about

Selfie in my backyard, looking-up into the sun with pink framed glasses and unicorn hair.

I was born in a Michigan blizzard in January, and fell for design as a teenager through Andy Warhol’s expressive work on Interview magazine. At California College of the Arts I studied graphic and industrial design, where the Aeron chair and OXO’s peeler showed me what design research makes possible: form and function to equal measures of excellence, every detail earning its place by making someone’s life better.

My early career ran through publication design (including *surface and Wired), packaging design and art direction for action sports companies, and litigation exhibits for patent lawsuits. In 2004 a fluke gig in digital was supposed to be take-the-money-and-run. Instead, I found my people.

Since then: Yahoo! in the Web 2.0 era, contributing to one of the industry’s first design systems. Enterprise consulting with Adobe. A YCombinator-backed nonprofit of my own. Several years spent in public interest tech with SecureDrop, QubesOS, Tor, and California’s DMV. Platform design for infrastructure at Cloudflare and HashiCorp. Twenty years in, the throughline is unchanged: complex systems, high stakes, and the people who deserve better from both.

I live with my partner and two mischievous cats on a tree farm at the base of Mt Hood, in semi-rural Oregon. My favorite thing in the whole wide world, is still snow.

beacons

Service. To systems; to users; to relationships; to purpose; to the business. My currency is relationships, not transactions.

Inquiry. To inform empathy; to create shared understandings; to uncover opportunities; to make work more fun.

Grace. Excellence in balance with kindness, to others and to myself. Reward good intentions. Honor impact. Always prioritize kindness.

Inclusion. People of every ability, age, and background deserve digital experiences that leave them feeling capable and empowered. Not compliance; design and build for everyone, within target personas.

Trust. I spent years designing security tools for journalists, activists, and whistleblowers. Trust and clarity weren’t brand values in that work. They were the product. That conviction now shapes everything I design.

Fun. We do better work when emotional safety and sincere fun can be had. Life is short.