Away from work I enjoy other creative outlets. I still sketch and paint.
I'm also an active person. A couple days a week, I run or play basketball. Exercise helps to quiet my mind and refocus my thoughts.
I've always loved design work. I'm passionate about solving 'human' problems. I feel very fortunate to worked on such amazing projects, along side such amazing people.
What I like best about Product Design is how the disciple constantly evolves . There's always more to learn and exciting new things to try.
Inspiration is everywhere. Being open to new ideas and staying current... it constantly shifts my ideals on what 'great' design looks like.
Design experimentation, rooted in Agile.
When buzzing, design has the ability to excite and inspire an entire organization.
But getting there isn't always easy. I've found the most effective solution is to have UX teams loosely split work into 2 categories; Discovery and Delivery.
Every project is unique, but I’ve found deploying a dual-track method best aligns the creative process with structured Agile methodologies.
Discovery
Problem defined through extensive Research and Design exploration. Human pain points are understood. Context is communicated. Ensure your stakeholders are psyched.
Delivery
Sprint and embed in order to design, build, and measure. Then repeat. We always find time to give back to the system. Improve operations so we can scale. Ensure your customers are psyched.
I believe great design is achieved through...
Listening
Using empathy and developing the organization's ability to understand their customers is step 1. I try to deploy UsResearch (in any form) to define the problem space. That’s puts my teams on track to eliminate pain points and come-up with the next great idea.
Design Community
Design practice is evolving... rapidly. The task can seem overwhelming. But we are not alone. Agile is forcing us all to adapt. Reading, learning, and talking to the thought-leaders in our space continually improves my process.
Organizational Culture
Everyone involved in product development is a designer. Design should evolve and scale to enlighten others and cultivate a user-centric environment.
Constant Experimentation
There are tons of ways to achieve amazing results. To stay ahead, successful teams must always be adding tools. Experiment. Fail early; Fail often. But make sure to always learn. And most importantly, have fun.
At this moment, here's the what I'm thinking about...