Hands-on design director, collaborating with co-founders and leadership to define product vision, and I work with teams to bring that vision to life.

About me

I grew up in a small town on the Maine coast. I started writing JS and HTML when I was 15 – I loved it; there was always something new to explore. This continued into high school, college, and beyond.

When I'm not working, I'm out on the water fishing, taking photos, or outdoors with my dog, Maicy.

Approach

Shared Vision

Crafting product vision requires constant alignment and iteration to steer towards the mission.

Agile and Efficient

I prioritize quick iterations and cross-team collaboration to bring product visions to life—fast but thoughtfully.

Transparent Communication

Delivering work happens with everyone aligned and onboard. I share early and often.

Put pen to paper

I work quickly to bring ideas to life, always keeping the team in the loop.

System Thinking

I connect the dots to create predictable, seamless experiences, whether for a feature or an entire ecosystem.

Solution Exploration

I'm committed to imagination and experimentation – not afraid to pivot to find the best solution.

My Journey

2008-2012

Freelance

Self-teaching and getting my feet wet

  • Learned front-end development and design foundations.

  • Learned how to run a design shop.

  • Designed and implemented websites and applications for clients.

2012-2015

MojoTech

Growth and working with teams

  • Worked with industries such as pharma, home automation to concept and create POC to experiment with new ideas and verticals.

  • Designed, implemented, and validated ideas.

2014-2017

thoughtbot

Honing my craft

  • I collaborated with startups, transforming ideas into market-ready products. From clickable prototypes to MVP launches

  • Learned to conduct design sprints finding market fit and concept validation – 0 to 1

2017-NOW

Robin

Craft at scale

  • Expanded my experience to a series C company and built an 8-person design organization.

  • Responsible for the entire experience across all platforms and products.

  • Drove product vision, concepts, and strategic initiatives.

  • Contributed to design delivery across many product lines.

  • Led design efforts enabling the business to sell to enterprise cutomers.

See more about my experience

Specialty areas and what I love to do

Prototype and test early – I believe in crafting through prototyping to de-risk, explore, and talk to users.

Building 0 → 1 – I spent years working from concept to product delivery with early-stage start-ups.

Product Vision – Help answer: Where are we going? Craft a vision that guides product development from inception to delivery.

Product Strategy – Help answer: How do we get there? Every vision needs a clear and shared product strategy so teams have context.

Storytelling – Bring the entire organization along for the ride. Whether customer-facing roadmap deck, vision, or pitch. Let the story do the work.

Sweat the details – When the time comes, I love to dive into UI direction, interactions, and fine-tuning. The software can be functional and pleasing.

Hands-on design director, collaborating with co-founders and leadership to define product vision, and I work with teams to bring that vision to life.

About me

I grew up in a small town on the Maine coast. I started writing JS and HTML when I was 15 – I loved it; there was always something new to explore. This continued into high school, college, and beyond.

When I'm not working, I'm out on the water fishing, taking photos, or outdoors with my dog, Maicy.

Approach

Shared Vision

Crafting product vision requires constant alignment and iteration to steer towards the mission.

Agile and Efficient

I prioritize quick iterations and cross-team collaboration to bring product visions to life—fast but thoughtfully.

Transparent Communication

Delivering work happens with everyone aligned and onboard. I share early and often.

Put pen to paper

I work quickly to bring ideas to life, always keeping the team in the loop.

System Thinking

I connect the dots to create predictable, seamless experiences, whether for a feature or an entire ecosystem.

Solution Exploration

I'm committed to imagination and experimentation – not afraid to pivot to find the best solution.

My Journey

2008-2012

Freelance

Self-teaching and getting my feet wet

  • Learned front-end development and design foundations.

  • Learned how to run a design shop.

  • Designed and implemented websites and applications for clients.

2012-2015

MojoTech

Growth and working with teams

  • Worked with industries such as pharma, home automation to concept and create POC to experiment with new ideas and verticals.

  • Designed, implemented, and validated ideas.

2014-2017

thoughtbot

Honing my craft

  • I collaborated with startups, transforming ideas into market-ready products. From clickable prototypes to MVP launches

  • Learned to conduct design sprints finding market fit and concept validation – 0 to 1

2017-NOW

Robin

Craft at scale

  • Expanded my experience to a series C company and built an 8-person design organization.

  • Responsible for the entire experience across all platforms and products.

  • Drove product vision, concepts, and strategic initiatives.

  • Contributed to design delivery across many product lines.

  • Led design efforts enabling the business to sell to enterprise cutomers.

See more about my experience

Specialty areas and what I love to do

Prototype and test early – I believe in crafting through prototyping to de-risk, explore, and talk to users.

Building 0 → 1 – I spent years working from concept to product delivery with early-stage start-ups.

Product Vision – Help answer: Where are we going? Craft a vision that guides product development from inception to delivery.

Product Strategy – Help answer: How do we get there? Every vision needs a clear and shared product strategy so teams have context.

Storytelling – Bring the entire organization along for the ride. Whether customer-facing roadmap deck, vision, or pitch. Let the story do the work.

Sweat the details – When the time comes, I love to dive into UI direction, interactions, and fine-tuning. The software can be functional and pleasing.

Ryan Coughlin

→ Mainer, Designer, and Fly Fishing Fanatic

Ryan Coughlin

Mainer, Designer, and Fly Fishing Fanatic