consulting services

Many organizations could benefit from a design leader, but not all have the budget or need for a full-time leader—especially at startups. So, I offer the following consulting and coaching services.

Available to startups and other organizations with small (or non-existent) design organizations who’d benefit from strategic design leadership, but may not have the budget and/or need for a full-time design leader.

I can provide design leadership support on an hourly or temporary intensive basis, including:

talent assessment & hiring

• assessing current design team members to identify gaps and strengths
• interviewing design or research candidates

team development

• providing mentorship to existing design and user research ICs and leaders
• creating design team career ladders, org designs, hiring plans, interview guides, etc.
• strengthening human-centered design skills within the design team and/or broader organization

design effectiveness

• instituting design and user research processes and best practices
• providing design oversight and guidance on key initiatives
• ensuring design is collaborating well with other cross-functional groups and playing a strategic role in the product development process

And whatever else the organization may need.

Design leaders face challenges that are unique to the design discipline, but oftentimes report into other functions (i.e. Product), leaving them without a resource who has the expertise or direct experience to help them solve problems. I provide one-on-one support for design leaders to help them strengthen their team and their skills. I can provide coaching on any aspect of design leadership, including:

• hiring, firing and promotion decisions
• design process and workflow
• org design and resource planning
• navigating relationships with cross-functional partners
• improving team health
• design measurement and impact
• whatever else the design leader may need

In addition to leadership support, I can provide IC work on select product development projects. Services include:

• product strategy and vision
• user research and product discovery (strategy and execution)
• concept design and evaluation
• product measurement and assessment