I'm John Sellars, a Denver-based product designer who builds and ships design systems. For the last 17 years I've made government, healthcare, and automotive software easier to use. My most recent work has been to make AI interfaces more transparent and humane.
Experience
Government Technology
I designed interfaces for permitting, licensing, and land-management software used by state, county, and city governments
Designing for applications built through many acquisitions meant inheriting products built by other teams with their own components, patterns, and accessibility debt. I mapped each acquired interface against our design system, decided what to absorb and what to rebuild, and brought the merged UX to a consistent, WCAG 2.1 AA compliant surface.
In my most recent work, I used AI tooling to generate design-system-connected prototypes for user testing and dev handoff, shipped component, pattern, and token refinements by PR, and built working AI interfaces in React and Supabase for internal review and sales demos.
Contributions
Design-system architecture and governance, component library design and documentation, accessibility standards implementation and remediation (WCAG 2.1 AA, Section 508), interaction and interface design, advanced prototyping, UX engineering (HTML, CSS, JavaScript).
Role
Senior Product Designer | Accela
2022–2026
Agencies Served By My Work
Automotive
I designed the interfaces and support systems for an efficiency and safety-boosting automotive technology
My work for Derive Systems supported the launch of their technology on over 40,000 vehicles, including Comcast, the third largest fleet in the U.S.
Contributions
Mobile app interfaces for in-vehicle hardware, product naming and branding, sales and onboarding demos, qualitative research and testing.
Role
Senior UX Designer | Derive Systems
2018–2022
Healthcare
I’ve worked on a variety of healthcare solutions, from hospital and physician portals, to wellness and exercise trackers
I spent much of my career on healthcare because the design problems there have direct consequences for people's lives. I've worked with some of the largest hospital networks in the U.S., had my work featured in The New York Times, and contributed to collaborations between IBM and Apple.
Contributions
Interfaces for health and fitness tracker data, interfaces for data from medical equipment, UX engineering and front-end development.
Role
Senior UX Designer | Welltok
2015–2018
UX Designer/Engineer | Datū Health
2013–2015
Web Designer/E-Marketing Specialist | Lumeris
2009–2012
Finance
At Markit Digital in Boulder, Colorado, I worked on dozens of projects for many of their largest U.S. and international clients
Finance taught me to visualize large data sets and to work with several clients at once on one of the largest design teams in Colorado.
Contributions
Visualization of complex statistical and financial data, direct client relations, guiding development for junior designers.
Role
Designer | Markit Digital
2012–2013
INSPIRATION
Human-Computer Interaction Was A Common Theme In My Childhood Movies
While some depictions were dark, or even dystopian, there was usually a sense that, with the right kind of design and influence, computers had the potential to be truly helpful, responding with an exciting semblance of empathy and understanding.
That excitement inspired me to earn an individualized Bachelor of Science in Web Application & Multimedia Design and still inspires my work: making the machine on the other side feel more human.
Notable Clients
Fundamentals
Accessibility First
I design for accessibility from the first sketch, so no one is left out. Products built that way work better for everyone.
Design In Context
Understanding how a product fits into people's lives is essential. Talking to and observing people in context is the best way to discover if your design truly works and how it can improve.
Be Honest
It's important to provide clarity about what a product can and cannot do. Being honest is also about being unafraid to say ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and always being open to learning from others.
Radical Transparency
The first line of defense against cascading mistakes is your colleagues. They should feel empowered to participate in the design process early and often.
Skills & Interests
Fluent in
- Multi-platform interaction design
- Design-system management & implementation
- Advanced prototyping
- UX engineering (HTML, CSS, Javascript, FE frameworks)
- Accessibility-first design
- Design research and documentation
Design-Related Hobbies
- 3D printing
- Video game design
- Digital archiving
Extensive Experience With
- Video production
- Motion graphics
- 3D modeling and animation