Primary Recent Experience: 2011 - Present

Modus Create

Head of Customer Experience and Design 2019 - Present

I've recently joined Modus Create as the head of customer experience and design, where I lead, grow, and scale the offerings and engagements of our design practice. In short, I wanted to give client services a shot after almost 7 years in-house and almost a year as an an independent contributor in an evangelist & thought leader role.

Accomplishments in first 6 months:

  • Defined the customer experience practice to focus on the following disciplines:
    • Product design
    • Design systems
    • DesignOps consulting
    • Design research
    • Elevating design and product development maturity
  • Grew the design practice by 30% by hiring a diverse group of senior UX practitioners and early-career designers
  • Advocated and closed a design system consulting partnership with InVision (Modus announcement | InVision partner page)
  • Closed new business in excess of $100k in first 6 months
  • Grew existing accounts by advising the value of effective design research's impact on product development
  • Promote and evangelize Modus at industry and community events via sponsorship, speaking, and hosting activities to grow the awareness of Modus offerings and opportunities.

InVision

Principal, Design Transformation 2018 - 2019

I work directly with InVision clients to level up their design practice and help their larger business understands the value of design, often through a variety of methods including customized, inclusive presentations and workshops for audiences across the organization.

Accomplishments:

  • Led the strategy, approach, and content for the InVision design maturity assessment model to lead conversations with design executives to identify where to focus recommendations for improvement
  • Led design thinking workshops to product, design, and business stakeholders for AIG, Telus, Boeing and TIAA
  • Led design system workshops to user experience teams for Charles Schwaab
  • Produced and delivered innovation presentations to MetLife
  • Conduct office-hours conversations providing thought leadership and tactical advice with design leaders from All State, AT&T, Raymond James, Alight, American Express, Paylocity, Guaranteed Rate, Ultimate Software, and others.
  • Partner with the InVision Marketing team on strategic content and event speaking opportunities to drive awareness of the InVision brand and the business value of design, including Design+ events in Minneapolis, San Diego, Vancouver, Salt Lake City, and Columbus.

Generally speaking, to lead our clients and InVision to success, I was responsible for:

  • Serving as the expert in how design practices are scaled beyond design departments at the world’s most customer-centric organizations
  • Crafting individualized improvement programs to evangelize design-led best practices to executive stakeholders
  • Regularly attend in-person prospect and customer visits, leading senior level conversations on digital transformation and design best practices
  • Coordinate with Design Education and Design Specialist teams to deliver high-touch programs for our most strategic accounts

Nasdaq, Inc.

Global Head of Design and User Experience 2011 - 2018

  • General manager of a $4MM product design & user experience team that serves 5 business units across the global stock exchange and fintech leader
  • Instituted all product design processes, including customer research, lean UX & agile principles, designers prototyping in HTML, CSS, and JS, iterative customer feedback via usability testing and beta programs, and analytics to guide future development
Managing Designers
  • Directly manage, coach, and mentor design leadership team, including Director of User Experience, Creative Director, Director of Design Research & Customer Insights, & Director of Mobile Design
  • Scaled a team from 1 to 30 in 4 years through direct recruiting efforts, saving over 200k annually in recruiter & placement fees and improving overall hiring quality
Leading Digital Transformation via Design
  • Regularly present strategic design initiatives to executive management and officers, including CEO, CFO, and Board of Directors
  • Executive producer of Nasdaq Pro/Design Conference (NYC 2015) and 2 Pro/Design Masterclasses (SF 2016) to showcase compelling speakers exploring how design and research are critical to business strategy
  • Created a cross-business customer advisory board of clients and users to help sales, service, commercial teams, and design better understand our users & buyers
Leading Innovation
  • Designers on my team are cited as inventor in 32 patents (16 pending) as of 2017
  • Launched Nasdaq Mosaiq, a design research asset management system now available as a free download for agencies, start-ups, and enterprises
  • Led multiple cross-team innovation workshops & sprint teams to explore latent, unmet customer needs and evaluate new business opportunities across silos
Awards and Recognition

Rutgers Business School

Adjunct Faculty: Customer Centric Management Mini-MBA 2013 - Present

Rosenfeld Media

Author: Lift Off! Practical Design Leadership to Elevate Your Team, Your Organization, and You2016 - Present