About
I've spent twelve years designing products where the interesting work happens before anyone opens Figma.
The short version
I'm a founding product designer based in Chicago. I work on the systems behind marketplaces, regulated products, and money flows — the policy, the edge cases, the disclosures, the parts of a product that decide whether it's trusted.
Most of my work doesn't look like design from the outside. It looks like a three-page memo, a tradeoff table, an afternoon with counsel, a flow diagram taped to a wall. The screens come later and they come quickly.
I help teams design inside complex systems, translating infrastructure, incentives, and constraints into experiences people can understand and trust.
Operating principles
Six things I hold to, mostly.
- 01
Frame before form
A sharper problem statement does more work than another round of mockups. I spend a disproportionate amount of time here.
- 02
Constraints are partners
Legal, risk, compliance, ops — these are co-designers, not obstacles. The work is better when they're in the room early.
- 03
Write the decision down
Tradeoffs that live in heads die in meetings. I keep a decision log on every project, signed off async.
- 04
Sequence is strategy
What you don't build, and when, is most of the strategy. I'll argue for less, sooner, more often than not.
- 05
Respect operator time
The other side of every consumer surface is someone whose tenth-priority tool this is. Design accordingly.
- 06
Calm over clever
Especially in money and health, the goal is a product that feels boring in a trustworthy way.
Experience
- 2022 — nowSenior Product Designer, Marketplace + Order SuccessWeedmaps
- 2018 — nowIndependent · Product strategy & designSelected clients
- 2019 — 2022Product Designer, B2B LeadSpoton
- 2015 — 2018Product DesignerM1 Finance
- 2014 — 2017Product DesignerSelected clients
Outside work
I teach a quarterly workshop on writing decision memos for product teams. I read more about regulation, infrastructure, and city planning than is strictly necessary. I bake bread badly and consistently.
If any of this overlaps with what you're working on, I'd be glad to hear about it.
Looking for a strategy-led founding product designer? Let's talk.