Background
I’m a creative based in Portland, Oregon, where I’ve spent the last 20 years working on digital product design in the role of both a hands-on designer and a strategic design leader.
Over the last seven years I served as the Executive Design Director at Supply, a digital product and brand agency I co-founded with three other partners. During my time there I helped design and launch world-class websites, apps, and digital platforms for Fortune 500 companies. I also built a brilliant team and established a positive company culture that I’m deeply proud of.
My approach to products.
Every new project needs to start with two questions: do we understand what we’re trying to build, and do we understand who we’re building it for? I know, it’s kind of an obvious start, but we can all probably tell stories about a project was derailed either by assumptions about user needs, or a lack of clarity and alignment within the team. Nailing this means that when we settle down to design and build our awesome user-centric experience, we can do so with a clear sense of shared purpose.
Designing and building is what I’m really here for. My favorite days are when I'm deep into brainstorming, prototyping, and testing phase for a project — the playground where good ideas are born and validated. I love building tools that help us to experience what we’re making as a user would. And I absolutely live for perfecting the fine details of the end experience, nailing that crucial last 10% that transforms good into great.
My approach to people.
As a designer I’m always trying to see things from someone else’s perspective. It’s always a challenge, but essential to work beyond my own biases. Working collaboratively on a team — or supporting one as a manager — requires the same consideration, and an appreciation for how your actions affect the people around you.
I recently had a seven-year crash course on how to build teams, company culture, and support professional growth during my time as a partner and Director of Design at Supply. As learning experiences go it was a doozy — and I learned a lot. I wrote an article / case study about my experience building
Supply’s empathetic review process, to better demonstrate how I apply design thinking to support the people around me.