Resumé

I have diverse experience leading multi-disciplined design and development teams, and strength in translating market and consumer insights into successful, differentiated products. As a team leader I have passion for creative design and business leadership and excel at getting the most out of people, processes and teams, and in the design community I value engaging with educators and practitioners to advance learning & growth of design practice, and the impact design can have for people, communities, and the planet. 

 

Education:

Bachelor of Industrial Design - With Distinction Carleton University,  Ottawa Canada,  1989. 

Master of Arts – Industrial Ecology,  Antioch University, Yellow Springs OH,  2001. 

 

Work:

Amazon 2014 - 2023

Director of Amazon Design Excellence & Devices Design Strategy  

Dual role leading strategy and planning for the Devices Design Group, to establish the operational rigor for effective innovation management and customer-driven portfolio planning; additionally led the Amazon Design community teams establishing the foundational programs for design and designers to thrive across Amazon businesses.

Director of Design, Amazon Physical Stores.  

Built and led the design teams responsible for developing the end to end CX and brand personality of Amazon Fresh Stores - the first truly hybrid, online/offline grocery offering. This includes development of the Dash Cart, a smart shopping cart that recognizes items as you shop, and skips the checkout line and leadership of UX, ID, and Design Research across Amazon Physical Stores - Fresh, Go, Books, and 4-star, and new concept development.

Director of Design, Prime Video.   

Led a global, multi-disciplinary team to launch new content experiences such as 3P Channels, Live, and Indy content across mobile, web, and living-room clients.  Spearheaded a program to develop rigorous CX quality metrics, quantify the relationship of customer satisfaction and engagement behavior, and elevate CX investments on the constrained roadmap.  Drove the first comprehensive cross client, cross platform CX improvement initiative since AV launched.

Director of Design, Kindle Content.  

Built and Led the Design organization for the Kindle Content Ecosystem - covering the enterprise experiences for Authors and Publishers, and the consumer experiences for Shoppers and Readers.  We crafted a vision of a unified Kindle experience from content creation, publishing, discovery, through to consumption, and began the journey to move the CX toward that vision.


Senior Vice President, Design & Planning.   BlackBerry 2011 - 2014

Led the Industrial Design, User Experience and Portfolio Planning teams. I joined to build and lead a unified ID & UX Planning function and created a two-year roadmap. This grew to the role of leading the overall integrated Design organization. By creating a company wide innovation startup framework this team put customer led insights at the forefront of product planning, shipped significant device and UX innovations, and received international recognition for the results.


Founder,  DesignPost.  2009 - 2011

Startup incubated a social consumer insights technology and business aimed at empowering consumers with their own data.


Partner, UX Director.    Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division.  2007- 2009

Led and grew the core Windows Phone 7 design, research and AD teams while re-planning the user experience architecture. Led the combined Zune and Media Center UX teams in the Entertainment and Devices organization.


Vice President, Innovation & Design.   Motorola Solutions. (Symbol Technologies)  1998-2007

Built and led central design organizations of Innovation Planning, Design Research, Advanced Product Development, and Industrial & Interaction Design. Responsible for strategic planning, customer intelligence, innovation, and design execution. Drove new start-up directions for the company in the areas of health care devices, self-service and mobile shopping solutions.  Active on executive committees responsible for shaping new business strategy, business planning, marketing operations, new ventures, product lifecycle management, and innovation.


Manager, Consulting Design Group. NCR Corporation.  1989 -1998

Led the integrated team of Industrial, Environmental, and Interaction Designers supporting NCR’s Retail, Financial, & Computing business units where we pioneered self-service retail and banking technology into physical environments such as grocery stores, and public spaces.   Founded the Interaction Design practice, and grew this team into an innovative service organization of research, design, and human factors specialists.

 

Activities:

Adjunct Research Professor, Carleton University, 2009 - 2014

Board of Advisors, Design Impact, 2010 - 2013

Director at Large, Industrial Designers Society of America, 2009-2012

Executive Editor, Innovation. Journal of the Industrial Designers Society of America. 2010 – 2012.

IDEA Design Excellence Awards Jury.   Jury Chair 2008, Juror 2006.  BusinessWeek/IDSA,

Innovation Index.  Funded IDSA to create a public index of archived Innovation periodicals.

Education and Business Advisory Board. Stony Brook, NY. 2003 – 2005

ROI: The Innovation Equation.  NY. Planned, moderated, and cosponsored IDSA.  2006

IDSA- “Design About” on Innovation, Conference Chair, Guggenheim Museum, NY. 2001

 

Recognition:

Academy of Fellows: Industrial Designers Society of America, 2021  (announcement)

United States Patent Office: Over 60 US Patents

Red Dot ‘Best of the Best’ Design Award: BlackBerry Passport 2015

Red Dot Design Award: BlackBerry Z10 2012, Q5, Q10 and Z30 2014

IDEA Awards: 2 Gold, 7 Silver, 8 Bronze.   BusinessWeek/IDSA,

IF Design Award: Product Design, Symbol LS1900, 2002, Motorola MC17, 2008

Good Design Award: Chicago Athenaeum: Symbol LS1900, 2001, Motorola MC17, 2008

World Technology Award for Design: World Technology Network:, Nominee, 2001

Smithsonian-Cooper Hewitt Nation Design Award: Nominee, 2001

Chrysler Design Award: Nominee, 2000

AT&T Champions of the Environment:  Champion Award.  1995

R&D Award: -'The 7731's Ecologically Responsible Design', NCR 1992

George Lynn Memorial Scholarship: Medical Design, Carleton University, 1989