Selected work, by chapter.
Case studies use a Problem → Insight → Solution format. Everything else is a short blurb — I’m happy to walk through any of it in detail.
Indie products, currently shipping
My own thing. Designed end-to-end, partner-built, and out in the world.
Static Radio
Real radio, but built from open podcasts. Synchronized playback across every listener — everyone hears the same thing at the same second. Eight themed channels: Earth, Work, Learn, Weird, Unite, Make, SHEILA B, Sleep.
Loom
A tactile, private-first notes app built around a chronological card pile instead of folders. Letterpress and risograph-inspired surfaces, weighted motion and haptics, retroactive hashtag feeds.
Indie · WebEmojio Paint Composer
A creative music composition tool that combines visual art with sound design through emoji-based interaction. No musical training required — paint songs with stickers.
IBM Cloud (2015–present)
Design leadership across the public cloud platform.
Platform.next
The most recent strategic refresh of IBM Cloud — a deliberate progression from individuals to regulated enterprise teams, from disconnected services to opinionated solutions, from cloud-as-spreadsheets to cloud-as-code. From a designer-led side project to platform-wide mission.
Platform Unification Project (PUP)
The hairiest design and development effort we’d ever undertaken: bringing SoftLayer Control Portal and IBM Cloud console together in one seamless experience. IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award.
IBM · 2020–2022Partner Center | Sell
Migrating ISV service onboarding from Resource Management Console to Partner Center Sell — 6–9 months of onboarding cut to 6–8 weeks. $7.94M MRR contribution. IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award.
IBM Cloud Catalog & Catalog Management
New ways of working together, finding offerings, and participating as a partner. Close to 400 products from 73 different vendors. American Airlines $63M GBS deal supported by Private Catalog experience.
Cloud Pak for Data as a Service
Key role in delivering a mission-critical IBM release that had been lingering for over a year — aligning shared strategy across design teams, then shipping to customers.
IBM Cloud Experience Principles
Co-authored with designer Erica Raymond. Grounded our cross-functional team’s work in a shared set of principles synthesized from executive all-hands and team-wide polling — now part of the team’s vocabulary.
Teeny Tiny Talks
“Ten minutes. One topic. Not work.” A lightweight talk series I started with Alisha Moore to lower the barrier to people sharing things they’re passionate about. Got onto IBM Radio and into Craft Con.
IBM Cloud TV
Built a Watson-Media-powered internal video hub when Covid hit and remote IBMers were missing context. Searchable across auto-transcribed audio. Now contributed to by dozens of team members and used in production.
Personal Playbacks
Twenty-minute, voluntary, lunchtime sessions where teammates shared who they are outside of work. Helped a remote-first international team actually get to know each other.
FCB Chicago (2010–2014)
User-centered product design inside a traditional advertising agency.
Discover Mobile
Lead UX / Information Architect on a ground-up native rebuild of Discover’s cross-platform app. 2★ → 4★ within weeks. Contributed to Discover’s 2014 J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Award.
Discover Bank, Card, Network & Student Loans
Director of UX / Principal IA across Discover’s full product portfolio after winning Discover Card on the strength of a UX-led pitch. Web and native apps, iOS and Android.
Aramark.com
UX Director / Principal IA on the consolidation and redesign of multiple brand sites into a single Aramark.com.
Sharpie.com (and m.sharpie.com)
My very first project at FCB — m.sharpie.com — under mentor Abby Covert. Subsequently led IA for the full Sharpie.com browser site.
Boeing.com & Investor Services
UX Director and Principal IA for the redesign of Boeing.com and the Investor Services site.
Diners Club International
UX Director and Principal IA on DinersClubUS.com and the Diners Club mobile application.
Valspar
UX Director, Principal IA, Strategic Planner on Valspar.com, m.valspar.com, the Valspar mobile app, and the Valspar Virtual Painter — for which a design patent was filed with my name on it.
The rest of the roster
Information architecture and strategy across KFC, Motorola, Taco Bell, Tombstone Pizza, Volkswagen, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Dow Chemical, MilkPEP, and more.
Pre-career adventures
Before all this, there were hot dogs and hackathons.
Hot Doug’s social media
I grabbed @hotdougs when Twitter launched, tweeted daily specials for two years to 30k followers, and Doug eventually met me at a bar on Christmas Eve to hand me an envelope of back pay. Life is funny sometimes.
Chicago Financial Empowerment Hackathon
Member of the winning team building tools to help Chicagoans become more financially capable. Went on to compete in the 2015 National Financial Empowerment Hackathon with Chicago’s Office of the Treasurer.
Information Architecture Summit
Principal Information Architect / Digital Producer for 2012.IASummit.org in New Orleans. Coordinated the web team and collaborated with 89 speakers from international IAs to first-time student speakers.
Code Academy mentor & Prototype Camp volunteer
Mentored Code Academy UX students on coursework and professional development; volunteered on the crew for the Prototype Camp UX conference in Chicago.
No Right Brain Left Behind
Cross-disciplinary FCB Chicago team that earned an honorable mention in the national speed innovation challenge addressing the creativity crisis in U.S. schools.