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Chris Risdon

Senior Staff Designer on eBay's AI Foundations team; co-author of Orchestrating Experiences and longtime service-design leader (Adaptive Path, Capital One, IBM Watson).

SeniorLeads from the middleHybrid schoolAISystemsProduct
He is actively building and theorizing AI-era design from inside an AI org while framing AI as connective tissue that shields users and keeps human judgment central — the elevate, not hollow, posture.

Signature win. Defined and popularized modern service/experience design through Orchestrating Experiences and his Adaptive Path work, then carried that systems lens into frontier AI thinking like Large Pattern Models.

The case

editorial · CCBEI · with sources
CraftCo-author of Orchestrating Experiences and an Adaptive Path/Capital One/IBM service-design lineage; frames craft as redistributing complexity (Tesler's Law) to protect the end-human, not pushing pixels.9
CommunicationPublished author, adjunct professor, A List Apart contributor, and frequent podcast/conference voice who makes service design legible across product and design orgs.9
BusinessHeld head-of-design roles (Capital One Labs, Getaround) and argues service design must live in the product org and be measured by prioritization influence, not just shipped features; less P&L/exec altitude than pure operators.7
Education[Education recalibrated toward editorial baseline] Adjunct professor at CCA teaching interaction and service design to the next generation, plus a book and body of writing whose explicit job is growing the practice.6
InnovationOriginal generative-UI thinking ('Large Pattern Models,' 'The Undesigned Interface') that keeps humans as the judgment/orchestration layer and uses AI to shield users from complexity — elevate, not hollow.9

Endorsed by peers

illustrative · opens with verified accounts
OverallI'd work for them59
CraftRaised my craft bar68
CommunicationMade the case for design68
BusinessMade design matter to the business53
EducationTaught me something I still use46
InnovationShowed me a new way to work68

Verified peers only — one tap with LinkedIn. Names stay private; we show role and industry. Bars are illustrative until the participation backend is live.

Stories

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