Hi, I'm Mike.

I'm a UX designer and researcher with more than 25 years of experience aligning complex user needs with business goals. Lately that means conversational and agentic AI: chatbots and AI-assisted tools that let people get answers and get things done without waiting on a form, a ticket, or a person.

Most recently I was the UX lead for Nationwide's retirement services chatbot, which reaches more than 3 million plan participants. A weekly review of real member questions raised intent-recognition accuracy by 7% and cut escalations to live agents by hundreds per day. Before that, as a Staff UX Designer at The Home Depot, I designed an AI-assisted tool that replaced forms and service tickets for Cybersecurity requests, owning everything from research and interaction design to development orchestration. I also led service blueprinting sessions with 25+ stakeholders across seven departments.

Earlier roles in banking, automotive, agriculture technology, and enterprise software (Regions, Ally, Quontic, Nissan, Telus Agriculture, and others) taught me the same lesson in different industries: start with research, connect what you learn to business objectives, and stay involved through delivery. I began my career designing and building user interfaces, so I'm comfortable working shoulder to shoulder with engineers. I've also built a research team from a part-time effort into a group of four, mentored dozens of designers, and organize the Nashville UX Meetup, a community of 1,000+ members.