Hi! I’m Griff.
I build powerhouse teams that craft transformative products, services, and experiences for complex industries.
My Philosophy
I prefer building teams of generalists with deep toolboxes to pull from. These “broken comb designers” are deep in one area, but have experience with several other disciplines; interaction design, information architecture, visual design, behavior design, service design, front end development, voice UI, etc. There are times where you need to bring in specialists, but to me the best designers can’t be contained by their title.
Broken-comb designers are awesome
Human-centered design delivers better business outcomes
Great services and products start with listening to the people who will use them. By starting with humans, I help companies drive better outcomes, increase profit and reduce costs.
Any good design team can craft visionary experiences. The real trick is building influence, nurturing relationships, and making it through the gauntlet of stakeholder, compliance, and development. Knowing when and how to compromise, extending empathy to internal partners and leadership, keeping things on track in the midst of constant change. These are the skills today’s leaders need to bring to bear.
“Design is the easy part of design”
Agile is great for developers, but not for anyone else
Agile was made by developers, for developers. Forcing other roles to operate like developers doesn’t work. I run my teams “agile-adjacent” instead of embedding designers into agile teams. This give them the ability to collaborate and critique with other designers and ensures that UX has a voice in what’s being built.
Design is filled with different practices - interaction design, visual design, research, content strategy, etc. It takes all the disciplines working together to succeed. I build teams that respect all of the various disciplines required to build great experiences.
Different practices need each other to win
Let me craft a keynote, speech, lecture or workshop specifically for your team or event
My Leadership Style
I’ve been a manager for the last several years, but I’ve been a leader for much longer. Leadership isn’t a title or a position - it’s the ability to conceive and communicate a vision that others can connect with and rally behind. It’s being willing to serve others, welcome them in and let them share in the crafting of the vision.
I’m informal and candid. Designers love to work for me because I’m a former practitioner. They like that I understand them in a way other managers can’t. I have their software installed and understand how work actually gets done.
I’m also an intrapreneur. I love being a thought leader inside of an organization, finding ways to evolve processes and business models. One of my old managers said that I’m a “good troublemaker”. I have the ability to challenge the status quo while still building relationships and leave the room with positive energy.
It’s all about people.
Really caring about and having empathy for people isn’t a strategy - it’s just being a decent human being. Care about people. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Be understanding and forgiving. Stay humble. Default to trust. Offer help with no ulterior motive.
Connect people with a mission.
People want to do meaningful work that makes the world better. It’s the job of a leader to help their people understand how their job connects to that larger mission. Then you’ll get more than their hands and heads - you’ll get their hearts.
Challenge the status quo. Inspire change.
Most big companies have plenty of people who are comfortable. I embrace the role of the “useful troublemaker”. I rock boats a little. I turn problems sideways to get a different perspective. I invite people to change their mindsets from “why we can’t” to “how might we”.
Always be making things better.
Not everything will be a home run. Take the single or the double. Be OK with the occasional bunt. The goal is to always be improving experiences for customers and employees. Don’t sacrifice “better” on the altar of “perfect”.
Don’t obsess. Stick and move.
Hand-wringing and analysis-paralysis aren’t my things. I’d rather make a thoughtful but timely decision and then correct course along the way. Pick a direction and get moving.
Be candid. Be kind.
I tell the plain truth to my team, and I expect them to return the favor. But being candid only works if you’re also kind. You always have to remember that our teams are made up of people with hopes and dreams, fears and insecurities. Being candid saves time. Being kind helps build the trust needed for people to grow.
A multi-disciplinary background
Service Design
I learned service design hands-on while working with Adaptive Path on the mortgage experience. I’ve led dozens of complex projects at scale in for banking and insurance services including claims, billing, auto buying, mortgage, and more.
Behavior Design
In 2016, I had an opportunity to attend the BJ Fogg Bootcamp. The understanding of why humans behave the way they do revolutionized my practice. Since then, I’ve also been influenced by Dan Ariely, Nir Ayel, David Halpern and others.
User Research
Throughout my career, I’ve always believed in the power of talking to customers, even before we knew to call that “user-centered design”. I’ve done lots of generative, primary research including in-home ethnographies, on-the-street intercept interviews, and co-design workshops.
Interaction Design
Since designing my first website in 1993, I’ve personally witnessed the evolution of the web. This history has given me a solid foundation of the core concepts of Interaction design. My grounding in usability came from studies with Human Factors (HFI).
Design Thinking Facilitation
I’m experienced in bringing partners from various parts of an organization to the table to align around a design thinking methodology. Design shouldn’t work in a vacuum. We need cross-functional partners, decision makers and customers in the room with us.
Visual Design
Before the web even existed, I worked for a couple agencies doing print design. During this time, I became grounded in visual design principles, Gestalt theory and typography. I’ve continued to build these crafts through all the fads and eras.
Web Development
There was a part of my career where I would turnkey entire websites by myself. This included front and back-end development, database architecture, and site hosting and configuration. This technical understanding helps me have informed conversations with development partners.
Lean UX, Agile, SAFe
Beautiful products are beautiful all the way through. So in addition to excellent discovery and craft, our processes should also be efficient and clean. I have helped define the way enterprise design teams work within a SAFe framework, shepherding projects all the way from the Portfolio layer to execution.
Digital Marketing
Throughout my career, I’ve managed both strategy and creative for digital marketing. I understand how to analyze and optimize a funnel, how to run multivariate testing, and how to build compelling and effective creative that meets and exceeds goals.
