Field Notes

A little bit of how I've navigated the design industry.
While sharing some practical "wisdom" for designers, leaders, and all that are interested.
Every design team I've seen try to build culture inside a larger organization has made the same mistake. They've treated it like a communications problem. They launch a design COP ... they run workshops …
A few years into my consulting career, I started teaching design at the university level as an adjunct professor. I have always thought that when I come to retire I would teach. I told …
Early in my career, I thought I knew what made someone a great designer. Strong visual instincts, tool fluency, a portfolio with clean grids and elegant typography. To cap it off, the ability to …
I've sat in a lot of rooms where someone says "we need to be more user-centric" or "we need to be more design-led." Often it comes from a well-meaning individual but with misinformed expectations …
What I built, what I learned, and what I want next. Every year has a theme. Looking back on 2025, mine was simple: make it work. In my career, in my family, in my …
Personal branding is one of those topics that sounds like it belongs to influencers or self-help speakers. But for designers, especially those working independently or trying to stand out in a competitive field … …
You don’t need “Lead” or “Principal” or “Director” in your title to have real influence on a product team…or any design team for that matter. Some of the most impactful designers I’ve worked with …
I'm not going to lie, the first time I used generative fill in Adobe on one of my photos I was blown away. Was it perfect? Absolutely NOT ... but it was pretty darn …
In healthcare, meaningful UX isn’t just about smoother interactions or cleaner interfaces … it can be the difference between confusion and clarity, frustration and trust, delay and timely care. When the experience is better, …
I’ve been a designer long enough to see more than a few tools come and go. Without dating myself, I can remember designing UI with a little Fireworks followed by LOTS of Photoshop. I …









