Interview Michael about leading design teams.

Charlie Nelson

Life Science & Clinical Software Professional

Managed Michael directly at Adaptive Biotechnologies, 2024

"One of the best UX professionals I have ever met."

I have had the pleasure of working with (and managing) Michael for more than a year. He is one of those unique "full stack" UX professionals who have a deep understanding of all aspects of the discipline, including user research, persona definition, workflow analysis and optimization, interactive and visual design, and of course wireframing and prototyping. He has such a mastery of all of the tools in his toolbox, and is keen to bring them to bear where he sees the need.

In addition, Michael has served as a strong evangelist for the UX discipline within Adaptive, and has been an impactful mentor for his reports. One of the best UX professionals I have ever met.

Radha Krishna K

Product at Circle, ex-Robinhood

Worked with Michael on the same team at MarkMonitor/OpSec, 2020

"One of the best UX design leaders I have come across!"

Michael is one of the best UX design leaders I have come across! His unique ability to think both strategically and tactically while working on mission-critical projects has helped us achieve our product goals at MarkMonitor/OpSec. He is quite adept at understanding an industry's landscape, and evangelizing his design vision with all stakeholders.

At MarkMonitor/OpSec, his collaborative working style and exceptional communication skills have made him a trusted partner to work with for product managers, engineers, and operations. I strongly recommend Michael's work.

Jessica Smail

Director, Enterprise AI Program Office

Worked with Michael on the same team at Adaptive Biotechnologies, 2024

"Exactly what you want in a User Experience partner."

I have had the privilege of working with Michael at Adaptive Biotechnologies and found him to be a fantastic partner and contributor. He is very thoughtful, strategic, and exactly what you want in a User Experience partner. In addition, he brought a wealth of experience in design frameworks and introduced new tools to our teams that had previously been using outdated methodologies.

I would recommend Michael as a UX leader to any organization looking to incorporate his experience and strategic mindset to major projects, as he will provide a great benefit to anything he is involved in.

Chris Youmans

SVP, Technology

Worked with Michael on a different team at Adaptive Biotechnologies, 2024

"Instrumental in establishing a lean but highly effective UDX/UXR team."

I had the privilege of working closely with Michael Clingerman during his tenure as the Senior UX Manager at Adaptive Biotechnologies. Michael's leadership and expertise were instrumental in establishing a lean but highly effective UDX/UXR team.

Michael's 3-5 year strategic vision included enhancing our design workflows with Figma Enterprise, implementing a unified front-end for all digital products utilizing IBM's Carbon Design System, and achieving impactful results with a collaborative Service Bureau approach...

Laurie Barnett

Head of Publishing & Chief Editor at The Josh Bersin Company

Worked with Michael on the same team, 2018

"Michael has all the traits of a superior digital designer."

I had the pleasure of working with Michael over the last year or so as he helped us transform our website into a digital platform. He made great efforts to first deeply understand our members' needs before proposing a digital design and ultimately was able to optimize our digital content so it really resonated with our customers.

Michael has all the traits of a superior digital designer: a good communicator, has passion and drive, is open to critique, astute attention to detail, a problem-solver, and a great sense of humor. I would love the opportunity to work with Michael again!

Ravi Chandu Thotakura

Principal Software Architect

Worked with Michael on the same team at Adaptive Biotechnologies, 2024

"A visionary in the field of UX design."

I had the pleasure of working with Michael at Adaptive Biotech, where he served as a Senior Manager, User Experience. Michael is a visionary in the field of UX design, consistently delivering designs that not only enhance the user experience but also drive significant business value.

One of Michael's most notable contributions is the successful introduction and adoption of the Carbon Design System within our organization. This initiative not only streamlined our design process but also significantly improved the consistency and quality of our user...

Kacey Underwood

Product / UX Designer

Reported to Michael directly at Adaptive Biotechnologies, 2024

"I'm grateful for Michael's management and mentorship style."

I worked on Michael's team as a junior UX designer at Adaptive Biotechnologies. I'm grateful for Michael's management and mentorship style. As a member of his team, I was able to acquire new, advanced skills. He put forth the intention of guiding his team members to fledge skills in UX research, design ideation, the ownership of their projects, and more.

I appreciated Michael's eagerness for praising our achievements to our business partners and upper leadership, and for giving us enthusiastic credit for our work. Most importantly, I appreciated Michael's leadership around UX strategy. It offered smooth sailing as we worked on our projects...

Dave Lingg

Senior Manager, Software Product Management at Adaptive Biotechnologies

Worked with Michael at Adaptive Biotechnologies, 2024

"A constant advocate for better experiences and a true "Voice of the User.""

I've had the pleasure of working with Michael, a trusted colleague with a wealth of experience in User Experience (UX) design, who has been an invaluable asset to our team at Adaptive Biotechnologies.

Michael was continually committed to user-centric design. A constant advocate for better experiences and a true "Voice of the User," Michael conducted extensive interviews and journey mapping exercises to uncover our users' pain points and identify opportunities for improvement...

Howard Wooten

User Experience and Research

Worked with Michael on the same team, 2018

"I can say nothing but good things about Michael as a professional colleague and person."

Michael is a very experienced product designer with strengths centered around UX, strategic envisioning and ownership, high-level product conceptualization, and visual design. Having worked extremely closely with Michael on a day-to-day basis for over a year I can say nothing but good things about Michael as a professional colleague and person.

Michael uses modern tools and methodologies, and is well versed in Agile, Scrum, user centered research, and co-design/synthesis working modalities. On top of this Michael has a great visual eye capable of creating multiple options and iterations rapidly for any feature or product requirement...

Scott Carmichael, CSPO

Innovation in Digital Product Management & Development

Worked with Michael on the same team, 2018

"A strong leader with exceptional design and aesthetic capabilities."

It was a pleasure to work with Michael. He is a strong leader with exceptional design and aesthetic capabilities. Michael also worked very well with our team, and delivered a great deal of value simply from the standpoint of helping us move forward and achieve our goals in regards to shipping product. I highly recommend Michael for your teams.

Aaron Larson

Business Process Analyst at the Ohio Department of Public Safety

Worked with Michael on the same team, 2025

"He was instrumental in the core UX design of the new application."

I worked with Michael on a full rewrite of a legacy case management and information system for the state of Ohio. He brought unique solutions and valuable experience with Figma, and he was instrumental in the core UX design of the new application.

Jeff Askew

Director of Creative Technology

Worked with Michael on the same team, 2011

"A rare gift of a man, super talented with eye and brain."

Michael is a rare gift of a man, super talented with eye and brain, and possesses the hard to find trait of Good Human Being. In working with him for several too-brief years, he helped open my eyes to some of the more nuanced design sensibilities that I carry with me today, and proved to have a deeper understanding of the business facets of our clients than any other designer in the team.

Geoff Archer, PhD

Business, Entrepreneurship & Strategy Professor

Michael's client, 2004

"His design sense affects everything around him."

Michael is wonderfully creative. His design sense affects everything around him. Ask to see his original works on canvas.