Resume

Summary

Principal Product Designer & Design Ops Strategist with 20+ years experience bridging design and engineering with Design as Infrastructure, n8n Automation, Figma Design Systems, and Enterprise UX. Proven track record delivering multi-million dollar efficiency wins for Fortune 100 clients.

Professional Experience

Team Lead and Principal Product Designer @ Tallwave

Mar 2018 - Apr 2025

• Led design of OPUS (Card Member Dashboard): AI-enhanced dashboard consolidating fragmented CRM data for American Express (Amex) Travel Consultants. Reduced call setup time and empowered agents with just-in-time insights from the first moment of each call. Improved agent efficiency and NPS scores.
• Orchestrated PBAS (Post-Booking Agent Service): Designed post-booking agent system that reduced Call Handling Time (CHT) by 20-25%, delivering ~$10M monthly cost savings and eliminating high-cost third-party dependencies.
• Scaled Design Systems: Transitioned static libraries to logic-driven Design Systems using Figma Variables and Design Tokens, reducing time-to-market from months to weeks for Fintech and Telecom clients. Delivered design systems for American Express (DLS), Sparklight, and Midco.
• Led Midco Shop Flow Redesign: End-to-end commerce experience redesign targeting 25-50% shop penetration, 80%+ CSAT, and WCAG 2.2 compliance. Projected $238K+ annual traffic increase and 21,000 additional orders per year.
• Automated Design Ops: Integrated n8n orchestration and agentic workflows to automate documentation and discovery tasks, increasing team velocity and cross-functional alignment.
• Led 6+ designers across 30+ products for American Express, managing end-to-end design lifecycle from UX research to user testing.
• Facilitated executive workshops to align design, engineering, and leadership on product strategy and technical requirements.
• Optimized tool-chain by implementing Jira and Jira Product Discovery workflows, improving team transparency and delivery velocity.

Lead User Experience Designer @ meltmedia

Apr 2014 - Mar 2018

• Designed enterprise UX for healthcare, pharmaceutical, and resource sector clients (Genentech, Turbo Resources, Honor Health), crafting mobile and desktop experiences that met rigorous compliance standards.
• Facilitated strategic workshops to define project goals and user requirements, aligning cross-functional stakeholders on product vision.
• Conducted moderated user testing on high-fidelity prototypes, validating problem-solution fit and driving design iterations.
• Consulted on design system implementation and governance for multi-initiative systems.

Freelance Designer

Oct 2010 - Apr 2014

• Delivered end-to-end design for agencies and brands (OMSI, Aetna, Red Bull Gaming), managing projects from discovery through delivery.
• Founded Phoenix Friday Coffee, building a community network that fostered local design and tech collaboration.

User Experience Designer @ Forty Agency

Nov 2007 - Oct 2010

• Delivered user-centered digital experiences for diverse agency clients (Scrum Alliance), applying mobile-first strategies.
• Conducted user research through stakeholder workshops and moderated testing, informing design iterations.
• Produced video content for client marketing campaigns and social media.
• Developed custom PHP and WordPress solutions, bridging design and deployment.

Designer and Developer @ Various Agencies

Jan 2001 - Sept 2006

• Early career design and development roles building foundational skills in web technologies, user-centered design, and client-facing project delivery.

Education

Arizona State University

Design Management and Industrial Design (2003 - 2007)

Skills

• Design Strategy & Leadership: Design Mentorship, Strategic Discovery Workshops, Customer Journey Mapping, Opportunity Solution Trees, Heuristic Evaluation, User & Stakeholder Interviews.
• Product & Systems Design: Principal-level UX/UI Design, Logic-driven Design Systems, Figma (Variables/Tokens), Agentic UI (A2UI) Design, Penpot, Storybook, High-fidelity Prototyping.
• Design Ops & Automation: n8n Workflow Automation, MCP (Model Context Protocol), Claude Code, Cursor, AI-Integrated Tooling, Jira & Jira Product Discovery.
• Technical Knowledge: Design Token Architecture, API-driven workflows, Git/CLI basics, AI-assisted frontend development.