Leading design at Bitwarden

Designing products and the systems that scale them.

I’m a product designer who thrives in the greenspace. I take new products from 0 to 1, lead cross-functional teams, and build the systems that let the work scale once it lands.

See selected workAbout me
Practice
Product design, design systems, research
Based
Wisconsin, remote
Now
Bitwarden · Vault & Access Intelligence
Then
Acquia · 3.5 years
Design systemsAccessibilityUser researchEnterprise SaaSGenAI & ChatUXVibe codingContent managementVisual buildersCross-functional leadershipBrand-driven product

How I work

A few things I believe about design.

Four principles that shape how I lead projects and teams.

  1. 01

    The greenspace is the work.

    I love the messy start. Taking a new product from 0 to 1 means finding shape in ambiguity, killing bad bets early, and naming the right problem before drawing the screen.

  2. 02

    Systems, not screens.

    Great design scales. I think in components, patterns, and the platforms that hold them together, so the work compounds over time.

  3. 03

    Listen, then decide.

    Opinions are the start; evidence is the work. 178+ hours of user research grounds the decisions that matter.

  4. 04

    Care about the quiet parts.

    Accessibility, navigation, error states: the unglamorous craft that turns complex software into something simple to use.

Work

Recent projects.

Portrait of Renee Lund

About me

I love solving problems.

I’m a product designer who thrives in the greenspace. I love taking a new product from 0 to 1: finding shape in ambiguity, naming the right problem, and choosing the right bet before drawing the screen.

At Bitwarden, I design across the Vault team, working on key workflows in the password manager, and on Access Intelligence, a newer product area focused on visibility into credentials and access. Before that I spent 3.5 years at Acquia, setting design direction across 12 products, including Drupal Canvas (now powering 1.6M+ websites) and Acquia DAM (100K+ users).

I care most about the work that compounds: design systems that actually get adopted, research that grounds the decisions, and the careful craft that turns complex products into something simple to use. I started in graphic design, which still shows up in how I think about composition, type, and the quiet details that make a product feel inevitable.

Currently
Leading design at Bitwarden
Previously
Acquia, 3.5 years
Based
Wisconsin, remote
Speaking
DrupalCon Atlanta '25, Vienna '25

Practice

  • 0-to-1 product
  • Strategic design
  • Design systems
  • User research
  • UX & UI design
  • Cross-functional leadership
  • Accessibility

The human behind the work

Off the clock.

  • Theo and Frey, Renee's two white German Shepherds, in Packers bandanas

    Dog mom

    Two German Shepherds run the office. They're the loudest, hairiest, most opinionated coworkers I've ever had. The office is theirs, the Zoom calls are theirs, and I'm pretty sure they think I work for them.

  • Renee and Calvin on a fall afternoon in the Midwest

    Family + friends

    Most weekends are about people I love. Long dinners, lots of talking, the kind of presence you can only have when nothing else is on the calendar. The work is better because the rest of life is full.

  • Overlooking Lucerne, Switzerland on a trip with family

    Travel

    I'll book a trip anywhere there's something to learn: castles, museums, old cities with too much history for one visit. The list of places I haven't been is longer than the list of places I have, and that's exactly how I want it.

  • A hand-painted ceramic lighthouse house, one of Renee's craft projects

    Creative

    I'm always working on a little craft project outside of work. Something with my hands, no brief and no deadline. Making things just to make things is one of my favorite ways to recharge.

  • At Lambeau Field with a friend at a Packers game

    Wisconsin native

    Born and raised here. The accent is real, the “ope” is involuntary, and yes, the cheese is that good. The Midwest is more of a personality trait than a location.

Speaking & writing

Sharing the work.

Conference talks, keynote contributions, and process writing.

  • 2025

    Drupal CMS Spotlights keynote

    Contributing speaker on the main stage

    DrupalCon Atlanta

  • 2025

    Reimagining Drupal for the next million users

    Co-presented with Jillian Chueka

    DrupalCon Atlanta

  • 2025

    Featured speaker, Drupal CMS track

    Sharing the work with the European community

    DrupalCon Europe Vienna

  • Ongoing

    Writing on design process and craft

    Notes from the practice

    Medium

Say hi

Let’s make something together.

I’m always up for a good design conversation. Reach out if you’re working on something meaningful.

reneelunddesign@gmail.comOpe, copied!Click to copy