Featured Work
Building a Service Design Practice
PRACTICE LEADERSHIP
Speaking at a Service Design Network event with one of my clients.
Three times in my career I've been asked (or decided) to build a service design capability where one didn't exist: first at a small Boston agency called Story+Structure, then at Cantina, and most recently at Portfolio T, a venture studio spun out of one of Silicon Valley's leading innovation firms. Each time, the challenge was the same in structure yet different in scale: how do you establish the credibility, methodology, team, and market position for a practice that the organization has never had? This is the story of how that work gets done—and what it looks like when service design is applied not just to client problems, but to the organizations doing the designing.
LabCorp
HEALTHCARE
I transformed LabCorp’s discrete patient touchpoints into one connected journey. The work created the clarity necessary to design a mobile-first digital experience. The project concluded just before the pandemic, and the experience designed for the patient turned out to be exactly the experience the patient needed when conditions changed.
DCU
FINANCIAL SERVICES
As a credit union, member-centricity has always been core to DCU. But, despite a long track record of delivering excellent in-person service, the results were proving uneven in a digital-first world.
Blue Cross Blue Shield
HEALTH INSURANCE
I worked with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts to create an innovative new in-person experience to bridge the gap between consumers and the larger healthcare system—one dedicated to putting co-creation and human-centered innovation into action—and in the process, transformed BCBSMA itself.
SES
SATELLITES
SES is one of the world's leading satellite owners and operators with over 70 satellites in both geostationary and medium Earth orbits. They offer high performance video and data solutions virtually everywhere on the planet. My work with SES helped them become more customer centric in order to drive service innovation and growth.
Shorelight
START-UP
Shorelight forms partnerships with universities across the U.S. to engage, recruit, and support international students. I worked with Shorelight to improve the student experience, streamline employee systems and workflows, and identify innovative marketing initiatives to unblock their path to a $1B valuation.
Insightfil
HEALTH CARE
Over 60 million Americans struggle to manage their complex medication regimens, leading to poor healthcare outcomes and $300 billion in avoidable medical costs for our country. Insightfil, a health care start-up, wanted to do something about it.
CSU East Bay
EDUCATION
CSU East Bay's continuing education unit wanted to adopt an enterprise CRM and design a new website. There was only the small matter of branding, positioning and CRM methodology to consider. Oh, and a user-friendly shopping cart. That talked to PeopleSoft.
Head Start
HUMAN SERVICES
Head Start provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to over a million low-income children and their families each year. I worked with the Early Head Start National Resource Center to ensure their evidence-based content would find its audience.
Georgetown University
EDUCATION
When Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies (SCS) moved from the "hilltop"—Georgetown's historic campus—to a new downtown DC building, it signaled a bold new direction. But the move had outpaced the brand.
BetterLesson
START-UP
BetterLesson gives teachers access to the best, most effective lessons, units, and curricula online. I started working with BetterLesson in its very early days to create an engaging and compelling digital experience for teachers to explore, create, and contribute.
Simmons University
EDUCATION
Simmons is a small, private university in Boston. During my career at Simmons, I designed and built the University’s online presence from the ground-up to increase brand awareness, advance enrollment marketing, support students and faculty, and engage alums.
Interesting Initiatives
Clients
* featured case studies
Air Force Research Lab
AMI Leasing
Artefact Design
Berklee College of Music
BetterLesson *
Blue Cross Blue Shield *
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Brandeis University
Budget Rent-a-Car
Cantina
CSU East Bay *
CSU Fullerton
Davis Square Lofts
Digital Credit Union *
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical U.
Forbes Park
Georgetown University
Harvard Common Press
Head Start *
Holcim
Intersystems
Insightfil *
Jacobs
John Hancock COIN
Johns Hopkins University
LabCorp *
Lincoln Public Schools
Literacy Collaborative
Mass College of Art & Design
Mass Music Educators Assoc.
Michele McGrath Makeup
Non-Event
Northern Colorado U.
Rivier University
San Jose State U.
SES *
Shorelight Education *
Simmons College *
Somerville Arts Council
Story+Structure
Takeda Pharmaceuticals
The Money Experience
Two Trick Pony
UC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley
University of Houston
US Air Force
US Postal Service
VetsFirstChoice
Wolperts Insurance
Worcester State U.
Your Call Football