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Designers rarely have a linear path. Here’s mine.

Where I’ve been

I started out as a journalist. I worked in local television, wrote freelance articles for my local newspaper in upstate NY, and absolutely loved it.

It was the perfect outlet to indulge my need to understand what makes people and systems tick, and tell stories that mattered to my community. If the news industry was a healthier place to land for a young grad with boatloads of student debt in 2008, I might still be in it.

After my time in news, I had stints in supply chain operations and B2B marketing, then moved to Chicago in 2013 to be part of the city’s quickly growing tech startup community. It was here where I got my first taste of user experience design. The ability to dig into complex problems and help solve them was instantly interesting to me. But even though the work was fun, I found that I still really missed the sense of civic duty I felt in journalism.

This desire to combine the two is what eventually brought me to Truss in 2018, a small government contractor where I could apply the inquiry and curiosity of design to problems faced by everyday citizens and public servants. I worked on multiple projects across several federal agencies as an individual contributor and design lead, while also supporting three senior designers and one design manager’s growth as their supervisor.

In early 2024, I decided to join the United States Digital Service (USDS) and apply my public service research and design skills on the inside, as an employee of the Executive Office of the President. Alongside a team of brilliant technologists, we worked with Social Security executives and staff, advocacy groups, and other executive branch divisions to improve service delivery to the public. It’s the hardest work I’ve ever done, and I hope to return back to it someday.

What I’m good at

UX writing, content design, and information architecture: This is my bread and butter. I can contribute across the design stack, but organizing information, translating policy and complex concepts into simple phrases, and making content more accessible is my favorite work to do.

User research: I never thought journalism would lead me to user experience design, but it turns out, an education rooted in how to interview, observe, analyze data, and find themes and stories has a ton of parallels to this space and I’ve loved the work ever since.

Accessible design: I care deeply about building accessible products, and while I wouldn’t consider myself an expert, I have more than enough experience to know what to check for in designs, how to manually test products to ensure they meet WCAG standards, and how to test with users with disabilities.

Stakeholder management: A USDS colleague once told me I had “great intuition about the culture [at SSA],” which is something I take a lot of pride in. Getting a feel for an organization, who the players are, how decisions are made, and how you can get support for the work you want to do is an important part of change management, and I feel strong in this area.

Coaching, sponsoring, and mentoring: I loved the time I’ve spent as a manager, but I don’t think you need that role to be impactful in other peoples’ careers. I continue to do all of these things to this day, and get a ton of joy from helping people navigate growth, change, and personal development.