I help companies decide what to build, then enable them to design and build it.
Understanding is the highest-leverage work in product. A few weeks learning what is actually true saves months of building the wrong thing, and points everything after it at the biggest win.
Organizations across 10 industries, from global data companies to state government.
25 years of building products, in more industries than most teams ever see.
I have spent 25 years building software as a designer, an engineer, and a product leader, at startups, growing companies, and global enterprises.
Most problems a product team runs into have been solved somewhere before, often in another industry. Having seen them is what keeps an engagement from spending its first months relearning them, or scoping the wrong thing. Knowing what to leave out is worth as much as knowing what to build.
Industries and domains
- Legal
- Telecom
- Homebuilding
- Higher education
- Fraud and identity
- Health cost-sharing
- Media and publishing
- Cybersecurity training
- Credit and consumer data
- Government and public sector
Principles
A few things hold true on every engagement, whatever it covers.
One person across the whole product
Product, design, and engineering sit with one person, so nothing is lost between a strategy, a design file, and the code.
Understand before committing
Every engagement starts by finding out what is true, whether that is a dedicated discovery engagement or the first weeks of a larger one.
Scope is defined up front
Each statement of work names its scope, deliverables, and end date before it starts. It can cover one service or a few that belong together, such as design and a roadmap. Each one earns its place on its own merit.
You keep the decisions
Recommendations come with the reasoning behind them. Whether to build, and who joins your team, is always your call.
How we engage explains how an engagement is scoped and bought.
He not only points out what could be improved; he comes to the table with concrete solutions, ready to implement them.
Christy FolleseUX Research Manager, Amazon · Via ExperianAlan pushed the organization harder than anyone reasonably could to improve as a product, engineering, and design team.
Amy ChalfenExecutive and advisor, growth B2B tech · Via ExperianAn impressive combination of design, engineering, leadership, and influencing skills.
Rajiv VariaDesign executive, Feedzai · Via Experian