Introducing Better Living Through Design Failure

Gotta start somewhere

Welcome.

So you’re probably wondering: What’s so important about being me?

I’ve been a product and brand designer for over 20 years, and—well—I’ve seen some things. I was the founding designer of Yelp and worked on a bunch of other startups that didn’t quite make it past the “we’ve got a prototype” phase. I’ve freelanced for a ton of startup clients on an assortment of projects, and now I lead design at a reforestation startup called Terraformation.

I’ve always gravitated toward the early-stage mess—when product-market fit is still a theory, not a truth. That’s where I’m most comfortable. My roots are in print and graphic design from ad agency days, and I stumbled into tech before “user experience” was even a job title.

I haven’t chased a trend since 2012—back when skeuomorphic layouts were still somehow a thing. I ditched them after realizing they slowed down downloads and confused users. Since then, I’ve been driven by one main goal: make things work well.

This is probably why I’m constantly frustrated by the two apps I use most: my Sonos controller and CarPlay. Tech is rarely as good as it could be. And frankly, I’ve become something of a tech hater. All Meta products are garbage now. Twitter is a racist, bot-filled cesspool (thanks, Elon). Amazon’s a net negative for labor and the environment. Crypto is a scam. And—for now—AI seems best at churning out inspirational boomer memes.

Visual representation of my animosity towards much of the tech industry.

So no, I don’t look at “career opportunities” with the same zeal I had in my twenties.

That said, I still enjoy the challenge of helping get a company off the ground—especially when the product isn’t the star. At Terraformation, we’re building software for reforestation teams. It’s not overly complex—it’s SaaS with dirt under its nails. And that’s the fun of it: the users aren’t deeply tech-savvy, but they’re doing critical climate work.

Terraformation may not be around in five years. But at least I’ll have given something worthwhile a shot—for the planet, and for my son.

I sell myself as a generalist who errs on the side of action. I care about consistency across product and brand. And above all, I care about getting the user to the logical end of their task—efficiently, clearly, and with the constraints we all face: limited engineering resources, rigid design systems, leadership egos, territorial squabbles, tight deadlines, etc.

I might not be the best product designer. But I’m practical. I’m realistic. I know how to get MVPs over the line.

I’ve worked on products that took off and others that disappeared into the void. But I’m proud of what I’ve built—especially this past year and a half at Terraformation. I’ve designed a ton of features and helped push design forward. I’ve found my footing as a lead.

So here it is: my set of imperfect insights on the world of design, at startups and beyond... Hard-earned lessons, stitched together by frustration, hope, and a desire to make things a little better. Better living though design failure.

If nothing else, it’ll keep me writing. Thanks for reading.