thoughtbot

Product design, service design, strategy, user experience, research, leadership

Design director

San Francisco, CA

While here, I was responsible for leading design and strategy while managing the designers in the San Francisco studio, focused on mentoring direct reports through regular one-on-ones as well as group check-ins, design critiques, general upskilling, and support — including lightning talks, demos, and other outside activities.

Other responsibilities included:

Growing the studio — including hiring interviews with designers and developers alike, debriefs, followups
Advising client engagements to shared success — balancing the client’s business objectives whilst meeting the design and development needs of the project — including kickoffs, retros, check-ins, shop talk sessions, other kinds of group facilitation activities
Sales and prospecting efforts with local SF leadership (managing director and development director) and in step with global management team
Efforts to promote diversity and inclusion within the studio and within the company at-large

Last year, thoughtbot celebrated 17 years as a design and development consultancy. And in that time — more than any other agency that I know of — they've generously contributed to open source with over 300 public Github repositories. Because of this consideration and care for the larger community and the culture that they've carefully crafted, I will miss my thoughtbot compatriots dearly — some of the smartest and most sincere people I've ever had the pleasure with whom to work.