Tinkering
Designer's Notebook.
Occasional writing on design, building products, and the work of leading teams. Posts are pulled from my Substack.
Jan 19, 2026
Building a Design System Is an Organizational Problem
This is the story of building Compass, a design system in a large, process-driven organization with many competing priorities and a cautious approach to resourcing.
Read on Substack → Dec 17, 2025The Power of Making the Implicit Explicit
In many startups I’ve worked in, or that friends of mine have worked in, there’s a familiar frustration: teams don’t seem to be moving fast enough toward their goals.
Read on Substack → Dec 6, 2025How Designers Grow Beyond the “Ladder”
I’ve worked on a few career ladders in my life.
Read on Substack → Dec 2, 2025Notes on Design and Change
I’ve been wanting a place to collect my thoughts on design, product, and career growth — the themes that shaped most of my professional life until I quit my job over a year ago — alongside my reflections on figuring out…
Read on Substack →