About

I'm Robert del Prado, an Expert Innovation Designer focused on solving complex enterprise problems through strategic research and design.

Over 15+ years, I've worked across healthcare, financial services, government, and media—specializing in the kind of messy, high-stakes challenges where user needs, business constraints, and technical complexity collide. My approach combines deep user research with strategic facilitation to drive measurable business outcomes.

Current Work

At Capital One (formerly Discover Financial Services), I lead design and research initiatives that have delivered $44M+ in cost savings. Recent projects include optimizing cloud infrastructure provisioning (saving $28M) and developing an in-house OCR solution that eliminated vendor dependencies (saving $16M annually). I've also filed two patents for innovations in accessibility and image processing.

What I Do

I specialize in operational efficiency and cost optimization—the unglamorous but critical work of making enterprise systems actually work for the people using them. Whether it's redesigning call center applications that triple productivity, conducting multi-state research that overturns decade-old product assumptions, or building design systems from scratch, I focus on solutions that deliver measurable impact.

My work often involves:

  • Strategic user research that drives million-dollar decisions

  • Facilitating cross-functional workshops to align teams around complex problems

  • Designing internal tools and processes that save organizations time and money

  • Building design operations and systems that scale across large organizations

Background

Before transitioning to design, I spent years in strategic operations roles across education and nonprofit sectors. That experience gave me a deep appreciation for how organizations actually function—and where design can make the biggest difference.

I hold a Master's in Public Policy from NYU Wagner and certifications in product management, behavioral economics, and advanced facilitation (including Lego® SeriousPlay®).

Community

I contribute to the design community through speaking engagements at UXDX Los Angeles, LA Product Design Group, and Techqueria, and through facilitating workshops that help teams solve complex problems collaboratively.

Let's Connect

I'm always interested in challenging projects that require strategic thinking and measurable outcomes. If you're working on complex enterprise problems, cost optimization initiatives, or need facilitation support for cross-functional teams, let's talk.

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