About
I care about the practice underneath the product.
I've spent 12 years in UX and 6 years managing design teams. The work I care most about isn't the product at the end. It's the practice underneath it. The process, the people, the cross-functional trust that makes good work possible in the first place.
I chose the management path early. Not because I wanted to stop designing, but because I kept watching talented designers get held back by the systems around them. I wanted to fix that. Most of my career has been spent doing exactly that.
I'm not looking for a next job. I'm looking for a place to build something that lasts.
By the numbers
- 12
- years in UX
- 6
- years managing design teams
- 4
- companies where I built or rebuilt the design practice
- 20+
- designers hired, mentored, or managed
- 80+
- products and services led at Convention Data Services
How I lead
If it's not written down, it didn't happen.
I can't hold anyone accountable, including myself, if expectations aren't documented somewhere everyone can read, question, and align on. This applies to career ladders, critique feedback, product requirements, and cross-functional process. If it lives only in someone's head, it will eventually cause a problem.
Design critique is a system, not a meeting.
I run a three-phase approach. First, everyone writes their feedback independently before anyone speaks. That avoids groupthink and captures real first impressions. Second, the designer walks the room through their work, after reviewers have already formed opinions. Third, the room works through the written feedback together. This order matters. It surfaces what's actually obvious or confusing, rather than what the most senior person in the room thinks.
Growing a designer means knowing who they are, not just what they can do.
There are two parts to developing someone. The first is the person. Where they came from, where they want to go, what they care about. A designer who feels understood will tell you when something isn't working. The second is the context. What does this company actually need from this designer, and what does the next level look like written down in specific terms, not vague ones.
Cross-functional collaboration is the most important part of the job.
Design, Product, and Engineering have to have clear process, clear roles, and clear communication. Without those three things, everyone's lives get harder and the risk of failure goes up at every level. I've built the conditions for that collaboration to work at every company I've been at. It always starts with getting all three parties in the same room.
What I'm looking for
A company where design has a real seat at the table. Where the work I do on the practice (the process, the team, the documentation) is understood as part of the job, not a distraction from it.
I've built design practices from scratch at four companies. I know what it takes. I'm not looking for a place to do it quickly. I'm looking for a place to do it right.
If that sounds like where you work, I'd like to hear about it.