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About Me

Welcome to my site! I currently live in Broomfield, CO, where I work remotely as the Director of Product Design for RxVantage, the leading platform for connecting medical practitioners with life science companies. Previous to this I worked at Very Good Security, the industry leader in securing sensitive data. Before that, I led design at RightScale, the leading infrastructure cloud management SaaS platform for DevOps users. I began at RightScale in 2010, and during my time there I evangelized user-centered design throughout the company and grew a team of talented designers and researchers who made RightScale the leading cloud management platform as measured by top analysts Gartner and Forrester. I specialize in building out Lean UX processes and growing and mentoring design teams in growth stage companies.

My professional philosophy

  • Whether it is designing a complex new product, building a team of talented designers, or hiking to the highest peak in Colorado, I set lofty goals and push myself to complete them.
  • I love mentoring aspiring professionals and seeing them grow in their career.
  • I believe that a key role for any leader is to create a comfortable space free from unnecessary distractions and stressors so that each employee can do their best possible work to create products that customers love.
  • I am a strong supporter of Lean principles, and I work to cultivate an environment where cross-functional teams of developers, designers, and product managers collaborate closely together to move stories forward rather than throwing deliverables over a siloed wall.
  • I believe in establishing KPIs for projects early and gathering the necessary data to measure success.
  • I believe that Design plays an active role in product strategy and deserves a seat the table.
  • While I focus on design strategy, processes, and people management, I am comfortable being an active contributor to design, user research, analytics, and even front-end development when necessary.

The environment I work to cultivate

  • Each team member is intrinsically motivated to do great work, and everyone celebrates both individual and team successes.
  • Each person’s ideas are carefully considered, but everyone is also comfortable moving past them if they aren’t the best direction for a product.
  • Good design is a core aspect of the culture, and decision makers believe that a poor user experience is a barrier to release rather than something to be ignored.
  • Success is driven by outcomes, not outputs, and the definition of done includes measures of success.
  • Regardless of background, anyone can succeed, diversity is celebrated, and harassment is not tolerated in any form.

On the lighter side

  • I volunteer for local causes, including the Broomfield Sister Cities and Broomfield Cleanup Days.
  • I previously organized the Santa Barbara UX meetup and founded the Santa Barbara UX Book Club. Today, I support a number of local UX meetups at different levels, including the Denver UX Meetup, the Denver UX Bookclub, the Boulder UX/UI meetup, the Boulder UX Research Meetup, where I have led volunteer projects for local nonprofits.
  • Like many Colorado residents, I enjoy the outdoors.
    • In the summer, you will find me hiking, biking, and camping in the mountains
    • In the winter I may be skiing, snowshoeing, or curled up with a book in front of a fire.
  • I’m an avid reader of both nonfiction and fiction.
  • I have a large collection of board games and participate in several gaming meetups.
  • I love theater, and have a membership with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.