Designing for tensile futures.

I design and run systems that need to work at scale. I lead technology and service delivery work—building teams, making decisions, and shipping policy into software. I've spent over a decade in civic tech at every level, from small cities to the federal government, most recently leading design at 18F

I'm a faculty member in the Urban Technology program at the University of Michigan. I just finished a stint as Board President of AIGA Portland, where I launched Portland Design Month. Last spring, I founded Portland Digital Corps, pairing technologists with local nonprofits. Beyond speaking at events, I organize them: Design For The Public 24, and next spring, Years Ahead 26.

My practice lives somewhere between critical, service, and interaction design, in that space after "human-centered design" where service delivery becomes media, software behaves like policy, and every interface is a small act of governance. In the current AI moment, I've been speaking globally about how cities, policymakers, and everyday decisions mediated by agents will transform how we interact—and why we need better mechanics to cope with this. I'm less interested in innovation than in how we craft livable futures, not disruptive ones.

Somehow I make time for a radio show on KFFP-FM, coaching high school tennis for nearly a decade, and being North America's most enthusiastic ambassador for the Finnish baseball variant, Pesäpallo.