Available · 2026 · Lead UX · Available · 2026 · Lead UX · Available · 2026 · Lead UX · Available · 2026 · Lead UX
Open to new roles · 2026
United States
Available remote
Or willing to relocate

Designing complex financial products people actually understand.

SINCE 2014 · BUILT WITH INTENT · SINCE 2014 · BUILT WITH INTENT ·
/ About
I'm Jose Togbe, a lead UX designer with a decade of experience designing for financial services, insurance, and healthcare. I focus on the kind of complex, regulated products where clarity matters most.
/ How I work
I partner with cross-functional teams to translate research into design decisions, validate ideas through rapid prototyping, and ship work that delivers measurable business outcomes.
37% lower exit rates · Navy Federal
40% faster profile updates · Citi
30% account-linking adoption · Morgan Stanley × E*TRADE
+25% projected goal completion · TIAA
7 Fortune 500 brands shipped
37% lower exit rates · Navy Federal
40% faster profile updates · Citi
30% account-linking adoption · Morgan Stanley × E*TRADE
+25% projected goal completion · TIAA
7 Fortune 500 brands shipped

My work lives in industries that aren't known for great design. Finance, insurance, healthcare. That's exactly why I've stayed in them. The constraints are real, the stakes are high, and the impact of getting it right reaches millions of people.

A note from Jose
A new way of working

From twelve weeks
to two.

I work within a modern operating model where product, UX, front-end, back-end, and QA collaborate as a single huddle. We shape, build, and validate features in the same sessions, eliminating traditional handoffs and feedback loops.

The team's coded design system lives in GitHub and serves as the source of truth for Cursor, which generates production-ready UI in step. Front-end and back-end engineers integrate that output with our data layer and services, while product owners validate in real time and QA runs automated test suites in parallel.

The result is a meaningful reduction in time to market. Features that previously took 8 to 12 weeks now ship in 2 to 4. My role remains anchored in research, IA, and design thinking. The model simply lets that work reach users faster.

How I work today
Sprint cycle In session
8 to 12
Weeks · before
2 to 4
Weeks · now
01 / Source
Design system in code
02 / Generate
Cursor builds UI
03 / Integrate
Devs wire the stack
04 / Validate
PO & auto QA
J
UX Designer
Research · IA · Prototype
You
PO
Product Owner
Scope · Validate
FE
Front-end Dev
Interfaces · Interactions
BE
Back-end Dev
APIs · Logic
QA
QA
Automated tests
Stack Cursor GitHub Figma Miro
01 / Selected work

Selected
case studies.

2022 to 2024
Citi · Navy Federal
Morgan Stanley · TIAA
01
37%
Navy Federal Credit Union
Mortgage experience redesign
Redesigned the mortgage application platform around the actual moments members got stuck, simplifying navigation and clarifying the path to approval. Resulted in 37% lower exit rates on key pages.
Read
37%
Navy Federal · Mortgage
02
30%
Morgan Stanley × E*TRADE
Platform integration after acquisition
Designed a unified account-linking experience to bring E*Trade and Morgan Stanley customers together post-acquisition, navigating two distinct mental models to earn user trust during a critical transition.
Read
unified
Morgan Stanley × E*TRADE
03
40%
Citi
Profile management redesign
Restructured the profile management interface around user task frequency, separating high-volume updates from high-stakes changes. Delivered a 40% reduction in time to complete common actions.
Read
40%
Citi · Profile
04
+25%
TIAA
Health & wellness app concept
End-to-end concept for a goal-tracking app combining progress visualization, personalized recommendations, and optional coaching. Validated through prototyping with a projected 25% lift in goal completion.
Read
+25%
TIAA · Health concept
02 / Approach

How I approach
the work.

Three principles
refined over a decade
Principle 01

Anchor every project
to a measurable outcome.

Before design begins, I establish what success looks like for users and for the business. A clearly defined metric, whether that's conversion, completion time, or satisfaction, shapes the trade-offs the team makes through the rest of the project.

Principle 02

Drive alignment
through artifacts.

When stakeholders stall, the issue is usually abstraction. Journey maps, service blueprints, and decision logs make trade-offs visible and decisions durable. A team that can point to the same artifact moves faster than one that can't.

Principle 03

Design within compliance,
not around it.

I've shipped inside HMDA, TRID, TILA, and a range of fiduciary frameworks. Regulation is a design constraint, no different from accessibility or screen size. The strongest solutions make those guardrails feel like guidance rather than friction.

03 / Recommendations

What collaborators
have to say.

Four selected
more on LinkedIn
01
Senior Researcher

One of the most talented, empathetic, strategic and creative individuals I've collaborated with. He brings a visionary perspective while ensuring the finer details align with the broader goals.

Erin Spottswood
Sr. Experience Researcher
02
Research Director

An intelligent and intuitive information architect. His skills are top-notch and his breadth of experience across business environments brings a broad spectrum of expertise to every engagement.

Jim Dalglish
Director, UX Research & Strategy
03
Content Designer

As a UX writer, I couldn't ask for a better partner. Jose's keen design insights and openness to feedback have elevated our work, making it truly user-centered.

Gopa Shahane
UX Content Designer
04
Design Manager

His insights and data-driven approach have enhanced the team's strategies. He possesses an exceptional ability to empathize with users, extracting meaningful and actionable insights that drive our design decisions.

Chris Garvey
Sr. Manager, Experience Design
04 / Get in touch End of file

Let's work together. Get in touch.

I'm currently open to senior, lead, and principal UX roles, full-time or contract. I'm particularly interested in teams working on ambitious problems in financial services, insurance, or healthcare. Available remote, hybrid, or open to relocation for the right opportunity.