I have over 20 years experience working in-house as a Product Designer. I’m data-driven and best at using quantitative data to optimize existing products, but have also successfully designed several zero-to-one products. I’m comfortable moving quickly to learn while maintaining a high standard of quality.
I designed Indeed’s mobile web and native app experiences, which grew to handle over 50% of the company’s job searches worldwide.
My product changes increased collaboration, addressing millions of dollars in inventory reduction opportunities.
I simplified the design of key interfaces, as well as improved alignment with new branding.
I love the internet. Here’s a few ways I’ve made it better...
I was the founding designer at Indeed, and joined an engineering team that could all fit around a large table. We went on to create the single most popular way to find a job in the world.
For over 10 years, I was responsible for the design for nearly everything Indeed made. I was responsible for job search, which is what Indeed is known for. In addition, I designed other products you’ve probably heard of (Hosted Jobs, Indeed Resume, Indeed Resume Search, Company Pages) and some you probably haven’t (Forums, Salary Search, Industry Trends).
Notably, I designed (and helped build) Indeed’s mobile experiences, bringing job search to millions of smartphones worldwide. Within 5 years, over half of all job searches were done on a mobile device, I was part of an incredibly small team that made Indeed the most popular mobile job search experience in the world.
I also suggested putting “I help people get jobs.” on a t-shirt, which turned out to be a good idea. Today, every Indeed employee gets a shirt when they’re hired, it’s how the CEO begins meetings, and the phrase was even featured in Indeed’s first Super Bowl commercial.
Being an early employee of a successful startup was an amazing experience, and I learned so much from my time at Indeed. Most importantly, I found how often we were wrong, and how “good ideas” didn’t always produce “good results.” I believe Indeed was able to beat much larger competitors in the marketplace because we are able to learn faster than they could.
In-between stints at Indeed, I worked at a couple of other Austin start-ups.
Findhelp connects people in need with organizations that serve them. Their mission is meaningful, and I enjoyed learning about HIPAA, and had the opportunity to learn about accessibility, producing several VPATs for the product.
LeanDNA is a SaaS enterprise application that helps manufacturers optimize their inventory and reduce shortages. This was my first enterprise experience, and after primarily learning about user behavior through A/B testing, it was good to learn how to work with an incredibly small group of users where A/B testing was inappropriate.
That’s not quite 20 years, where’s the rest?
For nearly two years I was in New York City working at Community Connect, known for running the ethnically-based social networking websites AsianAvenue, BlackPlanet, and MiGente, and learned an incredibly valuable lesson: business models dictate product decisions. Community Connect sold brand advertising based on their ability to reach particular demographics, so even though it would have made sense to have a single social networking site for all users (all my friends aren’t the same!), that’s not how the product was sold, so that couldn’t be built. Facebook came along,...the end. This is why, if we get a chance to work together, one of the first things I’ll ask is “How do you make money?”.
I started my career at the University of Texas at El Paso as the Web/Print Designer for The Model Institutions for Excellence (MIE) program. This initiative, funded by the National Science Foundation, aimed to increase the number of minorities obtaining degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). I worked on everything that required design: shirts, presentations, websites, and various printed materials like brochures, annual reports, and newsletters. One of the most important things I learned was “self-selection bias,” which came in handy later when trying to analyze product changes. Did the services MIE provided increase the number of students who graduated, or did students who were already more likely to graduate use our services?
I know you are here to learn about me, but I’m curious about you too! If I get the chance, here’s what I’ll ask you about:
I’m seeking individual contributor roles, designing digital experiences that solve real problems.
Happy to discuss what you are working on, challenges you’re having, and understand if I could help. Get in touch via email or LinkedIn and let’s talk.