UX Leader
My leadership style is people first.
I’m committed to the people on my teams and the people we design for.
I lead with empathy, care, and enthusiasm.
My extensive experience in design has given me a deep understanding of the design process, the importance of collaboration, and the significance of providing time and space for creatives to make magic. As a leader, I prioritize supporting designers by giving them the room, tools, and ownership they need to create exceptional experiences. I lead through guiding conversations, advocating for design thinking, and fostering strong relationships. I coach the team through whiteboarding and sketching (pushing pixels as needed) to champion the designers throughout the design process.
CORE STRENGTHS
Product Thinking
My approach is holistic; I identify immediate and long-term opportunities that align with business objectives, balancing user needs and technical costs throughout the user journey. By understanding users and analyzing data, I provide actionable insights and solutions to guide products and strategies. I prioritize collaboration with product and engineering teams to ensure we function as a cohesive unit.
Understanding Market & Customers
Mapping to Business Objectives
Measuring outcomes
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Defining Jobs to be Done
Product-Eng-Design Triangle
Balancing the whole & individual experiences
0 to 1
Product Development
I specialize in 0-to-1 product development from early exploration to launch. I lead collaborative UX sprints, formulate UXR strategies including generative research and rapid rounds of user testing, working with product teams to identify opportunities and solve problems. My approach includes rapid prototyping, experimentation, and advocating for Minimum Lovable Products with a “ship to learn” mindset.
Problem Setting & Product Discovery
Defining User Needs & Motivations
UX Research
Design Sprints & Brainstorms
User Journey
Prototyping
Experimentation
Design Excellence,
Execution & Delivery
I foster a culture of trust and growth to inspire excellence. Beyond providing vision and strategy, I maintain high standards through constructive feedback and collaboration, promoting design thinking. I encourage individual ownership and ensure that designers have the necessary time for thorough design processes. I take pride in my team’s ability to deliver high-quality, timely, and comprehensive work.
Design Thinking & Design Process
Open & Transparent Communication
Product, UX, Interaction & Visual Design
Design, Leadership & XFN Reviews
Individual Product Ownership
Constructive & Healthy Critiques
Engineering Handoff & Design QA
My Background
I build and lead happy design teams, culture, and processes, culminating in great products.
Be nimble, be quick, be flexible, and learn
Over the past eight years, I led design teams across various verticals and products at Yahoo. Most recently, I was the Sr. Director of Product Design, overseeing content experiences and tooling platforms for all Yahoo verticals.
I began my tech industry journey at Polyvore, an e-commerce startup in the Bay Area. After its acquisition by Yahoo, I refined my skills in 0 to 1 product development within fast-paced startup environments within agile teams. Over the years, I built concept teams in entertainment, lifestyle, and personal finance before transitioning to Yahoo’s Home, News, Entertainment, and Life organizations.
As I delved deeper into the world of News, I uncovered a significant blind spot in the editorial and programming tooling systems that lacked UX oversight or leadership attention. This discovery inspired me to promote better product and design thinking and collaboration among the product, engineering, and editorial teams. I then led the rebuilding of the internal content management system to better support users managing all content flowing through the Yahoo ecosystem.
Building a team culture of inspired and happy creatives
Before my time at Yahoo, I began my career in the entertainment industry with studios such as ABC Family, ABC, NBC, and Disney. My most influential experience was at Walt Disney Animation Studios, where I worked as a designer on the Talent Development and Recruitment team. This role exposed me to the importance of cultivating happy, healthy, and inspired team cultures. I focused on team building and continuous learning and development beyond daily tasks, which directly influenced creativity and innovation.
My responsibilities included building the studio’s brand and finding and developing talent. I organized regular events to inspire the studio artists who contributed to the creation of Disney’s animated films.
My experience at Polyvore reinforced this philosophy. I had the privilege of working alongside exceptional leaders who prioritized bottom-up product development. They fostered a vibrant team culture built on trust and learning, where asking “why?” was encouraged, and failures were viewed as valuable learning opportunities.
Hello
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