My Human-Centered Design Leadership Philosophy
Building bridges between people and possibility through strategic design leadership
Over my 20+ years in hands-on design and leading design teams across sectors and continents, I've discovered that great design doesn't just happen through talented designers—it emerges when we create the right conditions for human-centered thinking to thrive. My approach centers on building bridges: between users and products, between distributed teams and shared vision, between human insights and AI-enhanced capabilities, and ultimately between human needs and measurable value. Below (in no particular order) are some of my thoughts on what, to me, is important to consider and align with as a human-centered designer and as a design leader.
Design as Strategic Driver, Not Service Function
I've consistently seen how design delivers the greatest impact when it's positioned as a strategic driver rather than a reactive service. At USAC, we transformed from a "black box" compliance-focused organization into a user-centered digital partner by embedding design thinking earlier in the decision-making process.
My approach involves:
Aligning design initiatives with leadership's business objectives
Educating stakeholders through outreach and "teach by doing" workshops
Demonstrating possibilities through tangible prototypes that visualize strategy
When Datto needed to evolve its business model, we didn't present another PowerPoint about transformation—we built a functioning mobile prototype that demonstrated the future state of their customer relationships. This "show, don't tell" approach sparked what stakeholders called a "game changer moment," enabling Datto stakeholders to viscerally understand how how these approaches could reshape their business outcomes and create new possibilities for customer engagement.
Growing Teams Through Intentional Mentorship
A design leader's most important contribution isn't what they create themselves—it's the culture they cultivate and the talent they develop. I believe in building teams where designers feel both supported and challenged to grow beyond their comfort zones.
When expanding the design team at Bixal from 5 to 20+ members, I co-created a mentorship framework with my team leads that paired designers across experience levels, established regular portfolio reviews, and developed career growth pathways. The result? Team members, like my Creative Director at the time, who later wrote that I was "the best manager I've had in my 15+ years of experience." He went on to lead his own teams using approaches we developed together.
I find the most fulfilling aspect of leadership is watching designers I've mentored grow into leaders themselves, carrying forward human-centered approaches into new organizations and challenges.
Creating Systems That Scale
Sustainable design excellence requires more than talented individuals—it demands thoughtful systems that prioritize human needs at every level. I focus on creating governance frameworks and design systems that scale quality consistently across products and teams while ensuring these systems serve both customer and employee experiences equitably.
At Skyline, Project Alchemy wasn't just about visual consistency—it was about creating a shared language and methodology across previously siloed product teams. I devised a three-phase approach toward unifying their disparate software applications into a coherent platform ("Look the Same, Act the Same, Be the Same") that made the transformation manageable while delivering immediate value to both users and development teams, and while beginning to integrate validation principles that ensured design decisions aligned with both user needs and engineering processes.
Aspirationally, drawing from Human Experience (HX) principles, I believe the most effective design systems emerge when we integrate social impact considerations directly into our design governance, ensuring that our pursuit of consistency and efficiency never comes at the expense of accessibility, inclusion, or genuine human connection. This approach recognizes that truly scalable design systems must bridge the gap between business objectives and human wellbeing, creating frameworks that teams not only can adopt but actively want to embrace because they enhance both the user experience and the designer's ability to create meaningful impact.
Rather than imposing systems from above, I find success by collaborating with the teams who will use them daily, ensuring systems solve real problems and that teams want to adopt them because of the value they provide.
Evidence-Based Design Decisions Enhanced by AI
I've found that the best remedy for subjective design debates is evidence. Throughout my career, I've championed research-driven approaches that ground decisions in user reality rather than opinion.
In IBM Watson's fast-moving environment, we implemented rapid testing cycles that allowed us to validate concepts quickly. When time constraints limited formal research, we developed lightweight "guerrilla" testing methods that still provided the insights needed for confident decision-making.
More recently, I've pioneered AI-enhanced research frameworks that transform how quickly we can move from data to insights. At Skyline, implementing AI-assisted analysis of our 17+ stakeholder interviews enabled us to identify patterns and synthesize findings in over 50% less time than traditional methods, allowing us to move from research to strategic recommendations more rapidly while maintaining rigorous human oversight of interpretation and implications.
Optimizing Design Workflows with Emerging Technologies
I'm constantly exploring how to make design processes more efficient, scalable, and impactful–more recently as an individual contributor, but also for teams This includes thoughtfully integrating AI and emerging technologies to enhance—not replace—human creative and research capabilities.
By implementing AI-assisted workflows for research synthesis, process optimization, content strategy, and rapid prototyping, I've helped teams accelerate their design processes while maintaining research rigor. For example, I recently developed a framework for rapidly creating and validating personas that incorporates confidence indicators and clear pathways for further validation. This approach combines AI-powered pattern recognition in user research with human interpretation and strategic thinking, enabling teams to move from initial research to actionable personas within days rather than weeks. The framework includes built-in validation checkpoints that ensure insights remain grounded in actual user needs rather than algorithmic assumptions. I believe the future of design leadership lies in creating adaptive and intelligent workflows that pair human creativity with computational power—allowing us to tackle more complex challenges at greater scale while keeping human needs at the center of our process.
The key is ensuring AI serves as a creative force multiplier rather than a replacement for human insight and empathy.
Building Resilient Remote and Cross-Cultural Teams
Although I love in-person interaction, I believe effective teams can thrive regardless of physical location when given the right structure, tools, and culture. At Bixal, I led our 20+ person design team through an overnight transition from fully on-site to completely remote during the onset of COVID-19, maintaining productivity and team cohesion through a challenging period.
This rapid shift required more than just technological solutions—it demanded a reimagining of how we collaborate. We developed specific remote ceremonies and communication frameworks that preserved our team culture while adapting to new work realities. Daily check-ins, virtual design studios, and structured asynchronous reviews became the foundation of our remote practice. It also required that the leadership team maintain close attention to the emotional health of the team during a very stressful time.
My experience spans diverse cultural and organizational contexts—from global creative agencies and startups to federal institutions to international educational governance. This has taught me that effective design leadership requires cultural fluency and the ability to adapt communication styles while maintaining core human-centered principles. Whether facilitating workshops with distributed international stakeholders, navigating federal procurement processes, or building consensus among multicultural board members, I've learned to bridge different professional cultures while keeping user needs at the center.
Working with distributed teams and occasional offshore development partners has reinforced the importance of clear documentation, well-defined processes, and intentional communication. I focus on creating systems that work across time zones and different work contexts, ensuring everyone has the information they need when they need it.
Driving Transformation Through Practical Vision
Organizational change doesn't happen through manifestos alone—it requires a practical vision people can touch and experience. Rather than just describing transformation, I believe in building functioning examples that demonstrate what the future could look like.
I find transformation succeeds when we:
Start with a clear "why" that aligns stakeholders across cultural and functional boundaries
Demonstrate value through tangible examples that people can interact with
Create champions across the organization through collaborative development
Make progress visible through continuous delivery of working solutions
At USAC, we didn't just talk about becoming more user-centered—we built the organization's first stakeholder-facing portal that demonstrated human-centered design principles in action, creating a tangible example that sparked broader organizational change.
Building Together
I see design leadership as fundamentally collaborative. Whether defining a design system, transforming an organization's approach to users, or building high-performing teams across cultures and time zones, I focus on bringing people together around shared purpose and possibility.
Having worked across US federal, private, and international contexts—and holding EU citizenship—I'm particularly drawn to opportunities where design leadership can bridge different cultural approaches to innovation while maintaining universal human-centered principles.
I'm always interested in connecting with organizations ready to elevate their approach to human-centered design—let's explore how we might build something remarkable together!