I grew up in metro Los Angeles and spent the next twenty years in Atlanta. After high school, I thought I wanted to make films, but settled for animation as a substitute for directing. A year in, I switched to graphic design as I found I was more interested in telling a story in a single frame than in hundreds of them spliced together.
I played in a few bands during those years. In 2021 I moved to Austin to be closer to the Apple campus.
Outside of design, I play guitar, and I write and produce music in a home studio. I collect old video games, mostly NES and Sega Genesis. I read comic books and watch a lot of horror movies, including some genuinely bad ones... but I kind of prefer it that way.
Design Philosophy
I design for the people who build the product rather than for the product itself. That's the strange thing about systems work: my users are designers and engineers, and the best sign I've done the job well is that nobody notices the system in what they ship.
System as infrastructure
The job is to make the good decision the cheap one and the bad decision the expensive one. If all a system does is document what teams have already built, it's a museum. It may be accurate and well lit, but not much help to anyone trying to get work done today.
Provide constraint
I'd rather hand someone twelve well-made components than unlimited freedom. Good constraints clear micro-decisions away so designers can spend what they have more important decisions.
Accessibility-first components
If accessibility is only considered at the end of a project, it's slow, expensive, and resented. Built into the component, it stops being a step anyone has to remember and is just how the thing works.
The system has to be legible to machines
Agents now write a growing share of the code that runs against a design system, and an agent can only follow what's actually written down. Intent that lives in a designer's head, or in a Figma file, or in the memory of whoever has been around the longest, may as well not exist. Documentation used to be a courtesy we extended to designers to validate against. Now it's necessary for AI.
Leadership Philosophy
As a design leader, my job is to clear the way and then get out of it. When a design team is stuck, it's rarely a talent problem. Usually nobody's certain what matters most or who gets to decide, and the work stalls in that gap.
Clarity before autonomy
Autonomy without a clear goal is just people guessing in parallel and hoping they converge. I try to be specific about the outcome we're after and the constraints we're working inside, then leave how we get there to the designers.
Critique is a habit
We share progress and critique weekly, and work shows up early and unfinished. A team that only shares polished work isn't getting feedback, and is often too late to change anything.
Celebrate the risks
If the only thing we celebrate is a launch, people learn to stop taking risks. So I call out the attempts that didn't work but taught us something, and celebrate those learnings with the team.
Translate design into the language of the business
Work that leadership can't evaluate is the first thing cut when budgets tighten. Part of my job is producing the numbers and the story that let someone outside design see what it's worth.
Reviews
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with talented colleagues across design, strategy, and technology, and their feedback speaks to the impact I strive to make. From usability and accessibility advocacy to leadership and communication, these reviews reflect the skills and qualities I aim to bring to every project.
“Leif was critical in the design of the Tabs component and was responsible for providing design and accessibility guidance. He took time to understand new accessibility guidelines, implement these requirements into the Tabs component design and ensured that the modifications met AX spec. Just one example of Leif's strong accessibility advocacy as well great design work.”
~ anonymous colleague, 2023
“Leif is a great teammate and design system leader. He's easy to talk to, has a positive attitude, and works well with others. He has a great eye for design, and knows how to collaborate with others. He's the first to admit when a topic is out of his area of expertise, and seeks input from others.”
~ anonymous colleague, 2022
“I definitely like having Leif on the team. He's very organized, creative, and down-to-earth. He understands what's really important, and puts people first. He's been a great leader, defining metrics for team success and setting the direction for the team.”
~ anonymous colleague, 2022
“Collaborating with Leif has been a pleasure! When tackling Strategy, Guidance, and Research program metrics, I appreciated Leif’s learner approach to a challenge he wasn’t very familiar with. Though we have some work to go in this area, Leif was able to bring his unique vision, storytelling, humor, and design expertise to build a foundation for our program metrics that we can grow with.”
~ anonymous colleague, 2022
“Leif is an outstanding communicator. He has really grown into his role as product owner, which requires him to deliver updates to various levels of leadership as well as communicate priorities to the team. He skillfully tailors his message to his audience and always manages to strike the right balance of context and detail."
~ anonymous colleague, 2022
"Leif’s ability to provide expert feedback with a sense of levity is a true skill I admire. This super power ability helps break down barriers that would otherwise prevent product teams from taking in the design expert’s valuable feedback and guidance.”
~ anonymous colleague, 2022
“It's been amazing watching Leif step into his role as Product Owner. He appears to really be in his element helping to define priorities & strategies for the design system. He is exceptional at communicating at all of the altitudes necessary in this role, whether it's at the highest strategic roadmapping level or down in the weeds discussing the mechanics of Sketch symbols."
~ anonymous colleague, 2021
“I greatly appreciate Leif's friendly , pragmatic, and positive attitude. He has fit in so well with the team that it's hard to believe he's only been with us for a year. Leif has added a welcome air of levity to our meetings that has made everyday work more fun.”
~ anonymous colleague, 2021