My Work
Past projects & what they’ve taught me
A small sample of (many) lessons learned*
Lesson #1:
Successful implementation depends on clear, realistic goals.
Leading a Radical Business Transformation in 3 Weeks
Comfort in ambiguity may be a hallmark of the UX field, but successful execution depends on having clarity in goals, roles, and expectations, amidst the ambiguity.
Lesson #2:
The people who have the answers are probably not in the room.
Leading Service Design Workshops for a Telecomm Company
Designing a service in isolation is like trying to cook without necessary ingredients. You can do it, but it’ll taste so much better if you take the time to plan ahead.
Lesson #3:
Don't fall prey to the siren song of aesthetics.
Interaction Design & Strategy Fail for a Promising Events Startup
It’s tempting to make pixel perfect mockups from the start, but they mean nothing if they don’t address core user needs. A UX “vision” isn’t just visual: it’s a sense of clarity in what to deliver.
Lesson #4:
Stagnancy is not a state of being, it's a choice.
Design Thinking Workshops for an Agricultural Lending Firm
Traditional industries (finance, agriculture, etc) are often stereotyped as luddites, but folks in these spaces do have innovative ideas, and just need a supportive environment to pitch them.
Lesson #5:
The best insights are found outside of your own office.
Field Study for a Federal Agency’s Intranet
By observing users where they are, you’ll learn so much more about the people you’re trying to serve than a survey will ever tell you.
But wait…
There’s more!
This portfolio is still being built as we speak.
There are more written case studies on the way, and a sneak peek if them can be found below!
These are all projects I’ve already completed, so if you’d like to chat about them, I’m happy to hop on a call.
Otherwise, I can notify you once I’ve finished my writeup of any of these past projects. Scroll down to see what’s on the way…
Coming soon…
Lesson #6:
Budget for research, or pay a hundred-fold for a mistake …your choice.
How a Service Design Research Project Prevented a Multi-Million Dollar Mistake
Wisdom always comes at a cost, but we get to decide when to pay (and generally, it’s cheaper to pay upfront, while you’re still planning a major design project).
Lesson #7:
Don't manage measurements, manage your results.
Design Operations & Innovation Consulting for a Leader in Healthcare Innovation
Businesses often get lured into the trap of choosing a single high-priority metric to determine their success. However, doing so skews results and frequently backfires.
Lesson #8:
Customer loyalty goes deeper than click-through rates.
How a Luxury Travel Company Cheapened Their Brand by Fixating on a Poor Metric
Your analytics might tell you that people are clicking, but do people even like or want what they’re clicking? Better impact metrics tell the true story about your customers’ experiences.
Lesson #9:
You are not the user (even if you think you are).
Building a User-Centered Intranet for a Fortune 500 Metal Manufacturer
Assumptions can be found in every type of experience design, but are especially prevalent (and problematic) in the design of employee experiences. The best employee experiences account for realistic contexts, like dirty pickup trucks, factory floors, and large warehouse facilities.
Lesson #10:
Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. Intentionality breeds efficiency.
Service Blueprinting a Jump at US Army Airborne School
There’s a saying in the Army: “slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.” By slowing down to evaluate the situation and context, and communicating early and often with team members, teams can significantly reduce risk and improve operational efficiency. Service blueprinting can help with this.
Why list these projects as “lessons learned”?
People are busy.
If someone doesn’t have time to read the entire portfolio, they can still get a sense of what I’ve learned over the years, and how that might affect the way I approach certain problems.Lessons are timeless.
Don’t get me wrong, portfolios are meant to showcase projects you’re proud to have done. In my view, success is the combination of commitment, intentionality, and opportunity. The thing is, the opportunity landscape is constantly changing. Benchmarks change. Industries evolve. What’s trending now might look old and goofy tomorrow. When you’re in this field for over a decade, you learn that you can’t rest on laurels because success ages poorly. Lessons, on the other hand, come from good and bad experiences alike, and stay with you as you grow.
Don’t see a project type you were hoping to see?
It’s hard to feature every lesson I’ve learned in the last 12 years, but if you’d like to talk more about service design, UX research, management, strategy, coaching, or any other other areas not featured here, I’m happy to hop on a quick call to chat with you about my experiences, and hopefully we can find a way to work together.