Right now
Coforma
Director of Product Design at a civic technology consultancy. I lead the product design function inside a multidisciplinary experience practice focused on federal digital services.
Milkshake Interactive
My web design and development agency in Spokane, Washington, for small businesses and local brands.
By the numbers
- 20+years in design
- 12designers led, while staying hands-on
- 153designers mentored
- 3brands on one Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) design system
- 18product teams on one foundation
- <2 monthsto align headers across all three brands
- 2flagged teams recovered at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
- 2–3 hrssaved weekly per VA GPT user (estimated)
- 42members in the AI & Design Community of Practice I co-led
- 4,363students surveyed to shape a university website’s information architecture
- 8teams on one token architecture, with no forced migration
- 195quality measures made navigable in the Quality Payment Program (QPP)
Three projects worth knowing
VA AI Pilots
Led design of a conversational AI tool for clinical staff, connected to live patient data. “VA GPT” was used by nearly 100,000 staff.
See the work Design systemsCMS Design System
Matured a multi-brand system serving Healthcare.gov, Medicare.gov, and CMS.gov, including a global header aligned across all three.
See the work ModernizationIRS ITIN Paper-to-Digital
Led design of a low-code intake workflow that replaced paper processing for Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) applications.
See the workWork covered by non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) shows only public proof points.
What I’m good at
- Design systems, 0-to-1 through enterprise scale
- Modernizing government and enterprise services
- Responsible AI integration
- Scaled agile delivery
- Accessibility and equity
- Workshop facilitation
- Evidence-backed design
- Thought leadership
- AI & design
Point of view
- Craft matters. Egoless, direct, honest feedback makes better work.
- Humans stay in the loop. AI gets governed, not just adopted.
- Prototype to persuade. I show what’s possible instead of describing it.
- Forward-deployed designers. Seasoned operators close the distance between insight and delivery, from research to client alignment in two days.
How I work
- Front-loaded meetings, then focused time for deep work.
- Short ad-hoc check-ins instead of standing meetings.
- Some of my best work happens in the evening.
- I lead by building, not by slide deck.
Currently exploring
AI flows for designers
Twelve steps answering where designers fit in AI workflows, written while co-leading the AI & Design Community of Practice at Coforma.
Read the guide ArticleThe rise of the forward-deployed designer
Moving from research to client alignment in two days.
Read the article ExperimentPodcast player
Built iteratively with a command-line coding assistant.
Try the prototypeWork with me
Reach out about design leadership, design systems, AI-in-design workshops, or a website through Milkshake Interactive.