podcast 2025
Future Perfect Book Club
futureperfectbook.club
Co-hosted with Joel Goodman, exploring the intersection of design, technology, and the future of institutions.
Read article →I build and fix
the systems that
run public life.
Service designer, UX engineer, and information architect. I build and lead high-performing cross-functional teams across product, design, and engineering. I developed trajectory management and delivery forensics, frameworks for navigating complex programs and diagnosing failure. Currently Assistant Professor of Practice in Urban Technology at Michigan's Taubman College. Former Head of Design at 18F. Co-founder of PDX Design Month. Developed the model for local civic response teams.
Selected Work
Federal · 2016–2024 Design Leadership at Scale, 18F Built and led a 40-person design practice across federal agencies including the VA, IRS, HHS, DOD, and FTC. Delivery work touched millions of Americans. See the work → Research · Ongoing Public Mechanics Original frameworks for how public services are built, maintained, and fail — including Trajectory Management and Delivery Forensics. Read the frameworks → Tool · 2024–Ongoing State Capacity AI Tracks AI model pricing and performance for institutional procurement. Built for decision-makers who need vendor intelligence without the sales pitch. statecapacity.ai → Community · 2025 Portland Digital Corps Assembled 50+ practitioners to rebuild six Oregon nonprofit websites. Volunteer infrastructure for civic digital capacity. See the work →
Most design work is repair — patching the gaps between intention and reality, between policy and the lived experience of the people who depend on public systems. — Design as Repair, 2025
Writing & Speaking
Recent Writing
Recent Speaking
- Service Design Show Repairing Service Design for the Age of AI Sep 2025
- Cascadia Open Source GIS Beyond Civic Tech Nov 2025
Recent Appearances
article January 2026
Some advice on managing your design career upwards
Piccalil.li
Navigating design leadership, building influence across organizations, and positioning yourself for strategic impact.
Read article →
talk November 2025
Beyond Civic Tech: Public Mechanics Starts at Home
Cascadia Open Source Fall Conference
Why civic tech fails when it ignores maintenance, repair, and the invisible work that keeps public services running.
podcast September 2025
Repairing Service Design for the Age of AI
Service Design Show Podcast
Exploring how service design must evolve to address the challenges and opportunities of AI-driven systems.
Read article → video October 2025
Design Systems and Public Services
YouTube
Discussion on service design, public sector innovation, and building decision systems that work at scale.
Currently Reading
- 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Exocapitalism: The Political Economy of Software by Charles Mudede
- The Field Guide to Design Futures by Giovanni Caruso, Silvio Cioni
Now Listening
- Until It's Time For Me to Go by Jim Croce
- There Is Nothing more to Say by The Millenium
- Another Song for the End of the World by Sophie May
- People Make The World Go Round by Saeed