Leading With Listening
Great design does not begin with solutions. It begins with listening.
users
+
DATA
+
Stakeholders
Across media, streaming, and subscription products, the most impactful work comes from deeply understanding the data, determining what users and stakeholders want to accomplish, and identifying where systems, tools, or organizations contribute to the process.
This mindset shapes everything I do, from framing problems, to guiding teams, to helping stakeholders envision the possibilities, and, ultimately, to delivering a successful product.
Stakeholders
Aligning Teams
Around a Shared Vision
Complex products succeed when talented teams are aligned.
A core part of my design process is bringing clarity across disciplines including design, product, engineering, research, editorial, and business. I create space for teams to brainstorm, identify assumptions, and define the shared vision of success. During the TODAY.com redesign this grounding principle was crucial to its success. It grew by 3,000 daily visits to the homepage.
Whether leading agile teams through tight timelines or facilitating workshops with senior stakeholders, my focus remains the same: build unified understanding so teams can move forward with confidence.
DATA
+
USERS
Turning Information
Into Insight
One of the most foundational aspects of the design process is helping teams incorporate multiple sources of data into real understanding of users needs and behaviors. Key brainstorming sessions are vital for a shared understanding on what the user needs, how they use the site, and what they are looking for. This helps us think collectively, spot gaps we might have missed, and align on next steps for the product.
In the CNBC Pro subscription project, the work was more than redesigning interfaces; it was about redefining the experiences. Our goal was to help users move from consuming information to understanding it through way-finding. The redesigned experience delivered meaningful results; greater engagement, higher retention, more exposure across the site, and scaleability.
Design becomes most powerful when the user is kept at the center of the conversation.
Designing for Scale
and Longevity
I am deeply interested in systems. Not just design systems, but product ecosystems and the processes that help teams scale effectively.
Keeping reusable components in mind, I ensure each addition strengthens the overall system while remaining flexible for future user needs. This allows teams to make focused MVP decisions without sacrificing long-term vision, creating frameworks that adapt as the product, business, and technology evolve. During the NBC News Digital Bento project we created a design system that could scale to any new brand or initiative.
Identifying opportunities for future growth throughout the process is where systems thinking delivers lasting value.
