Howdy, I’m Brent
A design leader with 25+ years of experience helping organizations turn ambiguity into clear, human-centered digital services. I grow and lead high-performing design teams across time zones, aligning craft, strategy, and delivery.
I champion accessible and equitable experiences, guiding teams with empathy, to design human-centered solutions that are thoughtful, considerate and work for everyone.
What I do
My approach
Informed by decades of real-world problem-solving, my work has always been rooted in user-centered design, long before it became a formal discipline. Whether partnering with enterprise organizations, scrappy startups, or small businesses, I focus on cutting through ambiguity to deliver meaningful results.
What makes my experience different
I specialize in bringing design strategy and systems connectedness out of the abstract and into practical reality, through my neurodivergence in ways that others don’t see.
Areas of expertise
Best Working Conditions
Strengths
Challenges
Feedback loops
Informed by decades of real-world problem-solving, my work has always been rooted in user-centered design, long before it became a formal discipline. Whether partnering with enterprise organizations, scrappy startups, or small businesses, I focus on cutting through ambiguity to deliver meaningful results.
What makes my experience different
I specialize in bringing design strategy and systems connectedness out of the abstract and into practical reality, through my neurodivergence in ways that others don’t see.
- From Zero-to-One product builds to the thoughtful integration of responsible AI
- Leading and scaling design systems to modernize legacy enterprise services
Areas of expertise
- Design ops and human capital
- Product strategy and transformation
- Digital service modernization
- Creative excellence
- Scaled agile delivery
- U.S. federal government
Best Working Conditions
- I work best when I can front-load meetings, then focus the rest of the day on delivery
- Intermittent dedicated time to converge with team members on the project at hand
- Timeboxed work mode: Let's set up ad-hoc short meetups in a day vs one weekly
Strengths
- Did somebody say design systems?
- Egoless design philosophy
- Breaking solios and sharing knowledge
- Learn best through applied learning
Challenges
- I’m not an early bird, more of a night owl ☕️
- Writing is hard— when I’m focused on writing, I need a quiet space, so I’ll pause Slack notifications to tune things out
- Reading dense documentation
Feedback loops
- Direct constructive feedback helps me grow and reflect
- Clearly stating the type of feedback upfront helps me prepare
- Egoless craft, I value honesty over kindness
- Open communication is essential for our collective success
What I like to do outside of work
I enjoy traveling, drawing, making fancy coffee and spending time with my partner and our two little fur babies, Finnick and Fezzic. Also, Beekeeping, Fly Fishing, book publishing and organizing local meetup events for Spokane UX
- 153Designers mentored
- 14Countries traveled to and counting
- 7.6 TBPhotos taken
- 8 booksI'm also an indi book publisher
Some nice words from people I've worked with
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Brent has significantly improved team collaboration and design quality. Before he joined, design handoffs often lacked context around design decisions. By involving engineers earlier in the design process, he has encouraged valuable feedback, leading to more refined designs and fewer mid-sprint changes.
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Having benefited from his leadership and coaching abilities firsthand, I can confidently say any organization would be fortunate to have Brent in a strategic leadership role where he can continue to shape both product vision and team development.
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Our UX manager is in need of someone with a design systems background who is comfortable discussing CSS and HTML, and is also a good communicator.
I really enjoyed working with you and was hoping you could help us out.
I really enjoyed working with you and was hoping you could help us out.
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We needed to create trust with the users using the CMS Design System, help the client understand the benefits of Design System use, and audit and create consistent components that focused on accessibility.
Brent was key in all these different challenges we faced. He is a natural at moderating workshops and communicating to clients which helped increase Design System adoption.
Brent was key in all these different challenges we faced. He is a natural at moderating workshops and communicating to clients which helped increase Design System adoption.