My design principles

Knowledge is collaborative

We learn more by collaborating, pooling our experiences, and sharing our discoveries.

Accessibility is usability

Accessibility practices benefit everyone! When we design with accessibility in mind, we create experiences that are easier, more efficient, and more intuitive. Good accessibility practices remove barriers, improve clarity, and enhance overall usability.

The tools designed to support the most vulnerable in our society—such as screen readers, voice commands, captions, and high-contrast modes—often become innovations that improve usability for everyone. From curb cuts that assist wheelchair users (but also benefit parents with strollers), to captions, and voice commands, accessibility fosters a world where inclusion leads to better experiences for all.

When we prioritize accessibility, we create a more equitable and user-friendly world—one that benefits me, you, and society as a whole.

Work towards clarity

In design, clarity is essential in creating intuitive and easy-to-navigate products that convey their purpose. It represents elegance and transparency, and its impact can make or break outcomes. Clarity is vital in the product design process, as it aligns stakeholders and facilitates a smoother transition from concept to design and development. When goals are clearly defined, teams become better aligned, resulting in more effective and efficient progress toward achieving objectives.

Stay flexible

Flexibility is collaborating with people, learning about users, and working on evolving designs. It involves work that adapts to different needs and contexts, allowing for adjustments as circumstances change. I work on projects with an open mind and curiosity about the teams I work with, the end users and audiences, and a knowing that we collectively contribute to the outcomes and states of the products.

Lead with compassion

This is an umbrella under which all the other principles live. Compassion is about stepping outside of yourself to meet others in the middle and finding new perspectives. Attitudes such as helpfulness, receptiveness, and cooperation are encouraged when we practice compassion. Mindfulness and compassion go hand in hand with an awareness that we are designing for others, in turn, to know more about ourselves. When we see how people use the tools that we design and see their ways of navigating the world around them, we can become compassionate and understanding designers.