John Hepburn

Creative Professional

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Designer, creator, innovator. For more than two decades I’ve turned complex, clunky, and overlooked things into experiences that feel human.

About me.

I began as a graphic designer, and the craft carried me across publishing platforms, mobile apps, and design teams at Microsoft and Rakuten. Over two decades the tools kept changing, but the instinct underneath didn’t: take a product, a platform, or an experience people find clunky or cold, and make it clear, human, and worth returning to.

How I think.

Design, done right, is empathy made visible — and it matters most for the people who get left out. The work I’m proudest of gave people a voice — helping millions share and publish ideas they couldn’t before. Tools change every few years; that instinct never does. Empathy, listening, intuition, and the patience to stay in ambiguity until it turns to clarity — none of it comes from a book, and it never stops paying off.

My process.

I start with the person — real insight, qualitative and quantitative, shaped into stories and journeys, then wireframes sharpened through relentless iteration and testing with real users. That part hasn’t changed.

What has is the toolkit: today I design alongside AI the way I’d reach for a finer instrument — most recently to build a living, evolving smart-home interface, and the very sequence that greeted you when you arrived here. I’m not retired; I’m just chasing new ideas, in new ways. Still in the workshop — always conserving, always building something next.

My Brand & Values

Be fun|Think big|Ask questions|Embrace change|Make mistakes|Be experimental|Be innovative|Be perfect|Integrity|Leadership|Empathy|Listening|Trustworthy|Genuine

Everything I do is for the benefit of my users and customers. Always remember to smile, have a good time and laugh a lot, as there is no problem that is too big to solve.

Now: jmonky

Founder – Industrial & Digital Design · Vintage Japanese Audio

Ongoing: Tokyo Smart Home

Design & Engineering · a live product, in production at home

Previously: Rakuten, Tokyo

Senior UX Design Manager → Design Team Manager · Travel Innovations · 2020–2023

Previously: Transmethod, Japan

Co-founder – UX Consultant · 2018–2020

Previously: Microsoft Office, Japan

Product Design Lead – UX Designer – Productivity

Previously: Microsoft MSN, Redmond

Product Design Lead – UX/UI Designer – Monetization

Things I Like

Other People’s Brands

Some fantastic brands that I have been so fortunate to work with throughout my design career.

Brand logos: companies John has worked with

From My Colleagues

“I really appreciate the amount of creativity that John brings to the table. During difficult brainstorming sessions, John is always able to weave together an idea and paint an experience that everyone can understand. Whenever I hit a wall in my creative thinking I know that I can turn to John and he is able to help create an interesting way to solve the problem I am facing (especially when it comes to navigation, user flow, and image/content display).”

— Dick Larimer —

“John is a talented designer who has a great command of the tools. He’s very personable and a joy to work with. What impressed me the most about Jon is his honest assessment of his own skills. If he says he can get something done, you can be sure he will do it well. With his unique mix of skills, both conceptually creative and technically knowledgeable, I would recommend John to anyone.”

— Stefanie Matsudaira —

My favorite quote:

“I fight for the users!”

— Tron, a security computer program written by Alan Bradley

My second favorite quote:

“If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.”

— Dr. Ralf Speth, Chief Executive Officer, Jaguar Land Rover