How to talk to users
A founder-friendly guide to learning from usability tests and conversations with users.
I'm an independent design partner for growth-stage startups.
Whether it's fractional design leadership or full-scale agentic design systems, I'm here to support your team with great design through your next phase of growth.
My approach
I've been working with startups for 20 years to make their products simple, beautiful, modern, and easy to use.
I specialize in:
The key to lasting great UX is building systems that support design as your company scales.
I help the people closest to your users make better design decisions and ship with confidence.
This usually involves:
A founder-friendly guide to learning from usability tests and conversations with users.
A practical checklist for hiring a designer who fits your product, team, and stage.
A short assessment to help you decide whether a design partnership is the right next move for your company.
A rubric for determining the health of your team’s design function.
A quick introduction to the basics of UX design and design theory.
Services
My fractional design feedback and leadership service.
For teams where engineers own the product but need senior design support.
Billed as a flat monthly retainer
Explore design advisoryMy full-scale, hands-on, complete product design service.
Best for teams who need a solid design foundation and a full design system to scale.
Billed as a single, all-inclusive fee
Explore product designTestimonials
“I’m Frodo, and Sam’s my Gandalf. I’m so grateful to have Sam on this project, I don’t know where I would be without him (probably pulling my hair out). If you’re struggling with a big design project, my advice is this: get yourself a Sam.”
Art Director, Ithaka/JSTOR; previously JSTOR
“Sam is a UX god. We were blown away by how quickly he broke down our complex goals into a simple, beautiful, intuitive design. Not only did we launch an awesome product on time, but the work went way above and beyond our expectations. He taught us a ton about building great products, and he laid the foundation for our engineers to keep building great designs. Our only regret is that we didn’t book more of his time!”
CEO and co-founder, Voxel51 A.I. Platform
“We brought Sam in to polish our web app’s design, expecting him to simply tidy up the rough edges. He did that brilliantly, freeing our team to move faster while keeping the bar high. What we didn’t expect was that his UX workshop for our engineers would become one of the most valuable investments we’ve made. Our team now instinctively thinks about user experience as they build.”
Cofounder/CTO, Paid.ai; previously Palantir
“Sam is an incredibly talented product designer and coach. He was instrumental in helping FarmLogs design a product and brand that quickly became recognized for our ease of use, igniting years of rapid growth for our company.”
CEO and co-founder, FarmLogs; YC alumnus
Choose a time for a free intro call to talk through what growth requires next.