Design Leadership
This is how I lead.
Beyond my work as a 0→1 product designer, I care deeply about building teams where designers can do the best work of their careers.
My leadership philosophy is rooted in a simple belief: great craft comes from psychologically safe teams. When designers feel comfortable sharing unfinished ideas, challenging assumptions, and receiving thoughtful critique, the quality of the work improves dramatically. Because of this, I take a people-first approach to building teams and systems.
Across TrussWorks, Drata, and Savvy Wealth, I've introduced coaching frameworks, skills matrices, and design systems that help teams grow intentionally while delivering high-quality work.
How I lead
Growth through coaching, not evaluation
Instead of asking designers to level themselves in a document, I treat growth as a collaborative process. Together we define where they are today, where they want to go, and the specific skills needed to get there. This turns performance conversations into clear development plans rather than abstract feedback.
Leading by doing
I believe leaders should actively practice the skills they expect from their teams. My management style follows a simple progression: I do → We do → You do. I demonstrate the practice in real work, then collaborate to build the skill together, then designers take ownership with the right guardrails. Teams learn by doing, not just by reading documentation.
Building systems that scale design
Strong teams rely on strong systems. I focus on building lightweight structures that help designers succeed — skills matrices, coaching frameworks, design principles, decision frameworks, design systems, and experimentation practices. These systems allow teams to move faster without sacrificing quality or consistency.
Evolving design for the AI era
The role of design is changing quickly. As AI tools reshape how products are built, design leaders have a responsibility to help teams adapt to entirely new ways of working.
Part of my leadership approach is experimenting with how emerging tools can improve collaboration across engineering, product, and design — with the goal of building teams that are capable of imagining new interaction models as technology evolves.
What this looks like in practice
- Exploring AI-assisted prototyping workflows
- Building frameworks for designing agentic product experiences
- Introducing experimentation practices to increase iteration speed
- Teaching design thinking skills across EPD teams
Impact
Team Growth
- Supported designers in growing into senior and leadership roles
- Introduced structured growth frameworks across multiple organizations
Product Delivery
- Improved collaboration between design, product, and engineering
- Increased iteration speed through experimentation and prototyping
Design Systems
- Strengthened design consistency through shared patterns and principles
Resources
I believe design leadership should be shared openly. A few frameworks and tools I've created: