan 2015 — Jan 2016

Gung Fu Instructor
Kwong Sai Jook Lum Gung Fu Philadelphia Branch
May 2006 — Present

Early-Stage Support
Group Volunteer
Alzheimer’s Association      
Oct 2014 — Oct 2016

 

Skills & Abilities

Communicative

Empathetic

Collaborative

Leadership

Creative Direction

Storyteller

UX

UI

Design Thinking

Product Strategy

Information Architecture

User Centric Design

 
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“The world in which you were born is just one model of reality.

Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you; they are unique manifestations of the human spirit.”
— Wade Davis
“People first. Always. It’s that simple.” . Continuing my series sharing principles and values I abide by and/or am striving to put into practice, this week's principle is around people. As designers, we consider the people we design for (and hopefully in retrospect, for the people we impact when we fail to consider them.) . As leaders and coaches, we consider how we deliver direction and guidance as much as what it is we deliver. This is tied with intentionality, not simply of outcomes, but also of impact. . Putting people first can be difficult in situations of high-stakes, prioritized with outputs and delivery. It sometimes puts us in a position where we forget—as leaders, designers, and coaches—that we are serving people. Those we make things for, and those with whom we are charged helping grow. When we are in those moments, taking a step back and realizing that all that we do is about relating and relationships may help us out people back to first. . Always.
My godmother, whom I simply call bà ngoại (Vietnamese for maternal grandmother) was the first person to see me born, taking care of me in the hospital room while my mom recuperated on my first day in the world. It was great to see her today ❤️.
A beautiful time with the family today. We will miss you, @thenadiali and @tonykauff! We’ll continue playing Jedi School from our childhood in Nashville!
Happy Birthday, Greg!!!
“Balance creating and consuming. Whether you’re creating opportunities for others or yourself, creating creative works, creating space, creating time for self-care, see if you can create more than you consume.” . Continuing my series sharing principles and values I abide by and/or am striving to put into practice, this week's principle is around creating and consuming. We live in a society sustained by consumption and at times forget that what makes the world worth while is the meaning we bring into it. Those of us with the aptitude to create should not forget to do so, and whilst consuming, (remember, creating may be creative works, but also opportunities, relationships, optimism,recipes, training routines, and/or happiness) proactively balance our consuming with what we bring forth into the world.
Old meets new. Spent last night kicking back indoors digging out my 13 year old DS Lite and playing a 11 year old game I never beat, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, together with my Master & Dynamic cans for an old school stay-at-home adventure. #nerdingout #nintendo #nintendodslite #dslite #castlevania #metroidvania #igavania #konami #gaming #masteranddynamic
Chúc mừng năm mới! Happy Lunar New Year to you and your families! #tet2019 #chinesenewyear2019
“Embrace ambiguity. Ambiguity is where innovation is wrought to life. Find and form the threads from amidst the unknown.” Continuing my series sharing principles and values I abide by and/or am striving to put into practice, this week's principle addresses the notion of ambiguity and our inherent discomfort with it. There are times to be surgical and precise with our approach, especially if we have all the considerations sorted out before us. And then there are other times as designers—or simply individuals attempting to learn and broaden our worldview—our job is to way-find, accepting the required open mindedness to embrace the ambiguous.
"Care less without being careless. It's the only way to accomplish all the things you want to get done." . Continuing my series sharing principles and values I abide by and/or am striving to put into practice, this week's principle addresses the the relationship between prioritization and accountability. It helps focus in on when to sweat the important stuff and, more importantly, when not sweat the little stuff that has less impact on your outputs and priorities. . I tell my gung fu students all the time, "you can achieve it all, but not all at the same time." Prioritizing based on what you're accountable for and knowing what to give your attention to now is key.
Boy does this Midori just get more beautiful with age. It’s been a weekend of creative pursuits, finding time to hunker down in solace for the majority of time to write and draft several projects along the way. Alongside all of that work is this trusty little notebook to help storyframe every step of the way. #midori #storyframe #notebook #sketch #writing
Impromptu night with my brother Brian. #brothers #philadelphia #fishtown

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