An overview of my experiences. Scroll all the way down for a skill summary.

SkillLab

Feb 2023 -
UX Lead and Manager

SkillLab is a small start-up that builds career guidance systems to help people turn their skills into careers. After working with SkillLab as a mentor, I joined the company in their exciting mission as a UX Lead. The opportunity to so formatively affect the team, the company culture and the product has been extremely fulfilling.

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  • Team lead and manager for two designers and a researcher

  • Build up a user experience practice, define team scope and responsibilities

  • Establish operational rhythms and sprint structure

  • Individual contributor for design, research, and writing

Google Local Shopping

2017 - 2023
UX Lead and Manager

I was responsible for the local shopping experience on Google, across Search and Maps. My team’s work on representing information about local stores and their product availability has improved the shopping experience for over 1B queries a day, and introduced several new patterns into the search results page.

  • Team lead and manager for two designers and a researcher

  • Supported a team of 25+ engineers across multiple workstreams

  • Designed features to improve how shoppers find local products and stores on Search

  • Collaboration with stakeholders across Commerce, Search and Geo

  • Established UX strategy, evolved team process and facilitated cross-functional workshops

Google Maps Transit

2014 - 2016
Design Lead

Transit directions in Google Maps is a beloved feature that helps millions of people get from here to there, via public transit, wherever they are in the world. By focusing on our users’ needs, I helped shift the value proposition to include the unaddressed need of helping locals to navigate their cities.

  • Owned the user experience for Transit in Google Maps and Search

  • Redesigned core flows to better address needs of urban city-dwellers

  • Influence product strategy through conceptual design and storytelling

Other Google Work

Google encourages internal mobility every ~18-24 months, and there is an established culture of 20% projects. This culture afforded me the chance to work on a range of projects. Besides the variance in domain, I found that working on projects in different stages of development, and with varying team structures, was a great way to activate a broad range of UX skills.

2022
Juji - Telling Family Stories
20% project. Conceived, designed, and tested a concept for helping families tell their stories. Recruited a team and pitched to our internal incubator.

2018
Combating Malnutrition in Cambodia
20% project. In collaboration with the non-profit Action Against Hunger, I designed educational tools to help combat the root causes of malnutrition in rural Cambodia

2016 - 2017
Local Search Health
Developed product strategy for new search vertical, created conceptual designs for product vision, and developed initial features.

2013 - 2014
Emerging Markets
Researched the needs of users in our lesser-served markets and built new solutions (or adapt existing ones) to address them.

2010 - 2013
Google Calendar
Designed new features, kicked off a major redesign of the mobile and desktop experience, and represented Calendar in the first Google-wide visual design refresh.

SMART Technologies

2009 - 2010
UX Designer

SMART Technologies is a medium-sized edu-tech company. They create hardware and software products for use in schools, but are most well-known for creating the interactive whiteboard market. I was part of a small UX team responsible for bringing new products to market, and engaging with teachers and students to develop a foundational understanding of our users.

  • Design and research for products such as SMART Response XE and SMART Table

  • Collaborate with hardware engineers and industrial designers

  • Conduct foundational research with teachers and students

Motorola Mobile Devices

2007 - 2009
Experience Planning

As part of the Experience Planning team, I was responsible for the design of new features across several new and emerging mobile platforms, as well as supporting the yearly cycle of strategic planning through concept design and prototyping.

  • Collaborate with other teams (industrial design, trend forecasting) to define opportunity areas

  • Create product concepts and prototypes for next-generation mobile devices and digital experiences

Computer Graphics Lab, UCSF

2002 - 2005
Developer

I developed new features for a molecular modeling software suite called Chimera. My interest in the front-end design of the features I developed, as well as a growing sense that our software was extremely complicated and difficult to use led me to the field of “Human-Computer Interaction,” in which I subsequently pursued a degree.

  • Develop new features such as a tutorial builder and real-time collaborative environment

  • Facilitate training workshops with users and integrate feedback into product

Education

2005 - 2007
Georgia Institute of Technology
M.S. in Human Computer Interaction

My thesis was about using technology to manage chronic diseases. By encouraging timely reflection on their behaviors, we hoped to empower people with diabetes to better manage their condition. I modified a blood glucose monitor to trigger a survey on a mobile phone when a glucose reading was taken.

1998-2002
Duke University
B.A. in Computer Science
Certificate in Genetics

Unable to decide between pursuing my interest in the natural sciences and in technology, I was thrilled to learn about the then-emerging field of bioinformatics, which uses software to analyze and automate tasks involving scientific data. Though there was no formal study program, I cobbled together courses and independent studies that would prepare me for this field.

My Skills

A core tenet of the product I currently work on (at SkillLab) is that describing oneself in terms of their skills - not their roles, titles, or degrees - is the most effective way to communicate what you’re capable of. With this in mind, here’s a selection of some my core skills which I think are critical for UX people to have, and which I am always working to hone (and help others develop).

Actively Dispel Ambiguity

Early in my career, I struggled (as many do) with the ambiguity inherent in any sufficiently complex project. Instead of settling for thriving in ambiguity, UX has the unique skillset - and the responsibility - to actively dispel it. I try to be an agent of ambiguity obliteration.

Write First, Design Later

I’m a firm believer that if you can’t describe it in words, you won’t be able to build it. My first instinct to wrap my head around a problem is to describe it. Writing plays a critical part throughout my design process: as a tool to think, as documentation, and as communication.

Explain with Frameworks

A conceptual model is a powerful tool to explain some complex phenomenon in simpler, graspable terms. UX often operates as a multiplexer, and I’ve found that synthesizing streams of information into explanatory frameworks is a great way to get everyone aligned.

Have the Right Altitude

Knowing at what level to attack a problem - and describe the solution - can be the difference between making progress and needing to re-open previous decisions. I advocate for zooming out just enough to make sure we’re solving the right-level problem.

Communicate with Crystal Clarity

Clear written and verbal communication are critically important to what we do. I take care in choosing my words, whether they’re sent in an email or spoken in a meeting. People tend to hear what they want to, so I try to be as unambiguous and straightforward as possible.

Create the Conditions

UX is often the function that proposes solutions, but I think that an equally important part of our job is to create the conditions within the team for the ‘right’ solution to emerge. I do this by asking questions, facilitating discussions and bringing the team along.