I serve as Chief Design Officer, focused on customer-centric strategies that drive exceptional user outcomes at the intersection of brand, products, and digital experiences.

With over thirty years of experience driving transformation at both corporate and industry levels, I specialize in building and leading teams that redefine how companies operate. My background includes working with technology start-ups as well as Fortune 500 companies across a diverse range of sectors, including geoscience technology, infrastructure engineering, creative content, enterprise search, micro-finance, digital asset management, and telecommunications.

Driving design transformation at an organizational level.

HELPING COMPANIES MOVE TO INFORMED DECISIONS

My approach to transformation focuses on aligning company objectives to excellence in user experiences. I combine comprehensive business knowledge with expertise in design and product development, all supported by an affection for creative problem-solving.

Bentley Systems (Nasdaq: BSY) is the infrastructure engineering software company. We provide innovative software to advance the world’s infrastructure, sustaining the global economy and environment. Our industry-leading software solutions are used by professionals and organizations of every size, for the design, construction, and operations of roads and bridges, rail and transit, water and wastewater, public works and utilities, buildings and campuses, mining, and industrial facilities.

Our offerings include MicroStation-based applications for modelling and simulation, ProjectWise for project delivery, AssetWise for asset and network performance, Seequent’s leading geosciences software portfolio, and the iTwin platform for infrastructure digital twins. Bentley Systems employs more than 5,500 colleagues and generates annual revenues of approximately $1.3 billion in 194 countries.

I’m also a Council Member on the Design Executive Council.

Design Executive Council is the premier membership network of the world’s foremost design executives. Our members are the Heads of Design, VPs, SVPs, Chief Design Officers, and Board Members of the world’s most significant public companies and ventures. Through DXC, we drive each other to new heights, develop competitive advantages, and elevate strategic design leadership to the highest levels.

PREVIOUSLY

Previously, I was Acting Chief Customer Officer and Director, Experience Design at Seequent.

Seequent believes that a better understanding of the earth creates a better world. Its staff creates and integrates software that empowers customers to solve complex problems that benefit people and the planet.

Seequent’s vision and innovative approach to technology solutions for complex decision-making about some of the world’s most significant challenges are a unified focus of its people, customers, and partners worldwide. In 2021, Seequent was acquired by Bentley Systems for $1.05B.

Prior to Seequent, I was Sr. Director, Technical Operations at Dissolve.

Dissolve is one of the most recognized and loved stock footage companies in the industry, renowned for its inspirational video marketing.

Dissolve’s work has won 6 Vimeo Staff Picks (with over 5 million organic views) and has been acclaimed by Time Magazine, Mashable, BuzzFeed, Adweek, Fast Company, Advertising Age, Wired, The AV Club, and many others.

Prior to Dissolve, I was Director, Interaction and Design at Corbis.

Corbis was one of the world’s leading visual media providers of commercial and editorial photography, illustration, and footage. In 2007, Bill Gates and Corbis acquired Veer (see below).

As home to some of the world’s most iconic photography (such as the Bettmann Archive), Corbis was more than a creative powerhouse; it was a repository of some of the world’s most historically relevant imagery.

Prior to our acquisition by Corbis (and Bill Gates), I was Co-founder and Director, Worldwide Community at Veer.

Veer became the first “love-mark” in the stock image industry. To millions of creatives, Veer was synonymous with inspiration (delivered in catalogs, on the web, at conferences, and on social media).

Veer’s work has been acclaimed by Communication Arts, the Type Directors Club, the Webby Awards, SXSW Web Awards, HOW Magazine (including a “Perfect 10” award), and the Direct Marketing Association (including a prestigious ECHO award).

Veer’s culture was steeped in sharing ideas and stoking innovation through action in the field. I was honored to introduce Stefan Sagmeister in Buffalo, NY while taking that notion of collaborative connection to our global creative community.

Early experiences.

I started working on the internet during its early days. In 1994 I hired myself out to ISPs and Telecoms with a focus on interaction and UI design. My introduction to high-tech company life was at Image Club Graphics, the world’s first creative content aggregator on the web. Here, I met and mentored under famed typographer and digital interface pioneer Grant Hutchinson.

My early career took me to Adobe, where I developed products, honed an understanding of customer-led design, and helped build some of their earliest commerce sites. Then I moved to Verity/HP, where I focused on bringing simple, intuitive UX to broad, unstructured enterprise search. Eventually, I made my way back to Canada from California to start Veer with the folks who’d influenced the early days of my career.

Let’s do something great together, or get familiar with my history first.