Folio

Like a moth to a flow state

I design and develop experiences, systems, flows, software, and applications that are shaped by the demonstrated needs and preferences of real users and customers. Rooted in complexity theory, systems thinking, and radical empathy, I try to surf the crest of the wave of innovation, applying the latest technology to our most pressing challenges.

• The Sun provides enough energy in 8 minutes to power humanity for an entire year.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  For SolarCity I designed, prototyped, and developed a slew of digital experiences for customers and employees. I was able to drastically improve the quality of our lead collection practices in the field with a simple web app called Leadgen. Leadgen bore fruit, namely Dynamo and Go, wherein we debuted the world's first DIY home solar energy design experience for prospective customers and homeowners.

  My favorite project with SolarCity was something we called Green Ops. Centered around a sustainability manifesto, we aligned our sales team of thousands, culminating in a thrilling chant: "Take the Power Back!"

  

  Skills

  • Prototyping
  • User Research
  • Water Spider
  • Node.js
  • Gulp builds
  • AngularJS
  • Firebase
  • Continuous release
  • Agile/Scrum
  • Brand Strategy
  • Marketing

  Key Projects

  • Leadgen
  • SolarCity.com
  • SolarCity Go
  • Dynamo
• Envisioning the end of traffic

  "Don't let Earth suck" sang the gargantuan neon sign at HQ. We assembled all-stars and avengers to put an end to traffic. The world might not be ready for a hyperloop, but aren't we ready to arrive?

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  It was a blessing and a joy to think so big. In an attempt to inform our ambitions, I created a comprehensive timeline of transportation technology, presented on an 80" touchscreen. Stretching to fit our needs, I architected the IT infrastructure, refreshed our website, coordinated our move into HQ, and juggled any number of odd operations duties. And that golf machine!

  Roles

  • Operations
  • IT Admin
  • Webmaster
  • Water Spider
  • Researcher
• Blazing the trail to Disney+, Magic Bands, and Pokemon Go

  

  

  

  

  Following Togetherville's acquisition by Disney Interactive, I was ushered into the skunkfolios where our raw creativity and technological acumen interwove to dream up the most magical (and plausible) wonders we could offer to the world under the banner of the Mouse.

  First I led the former Togetherville to secure a patent for the Dynamic Trust Score, which represented the effulgence of our IP. We then proceeded on to architect the integration of the company's identity platforms into what was termed Disney ID.

  That's when the real fun began. In a few short months our little task force spun up and pitched a squall line of concepts, some of which have taken nearly a decade to come to fruition. The lion's share of the folio remains under closed source. But here are some teasers:

  • a precursor to Pokemon Go featuring digital collectible characters living in AR,
  • a celestial Disney jukebox that became the Disney+ streaming service, and
  • an evolution of Disney Pins involving smart, wearable collectibles that are now called Magic Bands.

  Skills

  • Game design
  • "Gamification" 🤑
  • UI/UX prototyping
  • Platform architecture
  • Guest experience mapping
• Pioneering a fun, safe social net for kids and their families

  

  

  

  

  In 2010, Facebook was just beginning its pandemic spread. Kids, restricted from joining by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, could play with their friends online illegally, or with strangers anonymously on platforms like Club Penguin. We offered them a safe place to play with their friends and families: games with leaderboards and dares, curated videos to like and share, quips (think: tweets), and art creation apps. Stretching to fit our needs, I developed our content strategy, designed flash games and art apps, made promo videos, conduct user research, prototyped new features and interaces, and started learning to code.

  Roles

  • Content strategy
  • Interface design
  • Game design & development
  • Video production
  • Growth hacking
  • Virtual currency
  • COPPA
• Offering the western world an entertaining way to learn Mandarin

  

  

  

  Learning Mandarin as an adult is no small feat. At the very least it can be entertaining. We did our best to bring an effective, engaging Mandarin language-learning platform to the West.

  Roles

  • Consulting
  • Prototyping
  • User Personas
  • Tech Strategy
  • Wordpress
• Nameless was designed in an instant, and then took a month to develop.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Check out Nameless

  A Pandemic Special passion project from the bottom of my well of being. As I turned inside over the course of the last year of involuntary isolation, I was reminded of the source that once surprised me. Practicing divination with the Yìjīng (a.k.a. I Ching) has really peeled the onion, and renewed my trust in that tiny voice calling up from the bottom of the well of being seated deep in heart center. I can't promise that you'll be able to divine the future, but you just might understand this moment from a new and ancient vantage point, one that feels like an old friend.

  Stack

  • Vue 3
  • Yìjīng
  • Custom CSS
  • Vercel
• Commonplace is my digital garden, zettelkasten, and second brain all rolled into one.

  

  

  

  

  

  That means that the notes published there are incomplete and unpolished, but interlinked and available to the public for whatever purposes that may arise. This is an effort to learn in public, and a way to keep useful thoughts from getting lost or buried in the archives.

  Learning in public, and sharing my notes, was scary at first, but now I can't imagine doing it any other way. I'm working to make a white label version of this site so anyone can stand up an instance and keep their notes in public with me.

  Stack

  • Next.js
  • MDX
  • React
  • Netlify
• A new model for companies in the post-Coronation economy; bus(i/y)ness grows tired

  

  

  

  

  Indulge in Easeness

  Easeness began as a poet's joke, some sleight of tongue. It's a pet project, a compassion project. At some point I will formalize the model and share it more widely. Easenesses are cropping up left and right these days. The gentle revolution of love and connectedness is underway.

  Stack

  • Next.js
  • React
  • TailwindCSS
  • Sanity

  Themes

  • Metta
  • Karuna
  • Mudita
  • Upeksha
  • TMBWOHKIP
• Finding whimsy in the inexorable passage of time

  Passage 3D Passage 2D

  Can a clock help us embrace the passage of time?

  Skills

  • Vanilla JS/CSS/HTML
  • Events
  • Modules
  • Animotion
  • Progressive Web App

  Themes

  • Synchronicity
  • Stillness
  • Solitude
• Plumbing the depths of the well of being

  Writings Sherpas

  The quest to know thyself can be a lonely affair. We start as the ocean, are then formed into a drop with a name to live in separation and isolation until we find our way back to the ocean, discovering that the self does not stop at the skin but extends to the unreachable edge of existence.

  Atmanautica was originally conceived as a space for journeying souls awash in the ocean. It became the place I let my heart breathe, air out my mind, let the story of separation fall away, and to heal and to allow the new and ancient story of reunion to grow from the loam. Following a series of profound experiences of unity, I continue to devote myself to providing support and guidance for those of us who struggle to remember our purpose, who seek meaning and progress. Together we ask the questions long left unanswered and hold space for the echoes.

  Tools

  • Hugo
  • JS
  • Sass
  • HTML
  • Golang

  Themes

  • wu wei
  • essay
  • breath
  • poetry
  • satori
• Inspired by nature, designing with compassion

  Four talented, ambitious industrial designers and yours truly teamed up during the Not-So-Great Recession to bring some healing and humor to the world.

  

  

  

  

  

  Supported by Hope Through Healing Hands, our Nature Cart delivers a safe, fun, sterile experience of nature to hospital-bound children whose health is too compromised to allow them to safely play outside.

  We were nearly kids at the time, I was a newly minted attorney, and we learned many things the hard way in this first take at entrepreneurship.

  Products

  • Hope and Healing Hands Nature Cart
  • Wobl, an iPhone alarm clock
  • Golden Games
  • Antler olive picks
  • Bosch dishwasher

Feel free to take a copy of my C.V.