“I had the pleasure of working alongside Stuart for three years while we were both part what was then Deliveroo's Experience team, which combined content, research and product design. What stood out to me about Stuart (because I think it remains quite unusual for people with a design background) was that he was as accomplished as a leader and manager as he was as a design practitioner. Stuart had an impossibly high number of direct reports to manage, and yet he kept them all engaged and motivated, with remarkably little churn during quite a turbulent period. At the same time, he was able to really sell in and bring to life a vision that he and the Exec Team were shaping, and all the while he still cared passionately about the detail and craft of product design. I think it's rare to find someone who is incredibly strategic and visionary, highly competent managerially, exceptionally talented at their craft and also with such high EQ. Stuart was liked, trusted and respected by everyone on our team and beyond. His approach to design leadership is something I continue to try and emulate in my own career and I sincerely hope our professional paths will cross again in future.”
— Lydia Howland, Leadership Team at Nous

“As my manager, Stuart came through for me at a really important time. I'll always appreciate him stepping up during redundancies to fight for the impact I brought to the team. I also learned a lot from Stuart on hiring and growing an amazing group of people. Something I've brought with me as a core skill, doing lots of interviews. Stuart has a great balance of care for people and business impact, all with a sense of humor that makes working together authentic and dare I say, fun!”
— Alex Manthei, Lead Product Designer at Monzo

“I had the privilege of working closely with Stuart in the Deliveroo product design team for 4 years, where he was a visionary leader and a guiding force. Stuart ensured our design practice was respected and influential within the company, doing significant unseen and unsung work behind the scenes. Stuart created an environment where every team member felt valued and empowered. He trusted us to guide our projects, stepping in with hands-on support only when necessary. This balance fostered creativity, innovation, and strong ownership. His ability to articulate his vision for UX and product design through public speaking was exceptional. He has a unique talent for getting people on board with his ideas, driving growth, and fostering a culture where user experience was at the heart of our product excellence and retention strategies. Throughout the pandemic and two rounds of redundancies that affected our team drastically, Stuart showed remarkable empathy and resilience. He navigated these crises with compassion, always prioritising the well-being of his team. His open communication and support were a testament to his exceptional leadership. In summary, Stuart is a leader who combines strategic vision, an innate ability to communicate and inspire, coupled with his commitment to user experience has made a lasting impact on Deliveroo’s product offerings. I would highly recommend him for any role that values forward-thinking leadership and a people-first approach.”
— Jeff King, Product Designer at Nespresso

“Stuart had a tremendous contribution in building Booking. com’s design organization. From a handful of designers to a 200+ organization, Stuart was key in hiring and retaining talent, laying the foundations of design community, brand, design system and deploying internal processes to handle accelerated growth. Under Stuart’s leadership design discipline became a strategic parter to tech and business. I value deeply our interactions and the guidance Stuart provided throughout the years. I highly recommend Stuart for his ability to handle big scale, accelerated growth, build and shepherd large design organizations and deliver outstanding digital products and experiences.”
— Florian Tudoran, Principal Designer at Booking.com

“Stuart is someone I trust and admire as a Designer and Leader. His communication skills together with his constant push for quality is where Stuart shines the most. Throughout the years I worked with Stuart at Booking, he was able to build a Design team from scratch, lead the team towards an experimentation vision and strategy, which was paramount to take our product to where we are today. Stuart was instrumental in the process of hiring and strategizing the design team and inspire individuals to stay focus on the mission and plans we wanted to achieve.”
— Bruno Passos, Group Product Manager - Developer Experience at Booking.com

“I worked with Stuart during the development of one of the most innovative projects at Booking.com, as well as consulting him as my mentor. Stuart is an excellent communicator who has been facilitating the growth of the design community, leading both in terms of vision as well as organisational aspects. He has initiated and successfully led several topics that spanned across different parts of the organisation, being an invaluable contributor to the growth and success of Booking. Stuart has always been a trusted go-to expert, mentoring and leading designers while always being friendly and approachable. Working with Stuart has been an inspiring and learning experience and I would be glad to work with him anytime in the future.”
— Panos Karageorgakis, Co-creator at Prayminder

“I worked with Stuart for close to 7 years and saw him grow from a core designer in a team of ~10 people to the Director of Design for a massive design organisation of over 250 people. Stuart has spearheaded and lead design on all sorts of projects during his time here from our core website, our last minute booking app and our design system as well as managing our most senior designers and design recruitment efforts. Stuart also represented the design craft at leadership level, ensuring we had a voice at the table and gave many great talks both internally at internal conferences (in front of thousands of people) and externally at events such as Leading Design and Conversions@Google.”
— Andy Warburton, Design Manager - Attractions at Booking.com

“Designers (and design leaders) who love data, experimentation, and having an impact on the business are surprisingly hard to find. Stuart is a shining example of this rare breed.”
— Lukas Vermeer, Director of Experimentation at Vista

“Stuart is one of the most user focused designers I've had the pleasure to have worked with. His leadership has increased the level of product and design thinking within Booking.com resulting in quantitively proven product improvements. I'd like especially to call out his ability to introspect, happiness to help his colleagues and independent thinking.”
— Maarten Fugers, Co-founder and CPO at Runnr.ai

“I worked with Stuart as a peer at Booking.com for several years. His leadership in design and product is second to none, and in combination with his skill and craftsmanship in design and user experience, he is still my first go-to for advice. He's definitively on my shortlist of people I'd call if I was putting together a new team.”
— Mats Stafseng Einarsen, Founder & Consultant

“Stuart is a great leader who has played the most instrumental role in making design the forefront of product development in Booking. He has created and led a highly collaborative design organization that move harmoniously, leverage each others strengths, and learn together to overcome the challenges of its size. He is always supportive and attentive, fostering everyone's career development by creating opportunities that are both beneficial for the improvement of designers' skillsets and our companies vision. His product vision and intuition has allowed us to prepare for problems that are on the horizon before they became immediate. Such as his successful investment in the Booking Design System and our design related services like accessibility and tooling. I've learned a lot during my working experience with him and continue to learn from him as a mentor.”
— Arda Karaçizmeli, Senior Staff Product Designer, AI at Shopify

“I did my best work at Booking.com while working directly with Stuart. I joined his team to launch and grow a new app. Stuart acted as a product leader but also as a professional and craft guidance. More than a mentor Stuart serves as a sponsor, he won't tell you what to do but will do whatever is needed to get you to the next level. Thanks to his sponsorship I end up doing public speaking, training new designers in the company and moving to China to design for one of the most challenging markets (BTW, never tell Stuart you get bored quickly). I would be excited for any designer who gets to work with him and happy to work with him again.”
— Esteban Garcia, Senior Designer at DuckDuckGo

“Stuart is one of those rare gems one finds along the way. Not only does he personally produce amazing work, but he also brings out the best in those around him. It's a privilege and pleasure to work with him. His skill set is extremely broad including: design thinking, web development, visual & UX/interaction design, user research, usability testing, writing, presenting, team building/hiring, mentoring, A/B testing & data analysis, conversion optimization, product owning, business strategy, and leadership. He does all of these things extremely well, which is uncommon to find in one person. Though talented well beyond the norm, he is warm, friendly, humble, funny, and very open. His example shapes the design community at Booking.com, which continues to develop world-class, innovative products for its millions of daily users as the business continues to grow exponentially. If you should ever find yourself working with Stuart Frisby, you can expect him to: A. Ask high-quality questions B. Give insightful answers to questions posed to him, C. Make great contributions to the customer experience and the business's bottom line, and D. Raise the overall bar of team performance and morale.”
— Erin Weigel, Advisor at ABsmartly

“Stuart is a very focused designer and a great design leader with a real passion for creating an experience that will help and delight our users that in turn helps our business to grow and succeed.”
— 📱 Grant McAllister, Senior Staff Product Designer at Deliveroo

“Stuart is one of the best designers I've had the pleasure to work with. His design expertise, excellent communication, commitment to quality and business focus make him a strong leader for both the community of designers at Booking and the projects he's pursued here.”
— Gabriel Agu, Lead Designer at Booking.com

“Passionate and pertinacious - Stuart is a fantastic designer who stands out with his UX-led approach to design. His results are beautifully simple, thoughtful and effective and I'd gladly work with Stuart again.”
— Jade Montagu-Navarrete, Engineering Manager at SEEK

“Stuart did a great job of getting our multilingual (English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese) iPhone optimized website up and running in a very short time. Great guy to work with.”
— Nick Szasz, CEO / Publisher at Fukuoka Now