How I Think About Design

Philosophy behind the craft

Design is a relationship, not a means to an end.

Every touchpoint is a conversation. Every interface is an invitation. Every system is a bridge between what people need and what's possible.

This is how I approach the work:

Collaboration Creates Truth

Ideas collide, solutions emerge

I don't believe in the lone genius designer. The best work happens when different minds meet around a shared challenge.

Real insight comes from friction — between disciplines, perspectives, assumptions.

When I created PIT GREEN, my microgolf toy that made it to MoMA's design collection, it wasn't because I had all the answers. It was because players, engineers, manufacturers, and retailers all brought their truths to the table. The collision of those perspectives created something none of us could have imagined alone.

Truth: Collaboration isn't compromise. It's alchemy.

Purpose Before Polish

Design is an ethical choice

Good design asks: Who does this serve? Who does it exclude? What world does it create?

I was shaped by Ken Garland's First Things First Manifesto — the idea that our skills carry responsibility. Not just to clients, but to people and planet.

Work hard. Be kind — to people and the planet.

Every project is a vote for the kind of world we want to live in. I vote for inclusion, clarity, and systems that breathe.

Truth: Purpose comes before profit. Impact matters more than awards.

Empathy is Everything

See the person behind the interaction

Growing up around children with disabilities taught me that obstacles aren't limitations — they're invitations to think differently.

Resistance in design isn't a problem to solve. It's information to understand.

Design isn't about making things look better. It's about making them feel possible.

When someone struggles with an interface, they're not the problem. The design is. Every friction point is a call to redesign with more empathy, more inclusion, more humanity.

Truth: Empathy is the first spark of every good design decision.