I simplify complexity and have fun doing it.
What I do.
I consult for established companies and growing startups. I’m best poised to help in the product / company definition phase.
My background is a blend of design agency and in-house start up work. My MBA is in Design Strategy (the design of businesses).
I’m a highly collaborative, optimistic realist.
Areas of Expertise :
Whatever you’re trying to solve, there is a way.
Product.
I bring together my background in research, design, content, and business to discern what matters to users, prototype those experiences, and create sustainable business models.
Simplifying Complexity.
Making sense of anything. Distilling what matters for the work. Translating that to others.
Value Proposition.
Crafting the “hook” that will draw your users in. Clear, simple, compelling.
Your Story.
Crystalizing your core message, and crafting a compelling story for key users, partners, investors.
Business Modeling.
Getting past spreadsheets. Mapping users, value proposition, activities, costs, revenue, channels, partnerships.
Rapid Prototyping.
I’m in love with low- and no-code methods of creating experiences to test, live. I believe it’s the best way to learn.
A/B Testing.
Balancing “certainty” with what’s worth testing ... And following up on why people acted as they did.
Stakeholder Alignment.
Perhaps my greatest skill. I can get a group of people to sort through chaos and get to agreement.
Requirement Definition.
What matters to build, staged out realistically.
SQL.
I write exactly enough SQL to get what I want out of a database. And inform the realities of using that data.
Research.
I have more than a decade of experience in all manner of design research — physical, digital, experiential.
I primarily advise in how to design both research and research departments.
Research Design.
The most critical part of research is deciding if and how to do it. I’ll tell you how, and I’ll tell you when to not waste your time.
Research Process.
The foundation. Designing the cadences and types of research: benchmarking, on-going, and one-off.
Research Hiring.
Starting out? I can design (and run) your process for interviewing and hiring researchers.
Running Research.
Here are the types of research I can easily advise you on, and, depending on the scope, I can absolutely nail for you.
Research Types.
In-Person 1:1
Deeply honed moderation plus well-crafted flow, stimuli, exercises can be magic.
In Home
Incredible for the depth of unspoken context you get. Especially good for sensitive topics.
Remote
Setting up systems and logistics (scheduling, releases). Moderating (it’s different than in-person).
In Lab
Useful for those complex physical setups. (Don’t just do it for the one-way mirror.)
In Context
Taking someone shopping, going to their workplace. Again, the contextual cues can be game changers.
Focus Group
They have a bad rap for a reason, but I’ve designed some that really cracked the project open.
Duos
Amazing, especially when you get someone to invite their friend, who will call them on their BS.
Expert
Always illuminating. Especially useful when envisioning a future the customer has never experienced.
Surveys
Don’t be fooled by your inbox — A well-designed, branching survey can get you rich data at scale.
Research Phases.
Generative / Exploratory
Entering a space and figuring out what matters. Making sure you don’t just confirm what you believe.
Interim / Early Prototypes
Designing research stimuli to dig into specific questions. Balancing exploration and essential stakes in the sand.
Evaluative / Usability
With the least guiding touch, walk through an experience and learn how “obvious” things aren’t obvious.
Research Tools / Methods.
Co-Creation
With the right elements, a customer can make a frankenstein that will teach you more than your prototypes.
Card Sorting
Quickly evaluate benefits, tasks, features. The best go beyond priority rating with contextual framing.
Activities
Essential. Imagine we’re talking behavioral health. Draw a line for your life, ↑ for happy, ↓ for sad. Then we talk.
Research Outputs.
Archetypes
Personas without extra phony details. Makes users tangible to business, design & engineering stakeholders.
Design Principles
Non-obvious statements that help frame design and concept evaluation. Critical research output.
Customer Journey Map
The important actions, objects, and people, shown over time. Layer on emotion, and things come alive.
Content.
Words are among the most important ways we connect. With users. Customers. Partners. Investors. I help you distill, craft, and tell your story (or stories). And I can advise you on your content systems.
Your Story.
I connect the dots from what you do to who you are — all tuned to the audiences that matter.
Content Strategy.
What needs to be said, to whom, when, how. Particularly content strategy for product.
Content Systems.
Smart components to get things off the ground, or the content side of your scalable ML platform.
Editing.
Deeply honest and collaborative. I help you cut the crap, mine the gems, and spin gold.
Product Copy.
The right words. In the right spots.
General Writing.
Yes. Absolutely.
Design.
I’m who you want in the early design phase — figuring out flows and what matters. Bring that (and the accompanying design brief I write) to a firm to accelerate the project.
Design Audit.
What’s working now. Where to place the bulk of your effort. I have deep intuition from years of experience.
Systems Mapping.
How the elements of your product — physical, digital, experiential — fit together.
Information Architecture.
A place for everything. Everything in its place.
Storyboards.
Low fidelity tool to frame up how a solution will fit in someone’s life. Goals and context without the fine details (yet). A great tool for alignment.
Wireframing.
Get 80% of the way through the flows and core needs.
I’ll help you find someone else for refined designs.
Design Agency Advice.
Having spent years at an agency — both doing and selling the work — I can help you scope your brief (and interview firms) to get the most from your engagement.
