Leading Design at Scale
I lead design organizations that ship complex digital products and improve how work gets done. In my current role at U.S. Bank, I focus on consumer digital experiences across channels and on scaling Shield Commons execution in real products through clear standards, practical governance, and strong partnerships.
I strive to lead in a way that feels direct and human. Clear goals, fast decisions, high craft, and a team that feels supported.
How I lead
I set direction and reduce ambiguity
I turn open-ended goals into a shared plan by defining the problem, constraints, and what success looks like. Then I make sure the team has the context and decision paths to move confidently.
I build teams and partnerships that can deliver
I work closely with product, engineering, research, and key risk partners so we stay aligned and avoid late surprises. Internally, I focus on coaching, leveling, and creating an environment where designers can grow and do their best work.
I install lightweight operating habits
Strong outcomes need repeatable habits. I build cadences, templates, and shared tools so design can move quickly without losing quality.
Driving Organizational Change
Design sprints that keep teams moving
Time is usually the biggest constraint, so the process has to be explicit. I established and championed an agile design approach where design runs one to two sprints ahead of development, participates in story grooming, and maintains a steady stakeholder cadence.
A typical two-week rhythm includes:
Upfront sketching and collaboration with internal critique
Three days of iteration and finalization
Review with the product owner
Report-out to development with feedback
Final revisions before handoff
Student Outreach
To help engage with the community and broaden our exposure, I championed the first set of student tours in our Golden Valley headquarters. This required buy-in from various stakeholders, organizing what was initially a multiple-day engagement.
Over time we refined that engagement to an annual activity filled day including individual interviews and an afternoon design challenge.
Students provided great feedback and as a team we were able to grow by teaching.
Prototyping as a decision tool
I push teams to participate in the fundamental conversations around data models and the mechanics that drive the experience. That improves design reviews with engineering and helps teams find and fix inconsistency at the root, not just at the surface.
Better conversations with engineering
I push teams to participate in the fundamental conversations around data models and the mechanics that drive the experience. That improves design reviews with engineering and helps teams find and fix inconsistency at the root, not just at the surface.
Standardizing operations to scale quality
One Template
Every time you work with a design agency, you expect similar results. You shouldn’t need to learn a new layout, or adjust to a new style of wires or flows. I established a boilerplate template and worked with another designer to share with the studio.
One Set of Tools
One of the greatest struggles in Digital Product Design is an ever-evolving set of tools that can get the same job done in various ways. I worked with another designer to help survey the studio and compare tools.
One Destination for Research
I worked hand-in-hand with our research team and another designer to build out a platform to house, categorize and search for user insights that had been collected over the years.