Method & Process
Let's get under the hood.
✨ Welcome to the Power of Design Thinking
As a designer, I’m constantly asked to explain my creative rationale—to clients, stakeholders, and fellow designers. And honestly? That’s a huge part of the job. Design isn’t just about making things look good—it’s about creating solutions, backed by logic, empathy, and a solid framework for collaboration. Over time, I realized something important: not everyone is a visual thinker. Many people process information analytically, and they want context and clarity to better understand design decisions. Totally fair!
The good news? There is meaning behind the madness.
So, I created this page to share a peek into the methods and principles I personally use. Every designer works differently—but these are the tools, thought processes, and flexible systems I lean on. Some clients like to skip around in this process (and that’s okay!). It's not rigid—just a framework that supports smarter, more efficient design.
🌍 Top Brands Are Doing It—And You Can Too
Here’s a not-so-secret... secret: The world’s most innovative companies—Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Airbnb, BMW, Lego (to name a few)—all use Design Thinking to stay ahead. Why? Because it works. When done right, it leads to smarter products, happier users, and major gains for businesses.
💗 Step 1: Empathy Is Everything
Design thinking starts by understanding who we’re designing for and why they need it. We dig into wants, needs, intentions, and expectations—on both the user and business side. A good designer knows how to ask the right questions. A great one uses those answers to create results-driven designs that bridge user needs with business goals. Empathy isn’t optional—it’s essential.
🔍 Step 2: Define the Challenge
Once we’ve gathered insights, it’s time to define the problem in a human-centered way. This stage helps us identify key features, functionality, and pain points we need to address. By clarifying the challenge, we create a solid foundation to brainstorm and build from—ensuring every step forward is meaningful.
💡 Step 3: Let’s Ideate
Now the real fun begins. This is where ideas fly. We explore the problem space, brainstorm, and challenge assumptions. Ideation is about volume first—casting a wide net before narrowing down. It’s how we move from “what needs to be done” to “how we’re going to do it.”
This is the stage where sparks turn into strategy.
🧪 Step 4: Bring It to Life
With a solid plan, we begin manifesting solutions. That might look like sitemaps, wireframes, prototypes—whatever it takes to bring the vision into a tangible format.
These prototypes are tested, refined, challenged, and evolved until we arrive at the strongest solution possible. Flexibility is key here—it’s all about what works for the user.
✅ Step 5: Test Like You Mean It
Testing is where everything comes together—or falls apart (and that’s okay).
This is our opportunity to spot usability roadblocks, learn from real users, and validate that we’re on the right track. It’s an iterative process, helping us refine the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and evolve toward success—both for the user and the business.
🧠 A Gestalt-Driven Design Approach
Let’s talk brain science. Many of the methods I use stem from Gestalt Principles—psychological insights into how humans naturally group, prioritize, and assign meaning to what they see. Good design isn’t just pretty. It taps into the way the mind works. Want to test your designer? Ask them to name one Gestalt Principle and explain it. If they can’t... well, maybe find someone who can.
I’d love to walk you through the principles I use and how they shape my design process. It’s all part of building smarter, more intuitive experiences.
A Gestalt-Driven
Approach to Design
Without overwhelming you, here is a broad listing of more of the design methods, principles or rationale that I personally use with my design approach. Some of these methods utilize the studies and findings from 'Gestalt Principles' that are related to cognitive psychology and the way that the human mind connects pieces to create structure, groupings and biased meaning in the world. A good designer will understand the underlying principles as to how a human brain perceives the world. Here is a good test, ask a designer to name just one Gestalt Principle and then have them describe what that principle means. If they can't, well, you might want to find one that can if you want to trust them with your projects. I would be more than happy to discuss any of the listed items below and how they relate to my design approach. (not in any specific order)
Structuralism / Similarity / Proximity / Symmetry / Continuity / Perception / Common Region / Closure / Connectedness / Synchrony / Invariance / Cognitive Load / Mental Models / Rule Interpreting / Reductionism / Relevancy / Scanability / Design Systems / Brand Consistency / Look & Feel / Data Chunking / Content Consumption / Direction Awareness / Responsive Enabling / UX Empowerment / Accessibility ADA / User Journey / WCAG Audits / Task Progress / Appropriate Contrast / Hierarchical Content / Color Psychology / Skeuomorphism & Flat Design / Feedback Loops / Prioritization / Focused Decoding / Affordances / Pattern Recognition / Predictive & Associative Relation / Call-to-Action (CTA) / Minimalism / Engaging Captivation / Elegant Solutions / Success Rates / Validation Feedback / The 3 'F's of Design / The 3 'P's of Design Productivity
Designing for the mind.
Simplicity = Sanity
In a world of constant change, we often have just a split second to make sense of what we’re seeing before we interact with it. That’s why visual design isn’t just important—it’s essential. We rely on our visual systems to instantly interpret objects, meaning, and intent. In that instant, our brains are scanning for what matters most to us in that moment.
So what’s doing all the heavy lifting behind the scenes? That’s right—the brain.
Through my background in Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and Gestalt Cognitive Psychology, I’ve come to a powerful realization: I’m not just designing for people—I’m designing for neurological beings. My true end-user is the brain. And when it comes to solving complex design challenges—especially on the web—I rely on two key tools: Reductionism and Gestalt Principles.
Put simply, I focus on distilling complexity into clarity. I start by defining the most simplified version of an idea, then build upward to create intuitive structure and recognizable groupings. Why? Because people value simplicity they can relate to. One of the most important roles I play as a designer is bringing clarity through thoughtful, purpose-driven visual language.
A great example of reductionist thinking in practice is Brad Frost’s Atomic Design framework—where systems are broken down into smaller, reusable components to build consistent, scalable design.
Why focus so much on simplicity? Because every user comes with limited mental bandwidth—what we call cognitive load. A good design doesn’t overwhelm. It guides.
By using hierarchy, prioritization, and clean composition, I help users get the high-level overview they need while making it easy to dive deeper when they’re ready.
Minimalism often plays a supporting role—but it’s not about stripping things away until they’re sterile. It’s about achieving a balance that feels modern, engaging, and accessible. The goal? To keep attention active, reduce friction, and create a design experience that’s as intuitive as it is enjoyable.
Because great design doesn’t just look good—it thinks smart, too.