About

Design Executive. Builder. Human-first Leader.

I’ve spent over two decades working at the intersection of UX, strategy and organizational transformation. I’ve led design through turnarounds, M&As, growth stages and legacy modernization. Complexity doesn’t scare me. I’ve learned to work through it and to help teams do the same.

Leadership, to me, goes well beyond output. It’s about trust, deep listening and building culture while building systems. Showing up grounded, curious and genuinely invested in the people doing the work.

Roberts family 2023

Husband. Father. Human.

I’ve been married to the love of my life for 23 years, and we’re raising the most amazing 11-year-old; he’s our greatest teacher. My wife is a yoga therapist and the values she lives by show up in how I lead too: empathy, humility, mindfulness, compassion and adaptability.

My leadership philosophy

I lead with empathy, clarity and accountability. I believe in:

  • Psychological safety as a prerequisite for performance
  • High-craft, low-ego teams who work in the open
  • Coaching over control and listening over speaking
  • Clarity of direction with room to explore how we get there

Strategic Impact

I’ve led teams and initiatives that have delivered millions in bottom-line results, including:

  • $7.5MM for a banking line of business through service design and test-and-learn strategies
  • $2.5MM+ for a major food distributor by digitizing an offline fulfillment process
  • $2MM+ in online revenue for a luxury fashion brand through custom ecommerce
  • $3MM+ for a specialty insurer via a tailored quoting system
  • And more, across insurance, healthcare, SaaS and B2B

Battle-tested

I’ve been through:

✔ 15 years of self-employment

✔ A merger, 2 acquisitions and 6 reorgs

✔ 11 rounds of layoffs

✔ Private equity ownership and divestiture

✔ Nearly a decade inside large enterprises

Even through the hardest stretches, the teams I’ve led kept showing up and doing great work. That doesn’t happen by accident. Don’t take my word for it.

Lifelong Learner

Curiosity keeps me sharp. Some recent areas of focus:

Certifications

  • IDEO
    • Bringing AI to the Design Thinking Process
  • Pluralsight
    • AI & Generative AI: Executive Briefing
    • Generative AI for Leaders
  • Coursera
    • AI for Everyone
    • AI Product Management Specialization – Duke University
  • Nielsen Norman Group
    • UX Certified, specialty in UX Management
  • IBM
    • Enterprise Design Thinking Practitioner
  • Interaction Design Foundation
    • UX Management (Top 10% of class)
    • Design Thinking
    • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Ugurus (Digital Ocean)
    • Business Strategy Bootcamp Graduate & Mastermind Group Member – 2013-2016

On my bookshelf

Books that have shaped my thinking and leadership approach:
  • Outcomes Over Output: Why customer behavior is the key metric for business success – Josh Seiden
  • Org Design for Design Orgs: Building and Managing In-House Design Teams – Kristin Skinner, Peter Merholz
  • The Making of a Manager – Julie Zhuo
  • Crucial Conversations – Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, Emily Gregory
  • Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World – General Stanley McChrystal
  • Leadership Is Language – L. David Marquet
  • How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge – Clay Scroggins
  • Design for How People Think: Using Brain Science to Build Better Products – John Whalen
  • Designing with the Mind in Mind: Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Guidelines – Jeff Johnson
  • Designing for Behavior Change: Applying Psychology and Behavorial Economics – Stephen Wendel
  • Sense & Respond: How Successful Organizations Listen to Customers and Create New Products Continuously – Jeff Gothelf, Josh Seiden
  • Lean UX: Designing Great Products with Agile Teams – Jeff Gothelf, Josh Seiden
  • Design Leadership: How Top Design Leaders Build and Grow Successful Organizations – Richard Banfield
  • The Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making – Sam Kaner
  • Atomic Design – Brad Frost