TOBY BARNES
Design Leader in Portland, Or
TOBY BARNES
Design Leader in Portland, Or
A creative, entrepreneurial design leader with over 25 years shaping products, services, and experiences for some of the world's most influential brands — including Shopify, Nike, Cash App, Amazon, AKQA, Levi's, Microsoft, and MTV.
Currently Senior Director at Shopify, I lead design teams building tools for merchants. Design patterns and experiences that will shape how Shopify builds agentic experiences. I organized Diff/Do, convening design leaders from Stripe, Linear, Cursor, and Perplexity to codify agentic design principles, and champion Shopify's Agentic Design Group to facilitate cross-team learning and create Field Guides that define what we're discovering about building trustworthy, autonomous agents.
At Cash App I was a design director & Commerce lead, designing new financial products and services, bringing clarity, craft, and innovation to how millions engage with their money.
At Nike, I designed and launched flagship retail concepts — House of Innovation (NYC, Paris, Shanghai), Nike Live, Nike Rise (Seoul, London), and Nike Unite — alongside the Nike Retail App, Nike Training Club, Fuelband, Nike Membership, and a portfolio of physical–digital services. I also guided store experience programs during COVID, ensuring operational resilience and customer trust.
Before joining Nike, I led Product Innovation at AKQA, the world's most awarded digital agency, where I drove initiatives such as Valiant Labs (Nike's business innovation pipeline), Nike's loyalty transformation, and Nike Training Club. My work extended beyond Nike to re-launch the Palms Resort in Las Vegas, build Levi's Loyalty Program, and create a data-driven digital platform for Audi.
Earlier, I founded and ran Mudlark, an award-winning digital design consultancy for the games industry, and launched two gaming start-ups. My career began in the UK with industry leaders including Emap, Virgin, and MTV Networks, alongside consulting work for Microsoft, SCEE, Electronic Arts, Royal Shakespeare Company, Channel 4, and Mattel. As a founding member of Virgin Media's Interactive Division, I launched Europe's first commercial interactive TV service.
I've spoken at SXSW, Playful, E3, GDC, and Interesting London, and my creative work is featured in the MoMA.