I value creativity, craft, and collaboration. The more the design team leans into these Cs, the more it can make a tangible difference in both people and product. I'm lucky to influence conversations and practices that prioritize these elements at SimpleNexus.
Contributions
Group Design Lead for the Admin-Closer Group:
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I collaborate with Group PM Bryan Manwaring and Engineering Manager Jay Harvey to support health, effectiveness, and strategy for 3 teams. What a pleasure to work with people who care.
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I help lead product vision, strategy, and discovery by facilitating cross-team collaboration and workshops then documenting progress for cross-organization storytelling.
Mentor to designers and non-designers: I teach interaction design, product and systems thinking to designers. I teach non-designers design principles and design's role in products, teams, and organizations.
Facilitating regular dialogue and workshops:
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Started and host a weekly discourse meeting so our team could develop a united front to the rest of the org. We align on design system patterns, philosophy, and horizontal problems.
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I design workshop and documentation templates to empower designers to lead strategy on their teams.
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Guided designers through a multi-day workshop that focused on mapping the full company experience. This got designers thinking bigger on impact, dependencies, and how to collaborate towards consistent, cohesive design.
Outcomes
The design team makes regular progress on how we think and apply design in a unifying way. Our proactive stance allows us to build more trust and respect with our partners, having more weight at the strategy table while smoothing collaboration. Pushing towards these values helps our team mature and make a greater impact in people and product.
Another important outcome is the camaraderie and motivation that comes from working diligently with people who care. As SimpleNexus merged with nCino, our design team gained and lost many brothers and sisters. A united front is both urgent and timely.
Teamwork makes the dream work
Mitch Clements and Cori Jones. I regularly soundboard ideas with them when piloting new ideas. Thanks to them and my fellow designers for being open to change and growth. I appreciate the trust.