Once upon a time, I found myself aboard a nuclear submarine, not quite the setting you’d expect for a budding creative.
As a Submarine Sonar Technician in the U.S. Navy, I sought to fill the void of long missions without internet access. So, I took matters into my own hands: designing and installing a media-sharing network to combat boredom and organizing the crew to crowdsource content. I even turned the submarine’s training computer into a repository of Wikipedia data dumps, settling friendly debates and fueling our curiosity. It was here, in this unlikeliest of places, that I first tapped into my creative problem-solving spirit.
After my time underwater, I resurfaced into the world of design. My next mission? Human-Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington. There, I earned the 2016 Award of Excellence in Innovation for my work on a study at Harborview Medical Center. My capstone? A wearable safety device that caught Intel’s attention. Summers were filled with internships at eBay and Precept Wine, where I delved into product management and development, further honing my craft.
The real adventure began at Expeditors, where I landed my first UX role. I led the complete redesign of a logistics web app used by over 30,000 customers and co-created a new design system. This journey eventually led me to D-Wave Systems, a first-to-market quantum computing startup, where I became a founding member of the in-house UX team. I championed the overhaul of the Leap platform, introducing a cloud IDE, enhancing resource discovery, and boosting developer satisfaction by 15%. It was a leap, quite literally, into the future of technology.
From submarines to quantum computing, my journey has been anything but ordinary. Every project fuels my passion for solving real problems with creativity and empathy. I thrive on collaboration, the diversity of challenges, and the relentless pursuit of improvement. If you're keen to swap ideas or explore new opportunities, let’s connect.