Profile
Design oriented leader with diversified experience leading multiple projects of various deliverables and deadlines. Excellent cross-functional collaboration up and down the management chain. Rooted in content creation but passionate about engineering technology and collaborating with creative people to make amazing things. Staying grounded with interests in music, outdoor activities, and DIY projects, I am always looking for the next opportunity to innovate!
Experience
APPLE INC. (June 2012 – Present)
- Incubation Design Manager, Maps Human Interface
- Team Mission:
- Research, develop and pursue new tech to help create exceptional end to end UX
- Investigate vendors and academic research to ensure maintenance of innovation and best practices in prototypes and products
- Cross-team resource for effective collaboration and product design/development
- Currently exploring new UI/UX patterns incorporating SwiftUI and Apple Intelligence
- Evaluating gaussian splatting and generative audio technologies for future maps experiences
- R&D: VisionPro HW and VisionOS for Maps
- First Native Maps app prototypes on 3rd Party HW via Unity, eventually recreating UX on VisionPro HW
- Authored and presented keynotes and prototypes to various stakeholders in Apple
- Researched and evaluated workflows into VisionPro for Stereo Video and Spatial Audio for Maps UX
- Experimented with 3D virtual reality interfaces and 2D traditional UI using SwiftUI/Xcode
- Key point of contact for VisionPro HW and maps demos
- PRODUCT: Flyover 3D photogrammetry
- Large Scale Production Pipeline Management for editing 3D & 2D data
- Embedded in Sweden for 3 weeks to learn pipeline and work alongside manual editing team
- Simultaneously recruited and trained team in Cupertino to eventual headcount of 50 directs
- Planned and tracked all internal schedules for teams via Atlassian JIRA development style
- Proposed and worked with Tools Engineering team to reduce inefficiencies
- Coaching, promotion, and disciplinary guidance for all contractors as needed
- Delivered all required cities for iOS 6 feature launch
- PRODUCT: Apple Park Walking Navigation Prototype for the Visually Impaired
- Created partnerships with Apple Accessibility team for guidance and sponsorship
- Initial UX design for Prototype on watchOS and iOS
- Solicited Apple University for marketing and promotional video production for creation of pitch deck
- Presented to Lisa Jackson, VP Environmental Policy/Social Initiatives, Deirdre O’Brien, VP of People
- PRODUCT: Apple Maps revamp for iOS 15
- Lead team to create Prototype of “NorthStar” maps vision product in Unit
- Assisted in the creation of synthetic data for testing before production data was available/ready
- Represented Hi Zoom Design in all X-functionals, advocated for various design initiatives
- Proposed and pitched various design details across the Maps organization
- Onboarding and vendor POC for contributing design agency
- PRODUCT: Apple Maps custom 3D landmark models
- Co-Designed look and feel for updated 3D landmarks including new Night mode look
- Recruited, hired team to build 3D asset production pipeline from concept to scaled production
- Documented all processes and trained initial contractors
- Sourced potential vendors for production work and drafted all SOW docs
- Onboarding and vendor POC, hosted monthly check in meetings for feedback
- PO requests, invoice reviewer and sign off for all invoices
- PRODUCT: Indoor Survey App for Indoor Wi-Fi positioning
- Created user flow, UI elements and interaction models for iOS Survey App
- Map visual design as feedback mechanism for continual improvement of operator interface
- Collaborated with copy writer for onboarding/first run messaging
- Hands on testing and eval of our own products in Apple Park and various locations
NAMCO/BANDAI NETWORKS (June 2009 – May 2012)
- Creative Director, Mobile Division
- Managed 13 visual designers & 3 sound designers in development of iOS, Android and Mobile titles
- Conducted personal reviews, one on ones and career goal planning for all team members
- Planned and tracked all schedules for teams via SCRUM/Agile development style
- Insured all internal and external projects met visual standard set by Apple group
- Designed and Created various UI/UX and in game assets from pre-production to final development
- Created production assets in Maya, 3DSMAX and Photoshop for various game titles
- Edited Marcom video projects for iOS and PC titles via Final Cut, After Effects and Motion
APPLE INC. (September 2005 – June 2009)
- Visual Designer/Art Manager, iPod/iPhone Games
- PRODUCTS: Apple’s Texas Hold ‘Em for iOS, Video iPod, various 3rd party titles including Tetris
- Designed various assets for iPhone/iPod games, marketing materials and iTunes Store
- Directed Video Blue Screen shoots for multiple video game characters
- Collaborated with development engineers to design & create prototypes for hardware demos
- Recruited, managed and provided work/career advice for summer interns
EXCELLENT GAME COMPANY (December 2002 – August 2003)
- Art Director
- Managed department budgeting, staffing and implemented production processes
- Documented all processes to use as future training tools
- Created Art Pipeline with technical lead for content creation into MMO game engine
- Designed concept and storyboard sketches for alternate game proposals
ELECTRONIC ARTS (March 1997 – December 2002)
- Lead 3D Artist/Technical Lead
- Organized and authored the review of modeling software saving over $100K in software costs
- Modeled and UV mapped 400 licensed and fictitious boxers, golfers, faces for in-game use
- Researched feasibility of facial expression animation through various model/animation tests
- Researched and co-authored Playstation2 modeling techniques document
Patents
- Secure Login With Authentication Based On A Visual Representation Of Data
- Serial No.: P37465US1 Filing Date: January 22, 2018
- Venues Map Application And System Providing Indoor Routing
- Serial No.: P34594US1 Filing Date: September 18, 2017
- Augmented Reality Interface for Facilitating Identification of Arriving Vehicle
- Serial No.: P34842US1 Filing Date: June 2, 2017
- Augmented Reality Interface for Interacting with Displayed Maps
- Serial No.: P34900US1 Filing Date: December 20, 2018
- Polygonal Routing
- Serial No.: P27506US1 Filing Date: March 30, 2017
- User Interfaces for Providing Navigation Directions
- Serial No.: P49222CND1 Filing Date: March 30, 2023
- User Interfaces for Supplemental Maps
- Serial No.: P56945USP2 Filing Date: June 1, 2022
Awards
D&AD (Design and Art Direction) 2022 Award Winner for Digital Design/Incremental iOS 15 Maps
Tools
3D• Autodesk Max, Autodesk Maya, Blender 2D• Photoshop, Illustrator, Keynote, PPT Dev• GitDesktop, Swift/SwiftUI
Post• Final Cut Pro, Motion, After Effects, Pro Tools Interactive• Unity 3D, Sketch, Flinto Maps• QGIS
Education
M.B.A., Double Emphasis in Marketing and Finance: University of San Francisco
Certificate Program, C Language Programming for Windows: UC Santa Cruz
B.A., Broadcast Communication: San Francisco State University