isn't making something.
is making the right something.
Experience Strategy + Human-Centered Design
Thorny problems are solved through understanding what will actually make a difference. Let's spend less time guessing and iterating, and more time building something that works.
I design services that create real value for the people using them. I write strategies that strengthen the business.
I focus on understanding the forces that drive behavior, how those behaviors play out across a product or service, and what it means for the business.
From there, ideas are tested in the real world so we learn what actually works before committing time, money, and effort. The result is a clear, evidence-backed strategy that’s built to launch, hold up, and perform.
The work that matters most happens in real environments: stadiums, hospitals, service centers, hotel lobbies, airport gates, and on the side of the road. In these contexts, a screen might be part of the answer, but the interaction between people and the environment matters just as much.
When what people actually need is misjudged, the experience breaks down. The difference I make is ensuring it works for the people moving through it. The result isn’t decoration. It’s a tangible solution supported by a clear, evidence-backed strategy and a roadmap teams can act on.
How I got here
My early work focused on websites, human-machine interfaces, and apps. It built a foundation in making complex ideas clear and defensible.
Over time, the focus shifted to digital products and behavioral outcomes, where research, iteration, and systems thinking became central to the work.
Now I specialize in helping teams understand what’s actually happening and what’s worth doing, usually before things are fully defined.
Different problems call for different tools. These are the ones I rely on to cut through ambiguity and find something that creates value.
Most initiatives fail because they lean too heavily on one and ignore the others.
Desirability asks if people will benefit, and why.
Feasibility asks if it can be built and sustained.
Viability asks if it’s worth doing.
Start with desirability to make something people actually care about. Assess Feasibility and Viability to avoid expensive mistakes downstream.
People don’t want products. They want to experience something that matters to them.
JTBD helps uncover what’s driving behavior and what people are actually trying to do.
Layering this over journey maps makes it easier to see where things break down and where there’s real opportunity.
Design thinking is a way to move from an unclear problem to something testable.
Service design expands that across the full experience: channels, people, environments, procedures, and systems.
Together, they help make sense of what’s happening and what a better version could look like.
I use AI where it improves the experience, and avoid it where it doesn’t.
This principle developed during my work on digital therapeutics, where replacing people outright wasn’t viable. Instead, AI handled clear decisions while nuanced situations stayed with experts.
The same principle still applies.
Working prototypes can be built quickly using AI as an engineering partner.
Mockups have their place, but functional prototypes sometimes surface real needs faster. They change how decisions are made and increase confidence before investments are made.
AI is great for moving quickly through large volumes of information like interview transcripts, secondary research, and large datasets.
It handles the parts that don’t require judgment, so more time is spent interpreting, deciding, and acting.
The result is better synthesis, not fewer people.
Three examples of bringing clarity to complex problems and turning them into something that creates real value for both the business and the customer.
Major League Baseball · Venue Commerce · 2025
Johnson & Johnson · App-Based Behavior Change · 2016
Irminsul · AI-Driven Gaming Guide · 2026
Most problems feel bigger than they are. I guide teams to focus on making them understandable and solvable, making us stronger in the process.
Start by examining the decisions, assumptions, and hypotheses already in play. Understanding what’s known is important, but what’s missing is usually where the real problem sits.
Get out into the real world. Observe, listen, and talk to people living with the problem. What people are actually trying to do is often different from what we expect.
Turn what we’ve learned over until patterns emerge. The goal is a clear, shared understanding that holds up under scrutiny and can guide decisions.
Define what the insights mean. Which opportunities are real? What’s worth doing? What’s not? This is where tradeoffs become clear.
Sequence the work and define what needs to be validated before committing. The result is a plan that feels achievable and grounded in what’s been learned.
What comes next depends on what’s been learned. Sometimes it’s product design and launch. Sometimes it’s a structured experiment. Sometimes it’s a coordinated suite of initiatives built from the roadmap. The form changes. The intent doesn’t.
Across industries, the same pattern shows up. What’s designed and what people actually experience doesn’t line up.
That’s the problem I solve, before anything gets designed.
The work is understanding what people actually need, what drives their behavior, and what needs to change for something to work.
I’m drawn to problems with a physical dimension. How a service unfolds across space, and where intended design breaks down in real life, is where the most meaningful work tends to be.
If understanding people is treated as a real input to strategy, not an afterthought, and decisions are shaped by that understanding, we should talk.
Based in Maplewood, NJ · Currently available for full-time or consulting roles at the Senior Director to VP level · New York metro or remote