Chicago, Illinois, United States
Well-rounded senior product designer, with a special focus on design system creation, development, and maintenance. With over fifteen years across multiple design disciplines - including user interface creation, UX research, branding, and enterprise software design - I am passionate about building scalable, accessible, and cohesive design ecosystems that enhance user experiences across product lines. I thrive in cross-functional Agile environments, collaborating with engineering, product, and executive teams to drive consistency, efficiency, and innovation in design systems.
As a Senior Product Designer at Sonatype, I focus on creating intuitive, accessible, and scalable design solutions across our suite of enterprise software products. I play a key role in developing and maintaining Tartan, our open-source design system, ensuring consistency across platforms with a comprehensive Figma UI kit and React component library. I also drive user research initiatives, leveraging interviews, usability testing, and data analytics to optimize UX. I led efforts to unify multiple platform-level sites into a centralized experience (my.sonatype.com), designed reporting dashboards for various personas (executives, legal teams, engineering leads), and spearheaded accessibility improvements, including a Dark Mode initiative exceeding WCAG 2.1 standards. Additionally, I collaborate with product management, engineering, and executive leadership, influencing roadmap decisions and contributing to Sonatype’s Annual Operating Plan. Working in an Agile development environment, I use iterative design, cross-team collaboration, and user feedback loops to refine experiences and drive product improvements. My passion for data visualization, accessibility, and product interconnectivity ensures that every design decision enhances usability and empowers users.
As a freelance designer, I worked with a diverse range of clients—including local businesses, musicians, startups, filmmakers, and podcasters—to create compelling brand identities, digital experiences, and promotional materials. I designed logos, websites, menus, signage, and marketing collateral to enhance audience engagement and business visibility. My work included UI prototyping for a music collaboration startup, branding for an award-winning independent film, and designing visuals for a new comic book pitch deck. I collaborated closely with stakeholders to ensure designs authentically represented their vision, utilizing research, moodboards, and iterative design processes to deliver impactful results.
At The Blockchain Institute, I played a key role in managing daily operations and establishing a cohesive brand identity for the international educational non-profit. I designed and maintained all brand assets, including logos, typography, website layouts, course structures, and marketing materials, ensuring accessibility and consistency across all. I helped develop a global network of educators across 25+ countries and led advertising efforts, including a campaign that reached 2.3 million riders of public transit. Utilizing research methods such as card sorting, usability testing, and analytics, I refined user experiences for our website and courses. Additionally, I contributed to strategic planning and self-taught HTML/CSS to uphold brand standards in digital content.
In this role, I was a founding member and brand manager of Turnspit, a touring rock band active for four years. In addition to performing, I led the development and execution of the band’s brand identity across album artwork, merchandise, social media, and promotional materials, ensuring a consistent and compelling presence. I organized multi-city tours, coordinated with promoters and producers, and managed logistics such as scheduling, budgeting, transit, hardware transportation and setup, inventory management, and team dynamics. This experience sharpened my skills in time management, public speaking, branding, creative direction, and cross-functional collaboration—skills I continue to apply in high-performing, design-focused teams.