01 · AI & Intelligence
IDC
VP of User Experience Design · 2024 – Present
UX & Product Leadership / Greater Boston
Courtney Aquilina
Design executive who ships AI products, not slideware.
I've built and led design orgs from 58 people at CVS Health down to focused smaller teams, and I ship full-stack AI products on my own time. 18 years across healthcare and enterprise software taught me that strategy decks don't ship. Working products do.
AI Product Strategy at IDC
AI-Augmented Design Operations
Conversational AI & Intelligent Interfaces
18+
Years of Experience
58
Designers Led
50%
Faster Delivery with AI Workflows
6
Enterprise Transformations
Built with AI
Most design leaders talk about AI. I build with it.
Here's the proof.
01 · Solo build
Full-stack AI product, shipped solo
A full-stack AI garden design platform I designed, built, and shipped solo. Upload a sketch of your yard, get back a watercolor garden design with a real planting plan. React, TypeScript, Claude API vision, Supabase, Stripe. Six research-defined personas, a working paywall, and a go-to-market plan built the same way I'd build one for a client: on evidence, not vibes.
02 · Prompt frameworks
AI tools designers actually run
I publish working AI prompt frameworks for UX practitioners: customer journey mapping, design systems, research synthesis. Not thought leadership fluff. Copy-paste tools that designers actually run. Single posts have pulled 100+ comments and a DM queue I'm still apologizing for.
Read them on LinkedIn ↗03 · Design ops at IDC
AI-powered design ops
At IDC I rebuilt how a 16-person design org works: Claude Code and Figma Make wired into daily design and research workflows with custom prompts trained on our own datasets. Delivery timelines dropped 50%. Manual research analysis dropped 70%. The team spends the recovered time on the work that actually needs humans.
See the IDC case →Enterprise Work
Six industries. One standard of craft.
02 · Precision Oncology
Foundation Medicine
Director of UX · 2021 – 2024
03 · Health Insurance
CVS Health / Aetna
Director of UX · 2019 – 2021
04 · Cybersecurity
Imprivata
Director of UX · 2018 – 2019
05 · AECO & Project Mgmt
Newforma
VP of Product Management · 2015 – 2017
06 · APM & Enterprise SaaS
Dynatrace
Director of UX · 2012 – 2015
Testimonials
What colleagues say
Courtney is an extremely dynamic leader capable of flexing and leading many different facets from research to visual design, extending into product management. She is extremely good at setting cultural tone, getting people to work together, and walking that fine line between structure and flexibility where the best products get built.
SVP, FIS Global · Managed Courtney
She repaired long-damaged relationships between Design and Product Management. She rebuilt bridges with an ethos of inclusion, building a foundation of trust and integrity. Courtney is a doer. She gets things done, and fast. She knows how to shake things up and get an organization unstuck.
Experience Design, CVS/Aetna · Direct Report
She was leading and driving key workstreams, and delivered the highest percentage of electronic orders in company history. It was a real privilege to work with Courtney and have her lead such great business and patient outcomes.
Strategy & Operations, Foundation Medicine
I promoted her because I needed a trusted partner to break down high-level strategic objectives into consumable product requirements. If you need someone who can combine the beauty of a well-designed user experience with the structured, institutional needs of product management, Courtney should be on the top of your list.
EVP Product & Technology, Newforma · Managed Courtney
About
Designing at the intersection of empathy & scale
With 18+ years leading high-performing UX and product teams, I bridge the gap between complex enterprise needs and genuinely useful human experiences.
Today I focus on AI-powered enterprise products. I design intelligent interfaces that turn complex data into clear, actionable insight. My work spans precision oncology, healthcare insurance, cybersecurity, and enterprise SaaS. I build teams from scratch, transform organizations with agile methodology, and drive measurable outcomes that reach the boardroom.
I believe the best AI products don't replace human judgment. They amplify it with transparency, trust, and ethical guardrails. Great design isn't decoration. It's the highest-leverage investment an organization can make.
On my own time I build AI products end to end, which keeps my instincts honest and my Figma files humble.
User Experience
Design Systems
Product Management
Usability Testing
Global Leadership
AI Product Design
Agile / SAFe
Design Thinking
Data Sciences
Design Sprints
Ethnographic Research
Accessibility
Experience
18+ years shaping what's next
From mobile platforms to today's AI-powered enterprise software. Each chapter deepened one conviction: design is the bridge between complexity and clarity.
2024 – Present
IDC
VP of User Experience Design
16-person global team
Stood up IDC's first global UX org to deliver an AI-first product vision.
2021 – 2024
Foundation Medicine
Director of UX
15-person team
Consolidated 13 legacy apps into one platform and lifted digital orders from 60% to 75%.
2019 – 2021
CVS Health / Aetna
Director of UX
58-person org
Grew the design org 50% in a year across 13 Scrum teams and four release trains.
2018 – 2019
Imprivata
Director of UX
10-person global team
Design leadership for access management in healthcare and critical industries.
2015 – 2017
Newforma
VP of Product Management
15-person org
Migrated the flagship on-prem product to cloud in nine months.
2012 – 2015
Dynatrace
Director of UX
15-person global team
Unified acquired products into a single platform. Launched first native mobile apps.
2006 – 2012
Nokia
UX Manager
20+ designers
Designed a complete intelligent assistant UX in 2007, three years before Siri.
Credentials
Beyond the portfolio
Patent
Method and Apparatus for Integrating Applications and Related Communications
U.S. Patent NC72194-US
Education
BFA Industrial Design, Minor in Psychology
Rochester Institute of Technology · Graduated with Honors
Certifications
Mastering Negotiation & Influence · Manager as Coach
MIT Management Executive Education · Hudson Institute of Coaching
Let's build
something.
Have a challenge worth solving? I'm always interested in connecting with fellow leaders shaping the future of product and design.