ABOUT ME
Hi I’m Zach! I’m a design engineer who brings a product manager’s judgment to everything I design and build. Before I open Figma or write any code, I want to know who the work is for, what problem it solves, and what success looks like. In fact, I even write PRDs for myself to sort out project priorities and requirements. I’ve worked as a PM, a designer, and an engineer, and the best work I’ve done came from using skills from each discipline.
Right now I design and build responsive full-stack websites for theatrical productions and creative agencies. Before that, I interned on the product team at Dow Jones, where I drove a major feature and the first AI-enabled feature to production for Dow Jones’ B2B product suite. I also spent eight months as a Product Manager at The Boston Globe
I earned a master’s in Experience Design from Northeastern University, after graduating Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor’s in Computer Science and Design. That interdisciplinary skill set is the foundation of how I work. It covers experience design theory, interaction design, full-stack software engineering, and in-depth research methods.
In my spare time, I love discovering new music, watching baseball, and catching a Broadway show (don’t ask me how many times I’ve seen Operation Mincemeat and Just In Time)
PROJECTS
Making the arts more accessible in Boston
We created an app called “around town” to encourage discovery in the arts with events that are happening around town. Our system turns the experience of finding local activities into a social experience that gets more people into the arts in Boston.
Why doesn't Broadway recoup? (From a producer's perspective)
I take a design systems approach to the Broadway system and attempt to answer why Broadway shows have a hard time recouping their investment.
Bringing constructivist learning to an AI-powered canvas
The AI whiteboard is a digital whiteboarding tool with a built-in constructivist AI that can only guide students to the answer, but physically interact with the canvas itself.
Building the first AI-enabled feature for Dow Jones NewsPlus
The company information module is a NewsPlus feature that provides information and statistics about a company. I designed the interface, an AI summary of each company, and added news filters to drive users to editorial content in the newswire.
Creating the playbill and program for a licensed theater production
I created the playbill and digital program for a licensed production of Merrily We Roll Along, produced by Boston University On Broadway.
(Re)designing an existing experience for a new audience
Fantasy Sportsball is a new card game where you compete with your friends to see who can best predict what will happen this upcoming Super Bowl — commercials and all.
Creating a digital product to drive interest in a 50 year old institution
Catalog8H is a social cataloging tool (think Letterboxd) for SNL sketches. I created a high-fidelity digital prototype, brand system, and component library.
Investigating the impacts of design on the journalistic process
Pitch is a design kit made up of cards that provide journalists with a structured brainstorming method for story ideas.