I started web design at 14, when I taught myself HTML and CSS to build custom layouts for online communities. One of the layout galleries I ran eventually reached over 100,000 views. I learned by taking apart other people’s code, figuring out how it worked, and making it my own.

I later studied Information Systems and moved into UX, which gave me a systems perspective for the visual instinct I started with.

Today, I see design as a lens for solving problems. Before deciding what something should look like, I want to understand what we’re actually solving for: what the product needs to achieve, where the business is going, and what user behavior we are encouraging.

I don’t believe good design is always the most beautiful design. A beautiful sofa doesn’t solve a street-food chair problem; a plastic chair doesn’t solve a luxury home problem. Good design is the right answer to the stated problem.

Sometimes that means pushing the craft, sometimes shipping the simplest thing that works, and sometimes challenging the premise entirely. To me, design should be context-appropriate, stage-appropriate, and outcome-driven.

Outside of design, I’m usually solo traveling, meeting new people, and paying attention to how cities, cultures, and communities shape the way people live.