Bridging design, technology, and 25 years of operational leadership — I build interfaces that are intuitive, accessible, and engineered to hold up in the real world.
A 9-year technology partnership — UX redesign, AV/streaming integration, network infrastructure, and digital strategy — that drove a 78% traffic increase and extended the church's reach far beyond its walls.
About Me
I'm a UX/UI Designer and Technologist with 25+ years of leadership experience — and the technical depth to back every design decision.
My background spans IT support, retail operations, and digital strategy. That breadth isn't a detour — it's the foundation. I approach every design challenge the way a senior leader approaches a business problem: with research, accountability, and a clear eye on outcomes.
I design with production in mind from day one. I've managed cross-functional teams, overseen P&L, and shipped work under real constraints — and that experience shapes how I collaborate, communicate, and deliver.
My creative range extends beyond the screen — years of designing custom wedding cakes and original watercolor paintings have quietly sharpened my eye for composition, color, and the craft that comes from caring deeply about the finished experience.
"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."— Pablo Picasso
Design process · Figma wireframing
The Story
Managing 36 locations across four states taught me that systems only work when the humans inside them are understood. Understanding behavior, removing friction, and designing workflows that scale — that's UX, even when you don't call it that.
Every wedding cake began with deep client research, iterative sketches, and a high-stakes delivery where failure was not an option. I learned to translate someone's vision into a beautiful, tangible experience — on time, on budget, and under extraordinary pressure.
Understand the user. Design with intention. Deliver something that works. Now I apply that discipline digitally — with Figma, analytics, and a 4.0 GPA in Computer Science backing every decision.
Pastry Design — Concept to Delivery
Cake Portfolio — Selected Works
Watercolor Paintings — Original Works
Print Shop — Coming Soon
Original watercolor prints available for purchaseCapabilities
Case Studies
UX/UI Design · Digital Strategy
A 9-year ongoing technology partnership — UX redesign, AV/live streaming integration, network infrastructure management, hardware advisory, and digital strategy — driving measurable growth and extending community reach beyond physical walls.
Product Design · AI Integration · Mobile UX
An end-to-end product proposal addressing one of mobile's most persistent problems: navigation that drives users away. Combines AI-powered personalization, contextual onboarding, and developer analytics into a scalable, technically grounded solution.
UX Research · AI-Assisted Workflows
An independent exploration of how AI tools can augment the design process — accelerating research synthesis, ideating faster, and producing clearer documentation — without replacing human-centered judgment.
Case Study
What began as a website redesign has evolved into a 9-year ongoing technology partnership with Springfield Church of Christ. Over that time, I've served as the church's de facto technology advisor — leading a full UX redesign and digital strategy, integrating a networked camera security system, managing and upgrading the church's network infrastructure, advising on hardware procurement and specifications for three computer replacements, and working alongside the church's Audio and Video team to build and maintain a live streaming capability that has kept the congregation connected through illness, distance, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The website redesign — and the digital strategy surrounding it — is one major initiative within a much broader, trust-based relationship. That relationship itself is part of the story.
First-time visitors were struggling to find essential information. Service times, beliefs, and event details required multiple clicks, with no clear calls to action guiding next steps. But the digital challenges ran deeper than the website.
Analytics revealed high drop-off rates on key pages. Heatmaps indicated hesitation within primary navigation. Task-based walkthroughs confirmed visitors could find information, but it required too many steps.
The redesign centered on three primary user journeys: planning a visit, understanding beliefs, and discovering events. Wireframes validated structure before implementation. But the solution extended well beyond the website.
Simplifying the nav rather than expanding it. Research and analytics consistently showed that older users — the church's primary demographic — were hesitating and dropping off within the navigation. My decision was to reduce, clarify, and surface the most critical paths.
Reducing content density on key pages. Several pages were essentially digitized paper documents — dense, text-heavy, and formatted for print, not screens. The decision to restructure this content into scannable, human sections required prioritizing comprehension over completeness.
Prioritizing "Plan Your Visit" over other CTAs. Multiple CTA options competed for prominence. The decision to elevate "Plan Your Visit" was grounded in stakeholder input confirming new visitor attendance as the primary goal.
Working creatively within platform and budget constraints. This was a pro bono engagement with a client-mandated Wix platform. Rather than treating constraints as failures, I used them as forcing functions toward simplicity.
Building a streaming infrastructure under pressure. When COVID-19 forced suspension of in-person services, the church had no existing capability to reach its congregation digitally. Working alongside the AV team, I helped design and implement a live streaming workflow that prioritized reliability over sophistication.
Nine years is a long time to work with a single client. It's also the clearest signal I can offer that the work has delivered value. Over that period, the relationship has expanded from a focused redesign project into a broad technology advisory role — one built on trust, consistency, and the ability to translate complex technical decisions into plain language for non-technical stakeholders.
This project reinforced that effective UX is often about prioritization rather than expansion. By aligning analytics, user behavior insights, and business goals, the website evolved from an information hub into a structured engagement tool.
Case Study
As AI tools become more integrated into creative and analytical work, designers are exploring how these technologies can support research, ideation, and documentation. After completing structured AI training, I began experimenting with how Claude could assist parts of the UX design process — organizing research insights, exploring design directions, and improving documentation clarity.
This project explores how AI can augment design workflows without replacing critical thinking or user-centered decision making.
Designers spend a significant amount of time organizing information, synthesizing research, and documenting design decisions. These tasks are essential but can slow down early exploration and iteration. I wanted to explore three specific questions:
I began by identifying the phases of a typical UX workflow where time and cognitive load are highest — not the creative moments, but the organizational ones. Research synthesis stood out immediately. Summarizing interview transcripts, meeting notes, and audit findings into structured insights is time-consuming and often delays the transition into design work.
Documentation was a close second: translating rough notes and design decisions into coherent case study writing requires significant effort that often happens at the end of a project, when energy is lowest. The planning focus became clear — test AI assistance at the handoff points, where messy input needs to become structured output.
UX + AI · Workflow Study
AI-Assisted UX Design Workflow
How Claude augments research, ideation, and documentation — without replacing human judgment.
Transcripts, notes, and audit findings fed into Claude with structured prompts. Output: organized insight summaries ready for design decisions.
Claude surfaces alternative interaction patterns and design directions. Designer evaluates, combines, and discards. Human judgment drives every choice.
Bullet points and rough decisions transformed into structured case study outlines. A strong first draft removes the blank-page barrier entirely.
Structure drives quality. Specific prompts with clear role, context, and goal outperform open-ended requests every time.
AI organizes complexity fast. The highest-value use is turning messy input into structured output at workflow handoff points.
Human judgment is irreplaceable. AI surfaces options — designers evaluate feasibility, usability, and user alignment.
I tested Claude across three common UX activities to evaluate where it added the most value.
AI performs best with structure. Clear prompts that define the role, context, and goal consistently produced stronger results than open-ended requests.
AI is most effective at organizing complexity. It can quickly structure large amounts of messy information, which is exactly where design workflows slow down.
Human-centered design remains at the core. AI can generate ideas and structure information, but designers still need to evaluate every output against user research, business goals, and technical reality.
Used intentionally, AI can help designers accelerate early ideation, synthesize research more quickly, improve documentation clarity, and explore multiple solution paths in less time. Rather than replacing design thinking, it acts as a collaborative tool that supports deeper exploration and clearer communication.
Resume
UX/UI Designer & Technologist with 25+ years of cross-industry leadership. Available for remote roles — open to the Springfield, OH area for the right opportunity. Download my full resume to see work history, certifications, and more.
Contact
I'm open to freelance projects, full-time opportunities, and collaborations. If you have a design challenge that needs a thoughtful approach, I'd love to hear about it.