Creative technologist. New Yorker. Probably cooking.

* all of my best work is the combined effort of great teams.

About me

Current status

I’m a senior editor at The Atlantic and on the board of directors for The Society for News Design.

Recent work

My work

The New York Times, 2017-2020

The Times brought me on to reimagine what an R&D team could look like within a modern newsroom. We explored how emerging technologies can be applied in service of journalism working with companies such as Google, IBM, and Meta to build real-world tools for journalists. While there I started a college mentorship program before pivoting during the early pandemic to apply machine learning to aid reporters.

Vox.com, 2014-2017

I co-founded Vox.com, drawing the original sketches on a napkin and hand coded the initial site daily. I worked closely with journalists and editors to design and build better storytelling tools including open source applications used by thousands of organizations.

“The difference is that Vox is open to experimentation, it demands rapid iteration, and it puts technology-shaping people on par with word-shaping people. The difference is that, in many traditional newsrooms, changing the UI on a page … would have taken multiple meetings where the tech side’s knowledge would likely have been undervalued. It’s a corporate ethos and a permission structure that means good ideas don’t have to get bottled up. It’s being the kind of place that would build Chorus in the first place. That is Vox’s edge, and you can’t buy that off the shelf.” — Nieman Lab

The Washington Post, 2011-2014

At the Post, as User Experience director I led the charge to merge product teams into the newsroom where we rebuilt all platforms with a focus on innovation, including the commercially successful CMS Arc, an app for fact checking live video in real time, and Know More, which became the top vertical in three weeks.

Gannett, USA Today, 2008-2010

I was the lead designer on a multi-year project to redesign and create a unified design system for more than 200 local newspaper, broadcast, and radio stations.

Philosophy

  1. Do great work with great people: Work on projects worth working on with teams worth working for. Organizations are design documents.
  2. Document and share everything: Sharing documentation says you believe everyone has something to contribute and gives people the knowledge to do so.
  3. Invest in support: Every person helping another person has a multiplier effect. Support allows us to focus on our strengths while improving each other.
  4. Focus on your Cs before your Ps: Put collaboration, communication, and community before processes, products, and plans. Culture is your product.
  5. Small teams get stuff done: The best products happen when multi-disciplinary teams are empowered and trusted to work together. The most important work comes from the bottom.
  6. Ship fast, and iterate faster: Shipping is the beginning. The next steps are the most important, when we take the time to listen, learn, and improve.
  7. Take care of each other, and yourself: Nothing happens without us. If we’re not healthy we can’t help each other. We burn out alone or we spark together.

Speaking

I’m always open to speaking opportunities. I give talks on emerging technologies, the intersection of product and media, design thinking, organizational design, and workplace culture. Previously, I’ve presented at TedX Poynter, WordCamp USA, Society for News Design, and Online News Association.

Mentions

Side projects

Freelance

Interested in working together? Send me a note — especially if it involves news or food. I’ve worked with organizations including The New York Times, Stanford d.school, and Dagens Nyheter, on design and development, editorial strategy, and emerging technologies.