What 18 years in enterprise UX taught me about clarity

I didn't start as a designer. I started writing enterprise documentation. Watching users struggle with workflows that nothing connected.

That turned out to be the real job. And I've spent eighteen years there.

Foundation (2007–2010)

Early years writing enterprise documentation. Learned that user struggles aren't visual problems — they're clarity problems. Most things are hard to follow because the structure underneath is wrong.

Expansion (2010–2015)

Senior IC across SaaS, FinTech, Healthcare. Started moving from writing about products to shaping how they work. Saw how systems break at scale.

Leadership (2015–2020)

First UX leadership roles. Discovered something most leaders don't say out loud: the unglamorous infrastructure work — review cycles, intake models, content standards — is what actually compounds.

Strategy (2020–2023)

PowerSchool. 40+ products. Restructured roles, introduced review cycles, tied UX to outcomes. 57% support call reduction. 30% rework cut. Not because we redesigned screens — because we fixed flows.

Direction (2024–present)

Designing AI-assisted enterprise workflows. 15-24% productivity gains through intelligent task flows. Coaching the next layer of leaders.

Different decade. Same throughline: clarity in complex systems.

The role keeps changing. The work doesn't.