UX Design, Content Design, & DesignOps Program Management

I’m a solver of wicked problems and a visionary futurist who:

  • Knows that good content & design ARE good business

  • Eradicates silos, status quos, & solutions looking for problems

  • Keeps pace with technology & science (currently geeking out on AI/ML)

  • Oversees the end-to-end while attending to the crucial details

  • Leads others but can jump in to weave the words & push the pixels

  • Operationalizes change, using diplomacy & visioning to inspire adoption

  • Builds cultures of psychological safety where innovation & inclusion thrive

Collaborating with awesome people allows me to do impactful work that I’m proud of

Defined first-ever enterprise design strategy for Fintech

Systems thinking, design principles, & design system for efficient, quality product design

  • IMPACT

    • Aligned design with business: Ensured a cohesive approach towards organizational goals by positioning the design work of ~80 product teams as key to achieving both the enterprise multi-year plan and business-unit-specific annual KPIs

    • Boosted efficiency & quality: Implemented a central design system and collaboration rituals, reducing duplicate work, enhancing efficiency, and elevating design quality based on a new User Research Quality Scorecard that I collaborated with UX Research leaders to create

    • Improved user experience: Achieved higher scores on adherence to design principles, resulting in improved consistency and quality of user experience across products

    • Enhanced feedback loops: Elevated quantitative and qualitative user feedback during testing, providing actionable insights for continual improvement

    • Disseminated knowledge to improve collaboration with design: Educated nearly 10k employees across functions, fostering a profound understanding of UX's purpose and value, driving a company-wide culture shift

    PROBLEM

    • Fragmented experiences: Decades of siloed business units led to fragmented site and app experiences, impacting the firm's brand and user satisfaction

    • Inefficiencies & tech debt: Lack of high-level cohesion caused inefficiencies and accrued tech debt, hindering the organization's agility and scalability

    • Lack of widespread UX understanding: Despite executive buy-in, a lack of knowledge about the value of design among employees impeded efforts to improve product and experience quality

    SOLUTION

    Enterprise design strategy with tenets including:

    • systems thinking mindset

    • adherence to universal design principles: Human First, Cohesive, Conversational, Simplified, Modular, Omnichannel, Tailored/Personalized

    • extensive, yet flexible design system

    • standards (including accessibility and inclusivity)

    • metrics to drive consistency and excellence across all business units

Spearheaded career path for 250-person design org

Clarified roles, skills, & impact to improve alignment & growth

  • IMPACT

    • Dramatic NPS surge: Net Promoter Score (NPS) of the design organization witnessed a significant improvement, indicating elevated employee satisfaction and engagement

    • Enhanced management insights: design managers could assess skill gaps within their teams, aiding in informed alignment decisions and strategic hiring choices

    • Transparent career advancement: designers reported a perception of increased transparency and fairness in promotion and pay decisions, fostering a positive and trusting work environment

    • Strategic skill development: Aligned skill-building initiatives for the design org with enterprise-wide skill priorities, including AI/ML, cybersecurity, and cryptocurrency, ensuring a strategic alignment with broader company goals

    PROBLEM

    • Lack of consistent career guidance: The absence of clear career guidance for both designers and design managers led to dissatisfaction and impacted overall morale

    • Outdated roles and responsibilities: Role descriptions used by HR and recruiting had not been reviewed in over seven years, causing challenges in recruiting qualified candidates and hindering effective performance reviews

    • Difficulties with employee retention: Research indicated that the lack of clear career guidance was a significant contributor to employee dissatisfaction and attrition, far surpassing concerns related to pay or benefits

    SOLUTION

    • Comprehensive career paths: Outlined career paths for individual contributor designers (from associate through VP) and design managers (from Director through Executive VP)

    • Clear expectations: Provided detailed value propositions, scope of influence, major activities, and required skills at each level

    • Alignment with enterprise talent strategy: Populated the Fuel50 career development tool with relevant skills and expectations for each role within the design org to align to an executive mandate of improving mobility to optimize talent retention and reduce costs

Bridged design & business during agile transformation

Positioned design as a valuable business partner, NOT an afterthought

Mural brainstorming session about how we might better align design and business in agile product teams
  • IMPACT

    • Accelerated iterations: Aligned design processes with agile methodologies, leading to faster iterations and improved responsiveness to learnings from user research and in-market testing

    • Increased stakeholder engagement: Improved stakeholder engagement by integrating design insights into agile ceremonies, ensuring a holistic understanding of project goals and user needs

    • Optimized user-centric delivery: Streamlined design workflows within agile sprints, ensuring a more user-centric approach and quicker delivery of impactful solutions

    PROBLEM

    • Missed opportunities for innovation and improvement: During a pilot agile transformation with one business unit (to learn and iterate before the entire enterprise went agile), design was not considered a key player within the agile framework, leading to missed opportunities for designers to have a tangible impact on the development and improvement of digital products

    • Significant uptick in redundant work: With each product team working autonomously, the number of teams working on various jobs and critical tasks increased dramatically, leading to inefficiency and poor user experiences

    • Dramatic decrease in designer engagement and satisfaction: Designers who were part of this pilot transformation gave feedback that they were frustrated by being relegated to "making things pretty," and the design organization's NPS dropped significantly

    SOLUTION

    • Design-embedded agile sprints: Integrated design into agile cycles, allowing for parallel and iterative workflows that enhanced collaboration and delivery speed

    • Metrics-driven insights: Introduced key design metrics within agile ceremonies, providing tangible data on the impact of design decisions and fostering data-driven collaboration

    • Cross-functional workshops: Facilitated cross-functional workshops to foster a shared language between design and business teams, breaking down communication barriers

Launched strategic central design resource hub

From scattered, outdated resources to a clear “one source of truth”

Mural Strategy Blueprint for UX Design Org Hub
  • IMPACT

    • Overall transformation: Design managers hailed the centralized hub as of "immense value," while designers experienced enhanced job satisfaction, feeling heard and supported in their roles

    • Onboarding quality and efficiency: Design managers reported significant reductions in onboarding time and noted that new hires were better able to contribute to product teams

    • Career pathing satisfaction: Usage of career pathing tools surged, leading to more productive quarterly and year-end reviews and fostering individual growth within the organization

    • Empowered skill-building: Learning path completions by the design org increased dramatically, and designers felt more empowered and confident in their career progression

    • Insight amplification: Event attendance and recording views soared, providing valuable insights for designers to understand and meet business KPIs, and there was increased utilization of valuable resources from partners in research, content, and accessibility

    • Enhanced engagement and communication: Engagement with established design goals and KPIs saw a significant uptick, and communication between design managers and their teams became more streamlined

    PROBLEM

    • Resource disarray: Multiple resource, onboarding, and learning hubs led to confusion, frustration, and redundant work within the 250+ person design organization

    • Onboarding challenges: Onboarding speed, effectiveness, and satisfaction were compromised due to scattered resources

    • Underutilization of UX insights: Valuable insights from partners in research, content, and accessibility were underutilized, impacting the potential for informed design decisions

    SOLUTION

    • More efficient work execution: Consolidated core tools, resources, insights, processes, rituals, and goals/KPIs in a centralized SharePoint communication site, streamlining day-to-day operations

    • Holistic skill-building: Aligned learning paths with design career pathing, providing a comprehensive skill-building experience

    • Dynamic live learning events: Introduced live learning events with executive speakers across business units, enhancing engagement and knowledge sharing

    • Revamped onboarding experience: Designed a net new onboarding experience with a seamless handoff from enterprise onboarding, fostering quicker integration and satisfaction

    • Guided career development: Implemented a comprehensive career pathing guide for individual contributor designers and design managers, ensuring clear paths for professional growth

Thought Leadership

Guest Speaker: Better Products by Design podcast

Hear my take on the role of tools like Figma and methods like Agile, staying authentic, fighting the urge to "box-check,” and the irreplaceable role of humans as AI-driven design becomes ubiquitous.

Critical thinking, creativity, & connection

  • Mentor & teacher

    While fostering critical thinking and creativity in others, I find myself equally enriched by their diverse perspectives

  • VTS facilitator & consultant

    I use Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) as a proven method to improve critical thinking, communication, innovation, and inclusion
    Learn more at Neuro Atelier

  • Artist & writer

    Making art and music feeds my soul, connects me with others, and sharpens my creativity and storytelling skills

Let's build a great future together