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DESIGN LEADER
CREATIVE INNOVATORMIND READER
*Not really, but using data I can get really really close!
You can learn more about me on LinkedIn or read some of my thoughts on Design.
What I do
As a Vice President of User Experience and Design, I lead cross-functional teams helping shape business strategies through the lens of design and user experience. I create UX strategies that align products and services to well-understood human needs. I champion industry-leading design standards and practices that increase quality and lower operating costs. Emphasizing the importance of modern design aesthetics, design trends, patterns and frameworks, and best practices.
I also love helping companies deliver software that is human-centered. I’ve created a specialization in implementing company-wide design thinking and activation initiatives for large enterprise companies. Leveraging specific methodologies and approaches to transform the way people do their day-to-day work.
And finally, I build high-functioning, globally disbursed organizations, sometimes from the ground up. I hire, keep and develop those skill sets and I foster a culture of creativity, trust, and fun!
How I Manage
Servant Leadership
I focus on the needs of others, especially my team members before I consider my own. I acknowledge other people's perspectives (empathy), give them the support they need to meet their work and personal goals (empowerment), involve them in decisions where appropriate (mastery), and build a sense of community within your team (purpose).
Leader Leader
The leader-leader model pushes decision-making and responsibility as low on the organizational hierarchy as possible. This allows leaders at every level to re-focus their efforts on more meaningful tasks while trusting those below them to figure out how to get their job done.
Bring Your Whole Self To Work (Mike Robbins)
Bringing our whole selves to work means showing up authentically, leading with humility, and remembering that we’re all vulnerable, imperfect human beings doing the best we can.
Winning Breeds Winning
What we all want is to be a part of a winning team on an inspiring mission. To achieve this, I celebrate the small wins that ultimately, over time, lead to bigger wins. Instilling confidence and inspiring people to do their best work.
Time Investment
40% - Strategy & Planning
30% - Delivery & Execution
30% - People
MY PRINCIPLES
My Why
For me, design is not just an Art form, it’s the expression of an idea or a solution to a problem. Good design inspires people and creates connections that are meaningful.
My Mission Statement
Teach people the value of a design mindset. This means implementing user-centered methodologies like design thinking and aligning cross-functional teams on innovative solutions that are user-centered.
Purpose, People, Pay
(In order of importance) The Purpose is why I show up to work every day. I have a mission, I believe in that mission, and it aligns with my personal “why”. The People are whom I show up to work with every day. The Pay is being compensated well for my experience, execution, and value I bring to the company.
How I Build Organizations
Building a solid culture attracts and retains talent, lowers attrition, and results in higher quality work. People are our most valuable asset! Part of my approach establishes and holds a space in which people feel like they’re a part of something bigger. Working hard for something we don't care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion!
To ensure a strong culture, I've created tenets that support a well-rounded and high-functioning UX organization. Every aspect of a UX department, whether it be Design, Content, Research, Strategy, or Systems can apply these tenants.
In addition to the tenets, I have techniques that create an inclusive, fun, and engaging creative culture that maximizes people’s potential.
Social Channels
Social channels via Slack or other means are a way to create connections with hobbies we like to do outside work like cooking, DIY, or things people are watching or listening to.
Creative Activities
Drawing activities, guest speakers, hack-a-thons, and other virtual social events that globally dispersed teams and interact with one another.
Onboarding Buddies
Having other team members within the org act as a resource to ask questions and help ensure individuals connect with someone outside their direct team.
Cultural Awareness
Awareness and sensitivity training based on cultural nuances help ensure people are aware of any sensitive nomenclatures and cultural differences.
Collaboration Time
Creating a specific set of times that is designated for collaboration time. Outside those hours it is expected communication will not be instant.
Human Centered Methodology
Design thinking is a framework for teams to collaborate and work more efficiently while placing end-users at the center of the design process.
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Design solutions that better meet the needs of end-users, to delight customers and ultimately increase profits.
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Refine business strategy by identifying and investing in the most impactful user problems to reduce business risk and improve results.
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Energize employees to be more collaborative, do better work, and achieve heightened job satisfaction.
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Discover redundant or wasteful processes to streamline efficiency.
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Complete projects faster with reduced costs and labor.
Proven Impact on the Business
Design Thinking is best known for rapidly scaling these practices across geographies, organizational boundaries, and projects:
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Studies of Design Thinking ROI have estimated anywhere between $2 and $100 per $1 invested.
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Increases customer’s willingness to pay by 14.4%
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Reduces reluctance to switch to new brands by 15.8 %
Design thinking has applications in every part of an organization, and therefore it should be of no surprise that its impact is a fundamental culture shift.
Ultimately outperform
the S&P 500 by
219%
Design Value Index
Prepared by Design Management Institute
Increase revenue over traditional organizations
32%
Business Value of Design
Prepared by McKinsey
See a return on their design investment of
300%
Total Economic Impact of IBM’s Design Thinking Practice
Prepared by Forrester
Balancing Discovery & Delivery
Dual-track agile is an agile methodology that contains two separate tracks of "discovery" and "delivery." I've been using this method to successfully deliver higher quality results than lean UX or other 'agile' methodologies. Dual-track agile provides a way to link the UX process, Design Thinking methodologies, and agile development.
While these are two separate tracks, they are not separate teams! The goal is for the product teams to be working in" 3-in-a-box" model (Product Management, UX, and Engineering) to explore concepts in the backlog discovered by shifting needs of customers and users, and test those to see of the amount of effort, desirability, and strategic interest warrant further investment.
