Thirty years of work.
One consistent question.

Bringing 100+ designers onto a single tool was step one. Step two was giving them a shared foundation to build from. I designed and launched the USCIS Figma Component Library — a 508-compliant, fully documented system of reusable components that serves as the agency's single source of truth. The library eliminates redundant work across teams, ensures visual consistency across all public-facing products, and has been adopted by DHS headquarters as a shared foundation for the broader federal design ecosystem.

When I arrived at USCIS, designers across different contracts and projects had little awareness of each other, let alone shared practices or community. I built a cohesive, collaborative design culture from the ground up — launching cross-team forums, structured working groups, and regular touchpoints that connect designers across the organization. The result is a community with shared standards, shared tools, and genuine visibility into each other's work.

Federal websites must adhere to the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) — but compliance had never been formally evaluated across USCIS's full portfolio. I designed and led the agency's first comprehensive audit cycle, reviewing all public-facing sites and applications for USWDS compliance, accessibility gaps, and design quality. The audits identified concrete remediation priorities across every team and established a repeatable evaluation framework for ongoing compliance maturity.

508 compliance is the floor, not the ceiling. Many federal design teams treat accessibility as a checkbox rather than a design practice — and the gap between "technically compliant" and "actually usable" can be significant for the populations USCIS serves. I've led multiple initiatives to raise that bar: coaching designers on how to integrate accessibility into their process, building a11y review into design crits and approval workflows, and earning recognition from the Army Corps of Engineers for the standards work coming out of USCIS.

USCIS.gov serves millions of immigrants, applicants, and families navigating complex legal processes. With 5,000+ pages, 33,000+ page views per hour, and 65% of visitors on mobile, the stakes for clarity and usability are high. I partner with designers across delivery teams to provide guidance on content strategy, plain language, information architecture, and design best practices — helping teams make a site that works for everyone who depends on it.

Seven years at IBM put me at the intersection of design systems, product governance, and high-volume production delivery. I started on the Watson Implementations Team, designing AI-powered application prototypes and custom UX solutions for enterprise clients in the US, Canada, and the UK — including an interactive demo I built solo that secured a $60M IBM contract.

From there I moved to IBM CloudPak for Automation as Senior UX Design Lead and Senior UX Researcher, driving platform-wide consistency across a complex SaaS product suite. I served as the platform's Accessibility Focal — coaching designers, running WCAG audits, and embedding accessibility into the process in ways that reduced defects and developer rework.

I also built a research program from scratch, engaging 25+ external client participants within the first year and creating a centralized repository that reduced redundancy across teams.

I was doing motion graphics and interactive design before the discipline had a name. In the early days of interactive digital design, there were no established playbooks — just creative people, new tools, and the constant challenge of figuring out what this medium could do.

Giving back to the field has been part of my practice for as long as I've been a designer — especially now, when AI is changing what it means to be a designer and the next generation needs people who've navigated big shifts before to help them think it through.