Kelly Franznick, Chief Innovation Officer, Co-founder & Partner at Blink.

Kelly Franznick

Chief Innovation Officer & Co-founder

Kelly is the Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) and Co-Founder of Blink. He focuses on the future of Blink’s tools, services, and methods while also working on projects with unique challenges. He is passionate about making our daily interactions with technology more innovative, intuitive, and rewarding.

Over Blink’s 20 year history, he has worked with hundreds of clients, from tech-sector heavy hitters like Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, to startups, and non-profits. He enjoys working on cutting-edge projects in data visualization, healthcare, and the IT spaces. He feels lucky to have contributed to some of the largest and most successful product launches in history.

Kelly has been a featured on the topic of UX and innovation at dozens of conferences, courses, and events, including presentations at San Diego Design Week ("The Future Meets the Drive-Thru") in 2020, multiple guest lecturer appointments at the University of Washington, and keynote lectures at Convey UX and Seattle Interactive Conference.

In 2019, Kelly was awarded the Myron L. White Award by the University of Washington’s Human-Centered Design & Engineering department for his service to the organization. In 2011, he was featured as “Geek of the Week” from GeekWire magazine. His work has been recognized with a number of awards including several IDSA IDEA awards for design excellence. Always eager to share his passion for design and technology with others, he volunteers his time as an instructor and external advisor for programs at Lake Washington Institute of Technology and the University of Washington.

In 2016, Blink made Forbes Magazine's Best Small Companies list and has won the Puget Sound Business Journal’s Washington’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies award in 2015 and 2012, Seattle Business Tech Impact Silver Award in 2015, and was listed on Inc. Magazine’s Top 5000 Fastest-Growing Companies in America list in 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

Kelly holds a degree in industrial design from Arizona State University and a Master's from the Illinois Tech's Institute of Design in Chicago. Prior to co-founding Blink UX, Kelly led user-centered design teams at E-Lab, Personal Health Connections, and Bowne. You can read Kelly’s full LinkedIn bio, read his blog, and follow him on Twitter @kfranznick.

Related Content

Why Good UX is Essential for Banks

Kelly Franznick

As the desire for easy-to-use digital banking services continues to rise, banks and fintech companies have an opportunity to create better user experiences for their online customers.

Read Article

Why You Should Treat Your Website Like a Product

Kelly Franznick

Understanding your website as a product will set your company apart from competitors.

Read Article

What You You Need to Know About Business-to-Employee User Experience

Kelly Franznick

We answer the question, "What is B2E UX?" and discuss three reasons why adopting easy-to-use technology for your employees will enrich your company.

Read Article

Conducting User Research and COVID-19

Kelly Franznick

In collaboration with colleagues within and outside of Blink, plus a fair amount of experimenting at home, Chief Innovation Officer Kelly Franznick put together a set of protocols for a safe return to our user research labs.

Read Article

Digital Banking Trends and Challenges

Kelly Franznick

Banks are bottom-line driven, so if you work in the banking or finance industry, you'll want to be aware of what the top digital banking transformation trends are, how to develop a mobile banking app, and what the future of the banking industry looks like.

Read Article

The Future of the Drive-Thru

Kelly Franznick

As demand for the drive-thru continues to grow and the restaurant industry revamps their dining options, what does the next generation of the drive-thru experience hold?

Read Article

Hiring a User Experience Design Firm

Kelly Franznick

Thinking of working with a user experience (UX) design firm? You may not know where to start.

Read Article

The Future Will Not Be What You Expect

Kelly Franznick

This week I had the honor of giving the commencement address for the 2015 University of Washington’s Human-Centered Design and Engineering Department graduation ceremony.

Read Article

Usability Testing of Fruit

Kelly Franznick

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you did a usability test of fruit? We did. Blink created this fun look at something near and dear to our hearts – usability testing. We hope you enjoy it!

Read Article

Aesthetics and Usability

Kelly Franznick

A common question Interface Designers face is, how does one present a lot of information without making the interface seem too busy or overwhelming?

Read Article