I make complex systems
a little less ridiculous.
UX / PRODUCT DESIGNER · BEND, OREGON
I’m Jacob! I work where human-centered design, accessibility, and AI meet to turn “where do I even click?” into clear digital experiences for real people with real lives.
Modernizing a city’s digital services
(So residents can get what they need and get back to their lives.)
RECENT OUTCOMES
92% WCAG 2.1 AA conformance across core city sites
21% lift in users successfully finding what they came for
43% increase in online construction permit applications
Selected Work
Redesigning a City’s
Digital Front Door
How a new information architecture increased task success by 21%
Making City Services Actually Usable
Bringing municipal websites to 92% WCAG 2.1 AA conformance
Rethinking Construction Permitting Online
Redesigned application workflows to increase usage by 43%
How I think About Design
Good UX isn’t just about
pretty screens…
it’s about messy systems, stressed-out humans, and the tiny decisions that add up to
“this works” or “I’m giving up.”
I start with how people actually behave, not how the org chart says they should.
My work blends research, information architecture, systems thinking, and rapid experimentation to ship solutions that hold up in the real world.
My 3 Principles:
-
Get uncomfortably clear on user needs, constraints, and tradeoffs before reaching for shiny solutions. A better button won’t fix a broken policy.
-
Prototype early, test often, and watch what people actually do. If a resident can’t complete a task while juggling kids and dinner, it’s not done.
-
Treat AI and emerging tech as force multipliers, not replacements for judgment. I use AI to explore, synthesize, and move faster—then let humans decide what’s worth keeping.
WRITING
Notes on UX, AI, and the future (or at least the near future) of design.
ON SUBSTACK
I unpack lessons from real projects, experiments with AI-assisted workflows, and the uncomfortable gaps between how we say systems work and how people actually experience them.
RECENT POSTS:
You Don’t Need a Lab.
You Need a Person.
How one screen reader session rearranged my design brain.
Your Community Doesn’t Care… and that’s a Good Thing
Why equal representation isn’t the same as user-centered design.
The Jack-of-All-Trades Renaissance
How to use AI to seize the day (without losing the plot).
Start by mapping the problem space and who’s actually affected
Collaborate closely with engineers, SMEs, and stakeholders early (before anything is “too baked to change”)
Prototype quickly, test with real users, and iterate without ego
Use AI tools to explore options, stress-test ideas, and get to clarity faster
How I like to work.
How I use AI in my practice.
I think of AI as a really fast, occasionally overconfident collaborator. It’s great at compressing chaos into patterns, exploring options, and surfacing edge cases I might not spot on a first pass. I use it to move faster toward clarity—not to skip the hard parts of design.
-
I use AI to turn interviews, surveys, and support tickets into themes, journey maps, and “here’s what’s actually going wrong” summaries.
-
I ask AI to generate user scenarios, navigation attempts, and failure paths to spot where my IA or workflows might break under real-world behavior.
-
From alternate flows to UX copy drafts, I use AI to see multiple options quickly, then refine the ones that actually serve users and constraints.
-
AI helps convert research and design rationale into clearer narratives: one-pagers, user stories, and explain-it-to-me-like-a-human summaries.
HI, IT’S ME…JACOB 👋
A designer who cares about the whole system.
I’m a UX/product designer based in Bend, Oregon, working where human-centered design and emerging technology meet very real constraints. My path has wandered from LA studios working with brands like Sony and Subway, to modernizing public-sector digital services in Bend, Oregon. Outside of work, I’m a dad to two girls, an AI tinkerer, and a furniture designer who still believes physical objects have a lot to teach digital products.
Design is Everywhere
When I’m not untangling digital journeys, you might find me in the garage building furniture. Working with wood doesn’t lie: if the structure is off, the whole thing wobbles.
That physical sense of weight, balance, and interaction shapes how I think about digital usability, information architecture, and how people “lean on” the systems we build.
Let's Talk Design.
Let's Talk Design.
I’m always up for thoughtful conversations about design, technology, and making complex systems feel less intimidating for the people who have to use them. If something here resonates—whether it’s a case study, a metric, or a half-formed idea—feel free to reach out.