UX & Product Design Leader
AI-Driven Product Strategy
A seasoned product leader with deep expertise in product design, AI innovation, and full-stack engineering. Drawing on a generalist's skill set that spans product management and business strategy (MBA), I connect disparate functions to solve complex challenges and ship user-centric products that drive growth. Currently pioneering cross-departmental use of custom-built AI agents to automate and scale productivity.
Experience
Director of User Experience (UX)
DNSFilter | Oct 2021 – Present (Fully Remote)
I lead the product design and UX strategy for the cybersecurity industry's top-ranked DNS security platform, rated #1 by G2. In this hands-on leadership role, I partner with executives, product management, and engineering to establish a unified, customer-centric vision and drive a user-focused design strategy across the organization
Spearheaded the company's AI-driven design strategy by engineering a principal UX design agent that augments the entire design thinking process, reducing initial discovery and research timelines from weeks to minutes.
Established and tracked key performance indicators (KPIs) for UX AI agent—including discovery time and stakeholder satisfaction—to validate its impact and guide continuous improvement.
Selected by the company's AI committee to lead a cross-departmental initiative, advising other business units on creating and implementing custom AI agents to scale productivity company-wide.
Integrated a suite of AI-powered features from tools like Figma and Atlassian to accelerate the design process and streamline project management.
Contributed to product features and innovations that increased revenue by 41% (2024).
Pioneered a strong design culture emphasizing collaboration and feedback, ensuring product roadmap aligned with company priorities and business needs.
Drove engineering efficiency by leading the development and adoption of an internal design system, resulting in rapid and consistent UI implementation.
Implemented a UX scorecard for continuous improvement across product red routes.
Built and led a high-performing UX team and pioneered a culture of data-driven design, establishing new processes for user research, feedback, and strategic alignment with business goals.
Senior Director of User Experience (UX)
The Aspen Group (TAG) | Nov 2020 – Oct 2021 (Chicago, IL - Hybrid Remote)
Led the design and development of product roadmap initiatives, including a patient financing tool that boosted in-store approval rates from 60% to 99% and increased lender offerings from 3 to 20. Led customer journey mapping, in-store experience, and patient scheduling initiatives. Created new web experiences that delighted customers and gave the company a competitive edge.
Utilized deep technical expertise to translate business requirements to do feature planning and roadmap development.
Accelerated Agile and Lean UX adoption to overcome UX integration challenges.
Translated business requirements into design decisions and CX strategy.
Guided effective communication of design via wireframes, mockups, prototypes, and UI components.
Developed a set of internal coded libraries and components.
Coached a team of direct reports and managed multiple external vendors.
Director of UX & Application Innovation
Hitachi Solutions | Feb 2018 – Nov 2020 (Chicago, IL - Fully Remote)
Established and grew the User Experience (UX) practice for North America, leading a team of designers, researchers, and developers in delivering custom solutions that solve complex business challenges, with a unique emphasis in Healthcare and Insurance. Proven track record of scaling practices, leading sales, managing budgets, and driving product strategy.
Established design standards, deliverables, and methodologies for the organization and customers.
Facilitated product strategy and design workshops for B2B and B2C clients.
Presented and oversaw deliverables including sitemaps, wireframes, prototypes, and process flows.
Conducted technical requirement discovery for customer demos.
Leveraged industry expertise and user research insights for consulting recommendations.
Fostered a culture of continuous learning and development among direct reports.
User Experience (UX) Lead
Paylocity | Jan 2015 – Feb 2018 (Schaumburg, IL - Hybrid Remote)
After working closely with the user experience team for a year, I switched career paths from full-stack development to UX to bridge the gap between development and design. My engineering background facilitated communication across disciplines, ensuring cohesive product vision and optimal user experiences.
Led the development of a comprehensive internal design system that employs agnostic components, design tokens, a pattern library, and robust documentation.
Led the build and deployment of front-end applications in an agile environment.
Demonstrated emotional intelligence (EQ) and graduated from advanced leadership training.
Senior Developer | Fanatics Inc. | Apr 2014 – Jan 2015 (Chicago, IL - Onsite)
Developer | Millennium Information Services, Inc. | Mar 2012 – Apr 2014 (Chicago, IL - Onsite)
Associate Software Engineer | Arc Worldwide / Leo Burnett | Feb 2011 – Mar 2012 (Chicago, IL - Onsite)
Software Engineer | American Concrete Pavement Association | Jun 2006 – Feb 2011 (Rosemont, IL - Onsite)
Tools and Skills
AI: Gemini Pro, ChatGPT, n8n, Figma AI, Lovable, Storylane, Stitch, Cursor, Replit, v0, Superwhisper, Bolt
Design: Figma, Figjam, Atomic Design, Sketch
Research: UserTesting, UserZoom, Hotjar, Maze, Canny
Front End: Next.js, React, SvelteKit, Tailwind CSS, Material UI, HTML, CSS
Mobile: Flutter, React Native, Native iOS
Server: Next.js, Node.js, Express, REST, GraphQL, Microsoft .NET
Cloud: Vercel, AWS, Supabase, Heroku, Microsoft Azure, Google Firebase
Database: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Azure SQL, Redash
Programming Languages: TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Dart, C#, Swift, Java
CI/CD: GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps
Project Management Frameworks: Lean UX, Agile, Scrum, Kanban
Accomplishments
Winner of the AI Champion Award at DNSFilter's Unleashing Innovation Hackathon
AI Committee - Leading cross-departmental AI literacyDesign Sprint Master Class Certification from AJ&Smart
Scaling UX in the Enterprise Panelist at IxDA Meet-up
Graduated Advanced Leadership Training Program