Process
As much as we’d like to follow best design guidelines, design in theory is often quite different from design in practice. What we usually get is a solution that needs reverse-engineering—re-framing the problem, aligning stakeholders, and carefully looping through all necessary steps.
I believe in the power of servant leadership and a safe environment where problems are seen as opportunities to improve. My practice is grounded in Agile principles and Design Thinking—not as a rigid process, but as a mindset. Where failures are celebrated as experiments, priorities are set proactively, and continuous improvement is the path to long-term product quality.
I’ve worked across mining, AI, and education technology—industries where the user’s domain expertise is profound, the stakes are high, and the designer who hasn’t done their homework gets found out quickly. That reality has shaped everything about how I work.
01
Align & Discover
Before a single wireframe is drawn, I work to align stakeholders on the right problem. This means facilitated workshops, stakeholder interviews, service blueprints, and mapping the full ecosystem—people, processes, touchpoints, data flows. I have gone on site visits and service safaris—walking in users’ shoes through end-to-end business operations.
02
Empathize & Research
Deep user research through field studies, contextual interviews, and empathy mapping. At Teck, this meant visiting mine sites in the BC interior and spending time with planners in their natural environment. I produce detailed empathy maps, user personas, journey maps, and system flows—and I work with business analysts on process diagrams to surface existing gaps and inconsistencies.
03
Ideate & Prototype
From user personas and journey maps to rapid wireframes, I maintain continuous feedback loops with product owners, developers, and data scientists. Low-fidelity first to validate direction, high-fidelity when the concept is proven. I believe in co-design where possible—the people who build the product should help shape it.
04
Test & Iterate
Usability testing, data analysis, and structured feedback sessions feed directly back into design. Working in two-week sprints with the design team 1–2 sprints ahead of development ensures everyone is engaged and continuously delivering. I document rigorously so that decisions are traceable and the team can maintain shared context.
05
Implement & Scale
Dual-track delivery processes, component libraries, design systems, and developer handoffs. I establish workflows, documentation standards, and meeting cadences to ensure shared long-term vision across teams. I work closely with QA and Deployment Specialists to make sure the product that ships matches the product that was designed.
06
Reflect & Improve
Inspired by Kaizen—continuous improvement. Failures are celebrated as experiments. I run retrospectives, maintain design documentation, and ensure learnings from each sprint inform the next. The goal is always long-term product quality and team capability, not just the next release.
Things I believe deeply
- Domain literacy is not optional in enterprise UX
- The best design process is invisible to the end user
- Failures celebrated early become insights, not postmortems
- UX without business context is just aesthetic opinion
- The designer who listens more than they talk wins every time
- A design system is a communication tool, not a constraint