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.about
A lot of my work starts with old systems and little documentation. I sit with users, learn how they work and what their pain points are, and design from there.
I've spent 16 years in FinTech, insurance and other regulated industries. I've led teams and hired designers, and I still build components myself. AI is built into how I work. I'm always trying new agents, so my stack keeps changing.
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.case-study
MetLife moved its design system from XD into four new Figma libraries covering every global market, and updated it for an upcoming rebrand along the way.
Impact
100% migrated to Figma. Every enterprise web and mobile product now builds from the new libraries.
Team
We were a pod with 2 design leads; Scrum Master, Product Owner, Product Manager, 3 designers (plus anyone we could borrow), and several developers. We worked on 2 week sprints using Azure DevOps. Daily stand ups, bi weekly demos and quarterly PI planning.
The Lead roles were very hands on, we built components, reviewed all the designers' work before being released. We QA'd all builds, merged/published all 4 libraries and managed the developer relay file.
File Structure
The system lived in five Figma files. One token file fed color, spacing and type into four libraries: UI, Brand, Conversational AI and Responsive Web. Each sprint, a relay file handled dev handoff and a templated deck covered the stakeholder demo.
Requirements
Along with the move to Figma, we improved how components worked and updated the visuals ahead of a rebrand.
Problem
Complex multi-step forms with conditional views and edge cases couldn't be handled using Figma. The developers would have to guess at what was required based on static screens and meeting notes.
Solution
Flow diagrams were added and I would walk the developers through each of the conditional flows prior to any releases to ensure the build was as per the design.
Changes Needed
Designers new to Figma or MetLife also needed instructional documentation.
Problem
No time based ease info could be included on redlines. 4-6 animation options were time consuming to create.
Solution
Using Figma Make I created dozens of variations up front. This reduced the time creating initial motion rules and concepts from days to hours.
Solution
Variables had just launched. I used them for all color, which gave us tighter control and fewer component variants.
Documentation lives in the library and inside each component, so it's there when people need it.
Problem
Many of MetLife's publishers use Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), which doesn't support many features of Figma components. This includes nested components.
Solution
I worked through walk-throughs with the publishers and AEM owners to understand fully what AEM could support and designed to work within these constraints, including creating AEM specific hacks. ie. Negative padding.
Governance
Live libraries drift. Names slip, components get orphaned and variants go missing, and someone has to catch it before it reaches 25+ teams.
Problem
We had to manually audit all libraries, flag any issues and create a report. This took us around two weeks. As MetLife has restrictions on Claude and most AI tools we couldn’t find a faster way.
Solution
We lobbied for an exemption to link Claude to the live Figma files. We have a script that goes through all 4 of our libraries and flags any naming issues, orphans and missing variants. The designer will review all the issues before any changes are made. This has reduced the audit time to around 15 minutes.
Same audit, two ways. By hand it took about two weeks. With Claude and a designer checking every result, it takes about 15 minutes.
Accessibility
When a component changed a lot in function or look, I built a simplified version in a separate library instead of changing the core one.
That kept existing work from breaking and gave non-designers something easier to use.
.case-study
Turning MetLife's 20-year-old plan setup and management systems into one role-based app.
Impact
Up to 80% of MetLife employees use these systems. They now work in one app instead of several.
The Challenge
In early 2024, UX was brought into a modernization project for MetLife's plan setup and management systems. Development was already well underway, with no designers involved.
The goal was to fix this system and set a better modernization process for every MetLife enterprise app after it.
Problem
When we started, there was no UX work at all. I joined four months in and it took three more to properly do the discovery work, putting UX more than six months behind development.
Solution
I broke the work into separate tracks. First, I looked through the work that had been built and shipped quick fixes: font stacks, spacing, layouts, page templates, and a full accessibility audit. At the same time, I designed the MVP screens for the developers, as well as a longer-term prototype of a new Enterprise design system.
Project Timeline
Development has been running for over three months before UX joined. Tactical solutions were used to catch up without stalling the delivery while a full discovery and modernization was done in the background.
Problem
The current design library was a collection of marketing components that wouldn’t work within an enterprise application.
Solution
In addition to creating a new Enterprise design system from scratch during the 3 month discovery phase, I created a new Enterprise UI library consisting of 37 components.
Research
Four main roles, each with different needs and experience levels:
User Pain Points
Current State
Users logged in and out of several systems all day, usually with two or more sources open side by side.
Problem
There were close to 10,000 questions in the app. This included many for products that no longer existed. Most questions did have help text but the tone varied.
Solution
I brought in a content writer to support and carried out a content audit with SMEs and product owners to identify the obsolete questions. The developers asked which questions were rarely or never answered. We provided a style guide so that the product owners could keep the content consistent.
Solution
The goal: bring every system and outside reference into one web app.
Nobody has to switch between tools or enter the same data twice.
Solution
Each role now sees only the parts of the app it needs.
Navigation got much simpler, and the path to daily tasks is clear.
There's less to wade through, and new people learn the system faster.
Problem
The system has 60+ roles. The main issues raised during discovery was that users got lost and became overwhelmed with information, so most people used only a small amount of the app.
Solution
I identified 4 main users and 6 secondary users. I ensured the app was role based meaning each user could only see features and data relevant to their role.
Global Impact
37 new components, which became the foundation of the Enterprise design system now used across MetLife's apps.
Results
Users who used to juggle 4 systems now work in one. Setting up a new plan went from 5 days to 2, and new hires ramp up in 6 weeks instead of 4 months.
For thousands of MetLife employees, the workday now runs through one app built around their role.
.case-study
Replacing a set of disconnected legacy tools with one portal for Freedom Mortgage employees and broker partners.
Employees and partners worked across a string of disconnected legacy systems that were dated in both function and looks.
I was the only UX/UI designer. I ran every UX and creative workshop and produced and presented all deliverables.
Overview
Employees and partners were using multiple legacy systems throughout the day resulting in wasted time, mistakes and frustration. We wanted to provide one modern portal that would truly reflect simplified working patterns.
Problems
Problem
There were no power users. Workflows and business rules had been built up over years and were purely known by people.
Solution
During discovery, I worked in their New Jersey office and sat with people from various roles. This highlighted any undocumented processes and issues that people had become accustomed to and therefore had forgotten about.
Strategy
Research
Throughout the discovery phase it was discovered that brokers had a spreadsheet open alongside their legacy tools to calculate loan prices. This is why the pricing tool was the first to be delivered.
Problem
Too many user types required to have a voice so in person was not viable.
Solution
Conducted remotely using UserTesting.com to perform A/B tests and get feedback on the prototype. Optimal Sort used to card sort. An open feedback box was included in the card sort which proved to be one of the best sources of feedback.
Design
Wireframes, high-fidelity designs and interactive prototypes, tested with stakeholders and users along the way.
Problem
Re-work was high during the initial sprints. Developer concerns were raised during the demo at the end of the sprints.
Solution
A developer only review was added two days before the stakeholder demo. Technical issues were identified early and resolved. This gave me time to update prior to the demo and resulted in reduced re-work.
Key Feature
The biggest new feature was a pricing tool for brokers and partners.
It replaced manual calculations, which cut errors and sped up pricing.
Problem
The overall project ran for over 2 years, but we wanted to push first to market with the pricing tool. This was a completely new piece of work.
Solution
The solution was to make a separate application which could be launched from their main broker portal (BPM). There were clear instructions on passing to the pricing tool. Once an estimate had been made the user could return to BPM or continue.
Visual Design
The new portal kept the Freedom Mortgage brand but brought it up to date.
Consistent patterns, better typography and more breathing room made it feel more trustworthy.
Results
The new pricing tool cut loan estimate time from 20 minutes to 3. Partners went from logging into 4 systems to one portal, and pricing errors dropped 40% in the first quarter.
.case-study
Business software for small and mid-size construction companies.
Overview
Contractors run bids, budgets, contracts, time tracking, scheduling and reporting from any device, all synced with QuickBooks.
The Project
One place for contractors to manage their projects, on whatever device they have with them.
My Role
I was the only UX/UI designer. I ran every UX and creative workshop and produced and presented all deliverables.
For the first two months, I was also the project manager and business analyst, working with the two founders on requirements and the roadmap.
Pre-Discovery
Build a multi-tenant product that helps business owners actually use their business data.
Discovery
Define & Design
Retrospective
It was 18+ hard months at startup pace, and it worked. This was my first product from start to finish, and it taught me the most about the strategy side.
Knowify grew into a major player in construction software and partnered with Intuit QuickBooks in 2021.
.case-study
A new intranet for a national law firm.
Overview
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP hired me to design the firm's new intranet, from wireframes through build.
My Role
I led every phase of UX and UI with the firm's stakeholders:
Process
Getting the requirements right and turning them into high-fidelity wireframes, with three rounds of stakeholder review.
Process
Once wireframes were approved, I designed the visuals to match the firm's brand, with five rounds of review.
Deliverables
In early interviews, attorneys said they mostly used the intranet to find forms and people, and both were buried several clicks deep. I put firm-wide search and a people directory at the top of every page and moved the most-used forms to the home page.
One set of patterns kept every page consistent while still handling very different kinds of content.
Results
I wrote a style guide so the build, and every update after it, stayed consistent.
I worked with the developers through the whole build, so what shipped matched the design.
.case-study
Navian Capital launched in 2018, incubated by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. It runs an independent platform for structured products and annuities.
A UX audit and full redesign of its Luma platform.
Overview
Navian's tools started as a sprawling proof of concept. They needed to become one platform.
The Project
I worked on both design and strategy across the whole effort:
My Role
Research
I interviewed users in several ways to understand how they worked and where the platform got in the way.
What I learned there drove the redesign.
Discovery
Stakeholder sessions and user research showed where the platform needed the most work.
Design
Interviews showed that users priced a product in one tool, then re-entered the same details in another to place the order. Working with Navian's developers, I merged pricing and ordering into one flow so those details carry over.
I simplified navigation and the hardest workflows and updated the visuals, while keeping it familiar for existing users.
Results
One platform that supports every part of Navian's business, from training and product creation to sales and support.