If you’re lucky enough to work with Scott Etkin, hold on tight. He’s one of those rare designers who doesn’t just show up—he shows up hungry. Scott isn’t one to stay in his lane. He jumps in wherever needed, thrives on momentum, and constantly asks, “Where can I help?”

He works far above his level, seamlessly switching contexts, diving deep, and iterating fast. That willingness to fail forward is exactly what accelerates his path to innovative solutions—and sets him apart from the pack.

Scott is the kind of talent I fight to have on my teams, and the kind I’ll be cheering on for years to come. Want to hear more? Call me. I’ll rave about him all day.

Scott is one of those rare team members you always hope to have on your team. He’s the first to raise his hand when help is needed—no matter how big or small the task—and he follows through with speed, focus, and a consistently high standard of work. What sets him apart even further is how often his teammates specifically ask for him to join their projects. That kind of trust and respect is earned, and Scott earns it every day through his reliability, collaborative spirit, and willingness to go the extra mile.

I had the privilege of working closely with Scott on multiple complex projects spanning a range of industries including energy, finance and healthcare services. His passion for user-centered design and his dedication to delivering high-quality outcomes were evident throughout each engagement.

Scott brings a strategic mindset to UX design, combining his strong grasp of design systems, usability principles, and accessibility standards. He consistently can articulate his ideas with clarity and confidence, especially in highs stakes client-facing discussions.

Scott ensures that every design is grounded in user insight and business goals, resulting in solutions that are both elegant, cost effective and practical. His wide ranging industry experience enables him to see beyond individual screens and features, understanding how UX integrates into broader organizational digital transformation efforts. His collaborative approach makes him a valuable partner not just within design teams, but also with delivery leads, product owners, developers, and senior stakeholders. He is an asset to any team looking to create impactful, user-first digital experiences.

The mark of an exceptional UX researcher isn't just technical skill—it's making complex work feel seamless through collaboration. During our 4 years together at Avanade, Scott mastered the rare balance of combining analytical rigor with emotional intelligence in a way that kept our teams steady and motivated through complex and challenging projects.

While Scott is a talented UX researcher and designer, we primarily collaborated on research projects, and what really sets Scott apart is his ability to transform ambiguity into clarity. He approaches every engagement with optimism, curiosity, and precision. He addresses every challenge with an optimism for what can be possible, walks around every problem with a curiosity of not just how to solve it but why and how it came to be, and tackles every task with a level of precision that drives confidence and trust.

Scott's talent truly shines in his research analysis. He doesn't just collect data, analyze, and synthesize user insights; he crafts compelling narratives that make complex user needs accessible to stakeholders. On our pharmaceutical client project, his meticulous research led to the development of employee archetypes and personas that continue to drive decision-making for their organization today. His work didn't just inform the project—it created the scaffold behind infrastructure for ongoing employee experience improvement.

Scott's impact at Avanade expands beyond his contributions to client projects. His passion for sustainability led him to establish a country-wide employee interest group that fostered community and created tangible environmental impact within our workplace. By coordinating events and speakers, he brought inspiration and connection across North American teams while keeping sustainability relevant in our day to day work.

Any organization would be fortunate to have Scott join their team. He doesn't just deliver exceptional work—he elevates the entire workplace through his collaborative spirit, intellectual curiosity, and genuine commitment to making a difference.

“Scott is one of the most driven, resourceful people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.

We met in late 2022 when he approached me with the idea to start an employee sustainability group at work. He and I began networking, brainstorming, and surveying our fellow employees to gauge interest in sustainability and recruit volunteers. We built the sustainability group from the ground up and officially launched the group in February 2024.

For the next year or so, we hosted virtual climate talks every few months and grew our membership to over 150 people. Our goal was to increase climate awareness amongst our coworkers and share resources about how to get involved in effective, systems-level climate solutions.

Building and running a group like this takes consistent, diligent effort and initiative, and I could not have asked for a better teammate than Scott. He takes ownership of tasks and reliably follows through. He’s a proactive problem-solver who figures out who to reach out to when the team runs into a roadblock or has a question. And he creates an environment where the team feels comfortable sharing feedback and ideas.

Scott’s dedication and clear-eyed leadership has kept me motivated, and the group’s success is in large part thanks to him.”

I had the pleasure of working alongside Scott for four years as fellow design consultants. For a portion of that time we partnered directly on a healthcare client project where he led UX design. During the course of this engagement Scott brought his expertise to the forefront to not only reimagine a better process for the client's customers, but truly elevate the overall experience. His strengths in user research were a highlight--he took the time to deeply understand user needs and translate them into thoughtful, actionable deliverables. His work consistently balanced strategic thinking with clean, intuitive execution, and he was always clear and intentional in how he communicated design decisions making him an invaluable teammate to partner with.

Scott is a strong workshop facilitator, skilled in tools like Mural and Figma, and excellent at guiding stakeholders through his design process in a way that's both clear and engaging. He consistently delivers a collaborative spirit, organized workflows, and the kind of soft skills that make him a truly invaluable teammate.

Beyond our project work, Scott was an active member of our internal design community, regularly contributing design inspiration, supporting peers, and leading initiatives in the northeast region. He was also deeply involved in shaping company culture—especially as a lead in our local sustainability efforts, not only promoting and hosting events but seamlessly weaving this passion into his day-to-day work and practices. Scott's blend of design expertise, collaboration, and initiative made a lasting impact on both project teams and our broader design community, ensuring that any team would be lucky to count him among their numbers.

Scott was fantastic to work with! I needed his help to create a lead magnet with multiple components and he was able to provide a simple, streamlined design that is easy to use. Scott was highly responsive to my feedback, got the project back to me ahead of schedule, and had great ideas for how best to present and format a lot of information. I'd work with him again in an instant.