Hi, I'm Sam, an independent design engineer.
I work directly with founders of data-heavy B2B startups building product, with experience across AI, B2B SaaS, healthcare, agriculture, weather, autonomous vehicles, food systems, and higher education.
I've also worked as a design leader, engineer, product manager, and startup advisor. My degree is in Human-Computer Interaction.
Originally from the Philadelphia area, I'm now based in New York City.
Selected projects
Spooky · 2025–present · Solo founder
- An AI agent that builds professional brands, websites, and sales materials
Precip · 2023–2025 · Co-founder
- Machine learning for hyper-local weather observation in agriculture, insurance, and other weather-dependent industries
- Y Combinator winter 2024 batch
- Responsible for designing and building the product
- Reached #3 in App Store weather category
- 100,000+ downloads
Shuffleboard · 2019–2023 · Founder
- Founder and sole designer/engineer
- A brainstorming tool for remote teams
- I filmed its design and development and published the process on YouTube — read the article, or watch the videos
FarmLogs · 2012–2017 · First hire and design director
- Precision agriculture data platform
- Hired during the Y Combinator batch
- An operating system for agriculture
- We built the first web-based platform for managing precision agriculture fertilizer prescriptions
- Grew from 3 to 80 people and raised $40MM
- Downloaded by 1/3 of American farmers
- Acquired in 2022
Introduction to Product design · 2015–2017 · Co-creator
- I taught a popular design course at the University of Michigan
- Our students went on to become designers at Google, Asana, Microsoft, and other high-growth tech companies
Articles
We need better ways to manage human intent
Maintaining long-term integrity in our AI systems
Tips for getting LLMs to write good UI
Best practices for coding design systems with AI
Know your bias before you build
How your job title makes you susceptible to bad product decisions
What to do when you’re stuck on a design
Things to try when you’re out of ideas
The books I recommend to designers
What to read when you’re learning
How to spot raw design talent
The four least-teachable traits of great designers
I built a startup and filmed every minute on Youtube. Here’s what I learned.
It was hard, but working in public helped me keep momentum and ship
How to prioritize features on your product roadmap Coming soon
10 ways to decide what features are important—and which are distractions
Four levels of founder sophistication Coming soon
Attitudes of successful product leaders
Should I hire a full-time designer? Coming soon
Four ways to hire full-time and part-time designers
Design is mostly about emphasis Coming soon
11 ways to make the important stuff STAND OUT
Engineering concepts every designer should know Coming soon
Required knowledge for anyone who designs software
Feedback 101 Coming soon
How to give and receive productive critique
Good, bad, and horrible reasons to build a feature Coming soon
Prioritizing a successful product roadmap
Hard-won lessons for junior designers Coming soon
What talented designers struggle with when they join teams
How to tell if a design is good Coming soon
When “I know what I like” is not good enough
Obvious vs. fast Coming soon
Should your features to be easy to learn, or fast to use?
Managing startup employees made simple Coming soon
A roles exercise to help you create happy, high performing teams
Products vs tools Coming soon
We call ourselves product designers... but what is a “product” exactly?
Six stages of design teams Coming soon
How design teams grow from scratch to support large startups and beyond
How to run a simple usability test Coming soon
The only way to know if a design is any good
Why your company still has bad design Coming soon
Five tough truths for executives — and three steps they can take to make things better
What design leaders do Coming soon
14 hats you wear as a design leader, design manager, or design executive
Tips for working with founders Coming soon
Why I love working directly with founders, and lessons I’ve learned along the way
Books
Going indie: running a small creative business Coming soon
A practical guide to building independent work that can last.
How to talk to users: usability testing 101 Coming soon
A practical guide to learning from the people who use your product.