Product design leadership
I lead product design at Cartera.
When I joined, our main product was a shopping site. Now we help airlines, banks, and retailers bring rewards into the places their customers already shop. I built the design team as that work grew.
Based in New England. Nearly 20 years in design.
2017 to today
Helped take Cartera beyond hosted shopping sites
Six channels
Web, APIs, extensions, mobile SDKs, card-linked offers, and dining
Three designers
Started as the only product designer at Cartera
US and Europe
Led design in the US and from Berlin
How I work
Product direction
I help teams decide which parts of a product we can build once and where a partner or its customers need something different.
How teams work together
I hire and coach designers. I also work with product and engineering to get clear about who owns a decision and who should be in the room.
Working prototypes
If the question is what happens after someone clicks, I want people to be able to click it. That makes for a better review before engineering starts.
Leadership
What I’ve built beyond the product
Building a team
I started as Cartera’s only product designer. I hired and onboarded two designers and coached one through a promotion to Senior Product Designer.
Improving how teams work
I led the work to spell out where Product Design’s responsibilities begin and end. I also helped set standards for how we use AI in design work.
RakAbility Americas
I’m president of Rakuten’s disability employee resource group in the Americas. I lead the team, manage its budget, and work with leaders across Rakuten on accessibility and policy.
Selected Work
View All →From One Channel to a Loyalty Platform
I helped Cartera bring rewards beyond its shopping sites and into the apps, browsers, and stores where members already shop.
Building the Product Design Function
I started as Cartera’s only product designer. Here’s what changed when I hired two designers and we had to rethink how work moved between teams.
Care.com, from Boston to Berlin
I joined Care.com when it had about 30 people in Boston and later moved to Berlin to lead design in Europe.
Making Product Decisions with Working Prototypes
I built a working loyalty site with Claude in three days. It changed what we could ask in a design review.
About
I joined Care.com when it had about 30 people in Boston. I moved to Berlin to lead design in Europe after an acquisition. Today I lead Product Design at Cartera.
Working in Berlin changed how I think about consistency. I still ask a version of the same question at Cartera: does this need to work the same way everywhere, or are we overlooking something a local team knows?
I also serve as president of RakAbility Americas. Part of that work is getting accessibility issues in front of the people at Rakuten who can do something about them.
Based in
New England
Focus
Loyalty & travel rewards platforms
Leadership
President, RakAbility (Rakuten)
Currently
Building working prototypes with Claude
Let's talk
I'm interested in leading design for consumer products where I can stay close to the work as the product and team grow.
I'd be glad to talk about roles in consumer products, especially in travel, loyalty, financial services, or marketplaces.