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Mike Dean
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Toptal member since August 19, 2020
Expertise
Bio
Mike is a design consultant with over 16 years of experience in sports tech, media, and betting. He transforms early ideas into market-ready digital products for teams across the US, UK, and beyond. His portfolio includes Fanatics Sportsbook, SportsGrid’s live betting companion, and Anova, an AI coaching platform. Mike’s work delivers clean, data-driven experiences trusted by leading brands like Sky Sports, UFC, and ESPN, used by millions of fans worldwide.
Experience
- Rapid Prototyping - 16 years
- User Experience (UX) - 12 years
- User Interface (UI) - 12 years
- Digital Product Design - 12 years
- User Flows - 12 years
- Interaction Design (IxD) - 12 years
- Information Architecture (IA) - 12 years
- Service Design - 6 years
Portfolio
Building the SEC Fit Vision
Mobile DesignApp DesignMobile UIMobile UXMobile PrototypesFigma
Work Experience
Design Consultant
2022 - PRESENT
Fanatics
- Collaborated with the team to help conceptualize a brand new 'FanApp' to widen the Fanatics ecosystem to include sports scores, news, and free-to-play games.
- Worked with the Fanatics Sportsbook team to assist them in the design of their brand-new sportsbook app.
- Designed a range of free-to-play game concepts for upcoming events such as the 2024 Olympics and WWE.
- Conceptualized a number of loyalty programs for the wider Fanatics ecosystem.
Technologies: Figma, Product Design, Mobile, Apps, Sports, UI Design, App Design, Gaming, Mockups, Style Guides, iOS, Design Leadership, User Stories, Wireframing, Sports & Recreation, Journey Mapping, B2B, Consumer Products, Professional Services, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design, Mobile Apps, Design Thinking, Rapid Prototyping, User Research, UX Prototyping, iOS App Design
Director
2021 - PRESENT
SGX Pty Ltd
- Started my own consultancy that offers specialized design and research services to sports technology, media, and betting companies.
- Worked with Fanatics.com on their proposition and entry into the sports betting market. Researched and created mock-ups for a range of new features.
- Collaborated with Sky Bet in the UK to help them design simple, high-impact betting experiences across Sky Sports products. These included dynamic bet boosts and live betting opportunities.
- Designed a range of customizable experiences for OddsChecker US used by the NFL, NY Nets, MLB, Bleacher Report, and the YES Network.
- Collaborated with OddsChecker UK and Europe to design a range of odds comparison experiences for media companies to use on their sites.
- Founded AI Bets that offers lightweight, easily implemented, AI-powered betting engagement experiences.
Technologies: Figma, Sports, Gambling, iOS UI Design, iOS UX Design, Product Design, Mobile, Apps, UI Design, App Design, Gaming, Mockups, Style Guides, iOS, Design Leadership, Sports & Recreation, Journey Mapping, B2B, Consumer Products, Professional Services, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design, Exercise & Fitness, Fitness, Design Thinking, Rapid Prototyping, User Research
Product Designer
2026 - 2026
Spark Sports
- Designed a live football stats-based crash game concept, translating real match events into a fast, engaging betting experience with clear user decision points.
- Created UX flows for selecting live games, reviewing available markets, and deciding when to enter or cash out during the crash-style experience.
- Developed the product branding and visual direction, giving Spark a distinctive identity suited to high-energy, live football betting.
- Built a reusable component library and UI toolkit covering market cards, game selectors, live states, betting controls, alerts, and supporting interface patterns.
- Designed motion and animation concepts to bring the product to life, making live match moments, market changes, and crash states feel more dynamic and intuitive.
Technologies: Product Design, User Interface (UI), Prototyping, User Experience (UX), Gamification
Product Designer
2025 - 2025
Betzy AI, LLC
- Audited the existing Betzy product experience to identify usability issues, inconsistent interface patterns, unclear journeys, and areas where the product lacked visual cohesion.
- Redesigned key user flows and navigation patterns to make the product easier to understand, reduce friction, and create a clearer path through the core experience.
- Created a refreshed visual direction for the Betzy brand, improving the overall look and feel while making the product feel more credible, modern, and consistent.
- Built a reusable UI toolkit and component system to standardize buttons, cards, forms, navigation elements, and repeated interface patterns across the product.
- Delivered polished UX/UI designs and implementation-ready assets to give the development team a clear, structured foundation for building the updated product.
Technologies: Mobile UI, Product Design, UI Design, Design Systems, Figma
Product Designer
2025 - 2025
Away End
- Audited the existing football supporters app to identify UX gaps, inconsistent UI patterns, navigation issues, and areas where the product experience could be simplified.
- Created a new design system and component library to bring consistency across screens, reduce visual fragmentation, and make the product easier to scale.
- Redesigned key user flows, including navigation and core supporter interactions, to make the app feel clearer, faster, and easier to use.
- Updated the app’s branding and visual direction, creating a more polished, modern interface while keeping the product aligned with its football audience.
- Prepared detailed developer handoff documentation and Flutter-ready design assets to support a smoother build process and reduce ambiguity during implementation.
Technologies: Product Design, Mobile App Design, Flutter
Senior UI/UX Designer
2025 - 2025
LumenIQ
- Designed a suite of real-time fan engagement games for bars and venues, including trivia, predictions, and live leaderboard experiences built around televised sports events.
- Created scalable design systems and data-driven UI patterns to support multiple sports, screen sizes, and tournament formats.
- Collaborated with developers and product teams to prototype and validate gameplay flows that increased participation and repeat engagement during live broadcasts.
- Delivered visual and motion assets for in-venue screens and mobile interfaces, enhancing fan interaction and social competition.
Technologies: Financial Data, Dashboard Design, User Interface (UI), Responsive Web Design (RWD), User Experience (UX), Web Design, UI Design, Financial Data Analytics
UI/UX Designer
2025 - 2025
Train My Game
- Designed and prototyped a video-based coaching platform that connects athletes and coaches through personalized training sessions, live feedback, and performance tracking.
- Developed structured user flows and UI for drill assignment, video review, and progress tracking, reducing communication friction between players and coaches.
- Delivered an investor-ready MVP in Figma, defining core features and visual systems that established the foundation for future AI-driven training insights and analytics.
Technologies: Web Design, Figma, Mobile App Design, UI Design, UX Design, Product Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Rapid Prototyping, User Research
Design Consultant
2025 - 2025
Sports Data IO
- Worked for SportsDataIO, an industry leader in real-time sports data and insights that powers applications and platforms across the sports sector.
- Conducted a comprehensive UX audit of the SportsDataIO website, identifying areas for improvement in user experience and navigation.
- Provided actionable recommendations to enhance site performance, usability, and conversion rates.
Technologies: Figma, Google Analytics, Heuristic Analysis, UX Audits, Rapid Prototyping, User Research
UX/UI Designer
2025 - 2025
Anova Sports
- Created an MVP of an AI-powered basketball coaching product that uses player stats and video footage to create detailed game plans to help coaches win more games.
- Built a brand identity, marketing materials, and pitch decks.
- Led the whole project from user research to development.
- Created a high-level MVP player scouting product that works out which college would be a suitable fit for a high school basketball player.
Technologies: UX Design, UI Design, Mobile (Tablet), Sports, User Experience (UX), Rapid Prototyping, User Research
Design Consultant
2024 - 2025
Hot Takes
- Collaborated with the founders to create the app from the ground up, from wireframing to production-ready designs and a UI toolkit. Please see the link: Apps.apple.com/us/app/hottakes-no-risk-sports-picks/id1554987843.
- Created designs for a March Madness bracket competition.
- Helped the team create a gamification-style rewards system that allows users to level up through the product.
Technologies: App UI, App UX, Wireframing, Figma, Prototyping, UX Design, UI Design, Mobile Apps, Design Thinking, Rapid Prototyping, User Research
UI/UX Designer
2022 - 2025
SportsGrid
- Collaborated with SportsGrid to design their app from the ground up. This included strategy, UX design, and UI design. The app contains a personalized news feed, score center, live streaming, picks, and trends.
- Designed the UX and UI of the SportsGrid Amazon Fire TV app.
- Updated the design of the SportsGrid website to allow users to find the content more easily.
Technologies: UX Design, UI Design, Mobile App Design, Mobile Design, Product Design, Mobile, Apps, Sports, App Design, Gaming, Mockups, Style Guides, iOS, Design Leadership, User Stories, Wireframing, Sports & Recreation, Journey Mapping, B2B, Consumer Products, Professional Services, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design, Mobile Apps, Design Thinking, Rapid Prototyping, User Research, Fantasy Sports, Web UX Design
Product Designer
2024 - 2024
PMT Publishing Inc
- Designed an app that allowed athletes to access training plans from top college coaches.
- Took the project from a blank page to a fully worked-up concept with a prototype and pitch deck.
- Created features for the app that included seamless registration and onboarding, training plan selection, training tracker, nutrition advice, and community.
- Designed a gamification model to allow users to earn rewards for using the app.
- Designed an Apple Watch concept to allow athletes to track their progress.
- Created a desktop platform for coaches to manage their athletes and act as a college recruitment platform.
Technologies: Mobile Design, App Design, Mobile UI, Mobile UX, Mobile Prototypes, Figma, Pitch Decks, Fitness Trackers, Wearables
Design Consultant
2022 - 2022
CarbonPay
- Worked directly with the CEO of CarbonPay, an automatic climate action for business and personal spending that helps offset businesses emissions or personal carbon footprints every time they tap, click, or swipe.
- Conducted a full UX audit of the business platform to identify key areas for quick, high-impact improvements. These areas included a range of problems, from user flows to small UI issues.
- Designed solutions to the areas highlighted in the audit and worked with the technology team to implement them. This included a design toolkit to enable as much reuse of elements as possible.
- Cooperated with the team to identify and design future improvements, including a consumer-facing mobile app.
- Designed a dashboard to allow the user to have an overview of their account finances, add new cardholders, and manage cards.
- Designed an impact dashboard to allow the user to track how much CO2 their company purchases are creating and how much CO2 they are offsetting by using CarbonPay.
Technologies: Figma, Fintech, Product Design, Mobile, Apps, UI Design, App Design, Mockups, Style Guides, Design Leadership, User Stories, Wireframing, Journey Mapping, B2B, Consumer Products, Professional Services, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design, Web App UX
Design Consultant
2022 - 2022
MVP Tech
- Designed an AI-driven platform that allows media companies to identify, sell, and place advertising within feature-length video content. For example, a localized 2D ad on a billboard or a 3D product on a restaurant table.
- Designed the product from the ground up, including onboarding across multiple privilege levels and client onboarding. This included detailed flows across admins, editors, ad managers, and clients.
- Created an easy way to manage the project, video, and advertising libraries at scale.
- Designed a simple to understand but detailed dashboard so that users can easily understand the status of their projects, identify new opportunities, and view revenue at various levels.
- Designed a way to allow editors to analyze videos using AI technology and identify potential opportunities for advertising locations. Once this was done, editors could easily insert ads into the same location.
- Designed a system for Ad Manager to share available ad locations with their clients and for the clients to place bids on any locations they would like to buy.
Technologies: Figma, Product Design, Mobile, Apps, Sports, UI Design, App Design, Gaming, Mockups, Style Guides, User Stories, Journey Mapping, B2B, Consumer Products, Professional Services, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design
Design Consultant
2022 - 2022
The Naritiv
- Designed a social media platform that empowers high school athletes to publish updates on the ins and outs of their recruitment to college athletics programs.
- Created an onboarding experience to allow both athletes and fans to sign up seamlessly and create their own profile.
- Designed a subscription service to allow athletes to receive regularly payment in return for their content and time.
- Created a range of ways for athletes to keep fans updated on their recruitment experience, including video updates, events, interviews.
- Designed a way for college sports fans to find and follow their colleges' next new recruits.
Technologies: Figma, iOS UI Design, iOS UX Design, Product Design, Mobile, Apps, Sports, UI Design, App Design, Mockups, Style Guides, iOS, Design Leadership, Wireframing, Sports & Recreation, Journey Mapping, B2B, Consumer Products, Professional Services, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design
Design Consultant
2021 - 2022
Croquet Corporation
- Collaborated with Croquet on the Edge Collaboration Platform and Collaboration Infrastructure that enables developers to quickly and easily create a vast range of multi-user collaboration apps for web and mobile at a virtually limitless scale.
- Partnered with Turner Sports to design a cross-platform web app that utilized the Croquet Collaboration Platform. The product was a second-screen sports fan experience for those attending the event in person or watching at a bar or home.
- Designed multiple experiences, including an AR ball throwing game and a live NFT basketball card signing event.
- Designed a fan engagement app that encouraged fans to experience the game together, allowing them to participate in various activities, including games, polls, and chat with their friends and a wider audience.
Technologies: Figma, Product Design, Mobile, Apps, Sports, UI Design, App Design, Mockups, Style Guides, iOS, Sports & Recreation, Journey Mapping, B2B, Consumer Products, Professional Services, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design, Exercise & Fitness, Fitness
Design Consultant
2021 - 2022
Oddschecker
- Collaborated with the team at Oddschecker US, a sports betting odds comparison website. They were migrating their CMS and had an opportunity to improve the key pages of their site.
- Collaborated closely with the insights manager to research and identify key areas for improvement.
- Turned insights into design solutions across a range of pages picks, handicapper hub, profile pages, free bets, and legislation pages.
- Created high-fidelity prototypes for remote user testing and iterated on the designs based on research findings.
- Worked with the PO to structure the roadmap and priority features.
Technologies: Figma, Gambling, Product Design, Mobile, Apps, Sports, UI Design, App Design, Mockups, Style Guides, iOS, Wireframing, Sports & Recreation, Journey Mapping, B2B, Consumer Products, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design
Director
2009 - 2022
SGX, Ltd.
- Provided freelance design consultation services to agencies and a range of technology and eCommerce companies, including McCann Erikson, Tigerspike, Twentysix, MadeByPi, Principles Agency, Intermarketing Agency, The Shopper Agency, and Home Agency.
- Collaborated with Reebok to design their first iteration of the CrossFit app. Designed emails, landing pages, and microsites to support various marketing campaigns for Adidas.
- Designed an internal app for store employees at the Morrisons supermarket. The app enabled staff members to check any product's stock status and delivery details by scanning the barcode. My role included turning research into finalized designs.
- Completed a range of design work, including microsites for Disney Channel and Disney Interactive Studios. I was also heavily involved in an Xbox anniversary site that looked back at the evolution of the Xbox over the years.
- Spearheaded the service design and UX for an in-store retail experience for Karndean flooring. I led the design of a retail demo experience for Nokia and the service design of how the demo app could be managed around the world.
- Led UX design on the redesign of the Coral Betting app.
- Designed microsites for the launch of iconic Hugo Boss, Valentino, and Lacoste fragrances.
- Designed marketing campaign sites, landing pages, and banner ads for Seven Seas, ALDI, Hammonds, Fairy Liquid, Pampers, Ronseal, and Genting Casinos.
- Led the design of the McCain Food Service site, which enabled B2B buyers to order directly from McCain and receive marketing.
Technologies: Zeplin, Sketch, InVision, Gambling, Sports, iOS UI Design, iOS UX Design, Mobile, Apps, UI Design, App Design, Mockups, Style Guides, Sports & Recreation, Journey Mapping, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design, Fitness
Design Consultant
2021 - 2021
Wayger
- Designed a free-to-play sport betting app where users can win cash prizes. Users can pick outcomes of games across a huge choice of sports and set up their own leagues to compete against friends.
- Focussed on improving usability, engagement, and gamification of the experience.
- Created a simple-to-implement style guide that can be used independently from design input.
Technologies: Figma, Sports, Gambling, iOS UI Design, iOS UX Design, Apps, UI Design, App Design, Mockups, Style Guides, Sports & Recreation, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design
Design Consultant
2020 - 2021
EngageCraft
- Created Touch, a self-serve, interactive content creation platform for the sports industry.
- Designed a platform to allow sports clubs, media companies, and federations to quickly and easily create premium, interactive, free-to-play fan engagement experiences.
- Took the project from a concept to a fully launched product with an impressive MRR.
- Designed a seamless user journey to enable users to create, schedule, integrate, and monitor fan engagement experiences.
- Created a data dashboard for users to see how their engagements are performing and easily manage and view scheduled engagements.
- Designed a range of free-to-play pre-match, live match, and post-match engagement experiences covering predictions, opinions, votes, sweepstakes, bet slips, and more.
- Worked on the platform that included clients such as Everton FC, Rangers FC, UEFA, and the MLS.
Technologies: Figma, Miro, Gambling, Sports, UI Design, App Design, Mockups, Design Leadership, User Stories, Wireframing, Sports & Recreation, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design, Exercise & Fitness, Fitness
Design Consultant
2020 - 2020
MVP Tech
- Designed an AI-powered platform for the UFC, the platform took a live video feed from multiple cameras or recorded video and outputted real-time data about the fighters.
- Designed an analysis dashboard to show real-time data and outcome predictions.
- Designed a predictive fight experience where users could match up two fighters from any time in history (data permitting) and find out the predicted outcome backed up by AI data.
- Designed data visualization heavy profiles for each fighter, showcasing all of the data that was available for each fighter.
- Collaborated with teams in Dubai, China, Europe, and the USA to complete this project.
Technologies: Figma, Zeplin, Highcharts, UI Design, Sports & Recreation, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design, Exercise & Fitness
Senior Interaction Designer (Contract)
2020 - 2020
Department for Work and Pensions
- Worked with DWP as a senior interaction designer on the Universal Credit project.
- Led a discovery project on the Move to Universal Credit program. My role included facilitating workshops, problem definition, documenting findings, and research guidance, followed by presenting the outcomes to senior stakeholders.
- Iterated the existing service platform to help better serve claimants with complex needs, which included turning user research insights into actionable improvements to the service.
Technologies: CSS, HTML, InVision, Sketch, UI Design, User Stories, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design
Lead Product Designer
2018 - 2019
Beer Hawk (Contract)
- Collaborated with Beer Hawk as their first step into UX. This role was as much about educating the business on the power of design thinking as it was delivering solutions. My work was across all business areas, from B2C and B2B to omnichannel.
- Influenced sales directly through implementing a design toolkit, enabling us to rapidly make the site more consistent and streamline design and development tasks.
- Improved the sales journey directly through a basket redesign and implemented a new templated landing page. The basket redesign resulted in an 11% sales uplift and a 6% increase in upselling.
- Led the internal and external research sessions to highlight and explore key areas and tied these into business goals. Produced interactive prototypes, which were tested remotely and in a moderated environment.
Technologies: Zeplin, Sketch, InVision, UI Design, Design Leadership, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design
UX Designer (Contract)
2018 - 2018
Booking Go
- Collaborated with a small, discovery-focused team for Rentalcars.com. The main focus of this project is to design, test, and deliver solutions to increase conversion rates for users booking cars at non-airport locations.
- Conducted user research, working with the lead researcher to plan, conduct, and analyze 1–1 and remote usability testing.
- Facilitated idea generation workshops with various employees and stakeholders from across the business.
- Designed concepts and created prototypes for usability and A/B split testing. This included user flows, wireframes, UI design, and prototyping using InVision.
Technologies: InVision, Sketch, UI Design, User Stories, Automotive, UX Wireframes
Lead Designer (Contract)
2017 - 2018
Sky Sports & News
- Worked with the Sky Digital Content team across 13 Sky News and Sky Sports apps and three websites within the UK and European markets.
- Helped lead the kick-starting of a new discovery initiative that aims to improve Sky's digital products and develop a culture of innovation and collaboration within the business. This resulted in Sky launching Sky Labs Innovation Centre.
- Contributed to the implementation of a dual-track agile environment, designed a discovery for the delivery process, and had a large part in generating over 2,000 ideas, over 100 of which have gone live.
- Created a new product for under 25s to watch live sport in a new innovative way.
- Collaborated with the team at Sky Bet to implement cross-platform opportunities to enhance the live experience with integrated sports betting.
Technologies: Sketch, InVision, Sports, Gambling, iOS UI Design, iOS UX Design, UI Design, Design Leadership, User Stories, Sports & Recreation, Exercise & Fitness
Designer (Contract)
2016 - 2017
Sky
- Worked with Sky on the launch of Sky Mobile, their entry into offering mobile services. This project aimed to produce an MVP-level product while keeping in mind the future vision.
- Collaborated across the sales and service parts of the product, including the eCommerce journey and account management and billing.
- Owned wireframing, UI design using the Sky "Polaris" style guide, rapid prototyping, and user research.
- Collaborated closely with the marketing departments to ensure the key marketing messages were landed correctly.
Technologies: Sketch, InVision, UI Design
Education
2005 - 2008
Bachelor of Arts Degree (Hons) in Graphic Communication with Typography
University of Plymouth - Plymouth, UK
2004 - 2005
BTEC Diploma in Foundation Art & Design
Worcester College of Technology - Worcester, UK
Skills
Tools
Sketch, InVision, Zeplin, Marvel, Miro, Google Analytics
Platforms
Mobile, Figma, iOS, Desktop, Mobile (Tablet)
Industry Expertise
Sports, Food & Beverage, Retail & Wholesale, Sports & Recreation, Consumer Products, Professional Services, Exercise & Fitness, Fitness, Telecommunications, Automotive
Languages
HTML, CSS
Other
User Experience (UX), Service Design, User Interface (UI), User Flows, Digital Product Design, Interaction Design (IxD), Agile UX, Graphic Design, Information Design, Typography, Information Architecture (IA), User Personas, UX Workshops, Live Entertainment, Responsive, Wireframing, Rapid Prototyping, eCommerce, Prototyping, Design Systems, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Streaming, Soccer, Product Demonstrations, Dashboards, Apps, Accounts, Billing Systems, Checkout, Product Pages, Conceptual Design, Future State Vision (FSV), Product Roadmaps, UX Leadership, Personalization, Product Design, Product Vision, Landing Pages, Page Templates, Form Design, Iterative Design, Mobile UI, Mobile UX, Mobile Design, Data Visualization, Data, Design, Gambling, Web App Design, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Web Design, Visual Design, Dashboard Design, UI Design, UX Design, Android UI Design, iOS UI Design, iOS UX Design, Mobile UI Design, Mobile UX Design, Sports Websites, Mobile App Design, Fintech, App Design, Gaming, Mockups, Style Guides, Design Leadership, Journey Mapping, B2B, UX Wireframes, Interactive Design, Landing Page Design, MVP Design, UX Audits, Mobile Apps, UI Branding, Fitness Trackers, Wearables, Web App UX, Design Thinking, Fantasy Sports, Web UX Design, UX Prototyping, iOS App Design, Branding, User Research, User Stories, Photography, TV Sports, Live Chat, Demos, Questionnaires, AI Design, Highcharts, Residential Real Estate, Commercial Real Estate, Property Management, SaaS, In-app Messaging Systems, Colleges & Universities, App UI, App UX, Strategy, UX Architecture, UX Research, Financial UX, Sportswear, UX Strategy, 2D Games, Mobile Game UX, DataViz, Mobile Prototypes, Pitch Decks, Heuristic Analysis, Financial Data, Financial Data Analytics, Flutter, Gamification
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