About me

Designing with empathy, leading with clarity.

I'm a UX Strategy & DesignOps Leader with 15+ years of experience scaling design capabilities in complex organizations. I specialize in digital banking, design systems, UX governance, and building high-performing design teams.

My career took me from hands-on UX/UI design to leading Centers of Excellence, DesignOps transformations, and product strategy. The strongest narrative of my trajectory: from digital designer to a leader who designs products, systems, teams, and organizational UX capabilities.

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Andrés Ballén

Experience

Banco Itaú Colombia

UX/UI Design CoE Leader

Sep 2024 – Presente

Leading UX strategy for digital channels, aligning user experience, business, and regulation. Consolidated the Center of Excellence as a governance model, standards, and best practices. Implemented DesignOps to scale the design operation. Led multidisciplinary teams with role definitions, seniority levels, and growth paths. Coordinated with the Latam design unit and managed external agencies.

Renting TUIO

UX Director

Feb 2023 – Feb 2024

Built the UX practice from scratch, establishing a dedicated team to improve design practices and processes. Reduced subscription time from 3 days to 10 minutes by optimizing user flows. Improved NPS of customer service channels through DesignOps strategies. Created and evolved the design system. Coordinated service and product design teams.

Banco Itaú Colombia

UX Lead

Nov 2020 – Feb 2023

Streamlined product design processes, significantly reducing operational timelines. Reduced initiative estimation time by 40% through process improvements and agile management tools. Contributed 13+ new components to the regional Design System, enhancing consistency and reuse. Optimized the Handoff process with development teams, improving efficiency in project transitions.

DDB Colombia

UX/UI Director

2018–2020

Led UX/UI strategy and execution for major Colombian brands including BBVA, Corona, and Juan Valdez — combining user research with conversion-focused design.

TBWA Colombia

UX Lead & UX/UI Designer

2016–2018

Led UX strategy and interface design for digital campaigns and products, working with international brands across multiple industries.

Education

Universidad Nacional de Colombia

1997–2003

Artista Visual

Nuevas Tecnologías

Fundación Universitaria Los Libertadores

1994–1998

Tecnología Publicista

Diseño

BS Grupo

2016

Gestión de Proyectos

PMI / PMBOK

Certifications

UX-PM Level 1 — Adopting UX

UXalliance · 2020

UX-PM Level 2 — Executing UX

UXalliance · 2020

UX-PM Level 3 — Leading UX

UXalliance · 2020

Masterclass: Disruptive Design

Interaction Design Foundation · 2023

Masterclass: AI-Powered UX Design

Interaction Design Foundation · 2024

EF SET English Certificate C1 Advanced

EF SET · 2024

Skills & expertise

Strategy

  • UX Strategy
  • DesignOps
  • UX Governance
  • Product Strategy
  • Design Leadership

Design

  • Product Design
  • UI Design
  • Interaction Design
  • Information Architecture
  • Design Systems

Research

  • User Research
  • Usability Testing
  • Journey Mapping
  • Stakeholder Interviews
  • Card Sorting

Tools

  • Figma
  • FigJam
  • Notion
  • Jira
  • Miro
  • Adobe XD