Why I do what I do..

As a seasoned design executive, I bring over 20 years of experience transforming complex platforms into intuitive, human-centered solutions. I’ve led product innovation in startups and global enterprises, building strategies that align design with measurable business outcomes.

I am committed to:

Crafting UX strategies rooted in real human needs.
Raising the bar for modern design and industry best practices.
Driving innovation that balances quality with cost efficiency.

My passion is advancing enterprise transformation through holistic design thinking. I excel at building and mentoring globally distributed teams, fostering a culture of creativity, trust, and collaboration that enables organizations to deliver better software, faster.

How I Lead

Servant Leadership

At the core of my leadership is a genuine commitment to the needs of my team. Before addressing my concerns, I prioritize theirs.

I value:

Empathy: Recognizing and valuing diverse perspectives.
Empowerment: Offering robust support to help my team achieve professional and personal milestones.
Mastery: Ensuring team members have a voice in relevant decisions.
Purpose: Fostering a cohesive community within the team, united by shared goals and vision.

Leader-Leader Approach

Believing in decentralized decision-making, I champion the leader-leader model. This approach empowers individuals at every tier of the organization, enabling them to focus on high-impact tasks. In doing so, I trust my team's competence, understanding that they know best how to execute their responsibilities.

Authentic Presence

Taking inspiration from Mike Robbins' philosophy, I advocate for authenticity in the workplace. I lead with humility and acknowledge our shared human experiences, ensuring that we remember our collective strengths and vulnerabilities.

Culture of Success

Success isn't just about the big milestones; it's a cumulative result of everyday victories. I make it a point to celebrate these incremental achievements, fostering an environment where confidence thrives and individuals are inspired to deliver their best.

Allocation of My Focus:

Strategy & Planning: 40%
Delivery & Execution: 30%
Team Development & Growth: 30%

How I Organize

A thriving culture isn't just a bonus; it's foundational to attracting and retaining top-tier talent. It reduces turnover and enhances the caliber of output. I firmly believe that our greatest asset is our people. In my leadership, I emphasize creating an environment where individuals feel intrinsically connected to a grander vision. After all, labor without purpose breeds stress, while dedication to a beloved cause ignites passion.

To fortify this culture, I've instituted guiding principles tailored for a comprehensive and efficient UX organization. These principles seamlessly integrate across all facets of a UX department, from Design and Content to Research, Strategy, and Systems.

In addition to the tenets, I employ techniques that foster an inclusive, fun, and engaging creative culture, maximizing individuals' potential.

Social Channels

Social channels, whether via Slack or other platforms, serve as avenues to connect over hobbies we enjoy outside of work, such as cooking, DIY, or the latest media we're consuming.

Creative Activities

We offer drawing sessions, invite guest speakers, organize hackathons, and host other virtual social events, allowing globally dispersed teams to interact and bond.

Onboarding Buddies

New hires within the organization are paired with team members who act as resources for questions and guidance, ensuring that newcomers establish connections beyond their immediate teams.

Cultural Awareness

We provide awareness and sensitivity training tailored to cultural nuances, ensuring everyone is mindful of potentially sensitive terminology and respects cultural differences.

Collaboration Time

Specific hours are designated for collaborative work. Outside of these times, immediate communication isn't expected."

How I Solution

Design thinking is a framework for teams to collaborate and work more efficiently while placing end-users at the center of the design process.

Design solutions that better meet the needs of end-users, to delight customers and ultimately increase profits.
Refine business strategy by identifying and investing in the most impactful user problems to reduce business risk and improve results.
Energize employees to be more collaborative, do better work, and achieve heightened job satisfaction.
Discover redundant or wasteful processes to streamline efficiency.
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:

Studies of Design Thinking ROI have estimated anywhere between $2 and $100 per $1 invested.
Increases customer’s willingness to pay by 14.4%
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%

See a return on their design investment of

300%

Business Value of Design

Prepared by McKinsey

Total Economic Impact of IBM’s Design Thinking Practice
Prepared by Forrester

How I Deliver

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.