At Topaz I direct design across our range of AI-powered photo and video tools.
Topaz Labs
I currently serve as the Director of Product Design at Topaz Labs, where I’ve led the transformation of a desktop-only software company into a successful multi-million dollar business with web and mobile solutions. My role spans across our entire product line of AI-powered photo and video enhancement tools.
Creating a multi-million dollar web/mobile business
When I joined Topaz, the company was focused exclusively on desktop software. Recognizing the shifting landscape of digital photography and the growing importance of mobile workflows, I spearheaded the initiative to expand our product offerings to web and mobile platforms. This strategic move has generated new revenue streams and significantly expanded our user base.
I architected the user experience for our cloud services, mobile applications, and web interfaces, ensuring a cohesive experience across all touchpoints while maintaining the powerful capabilities that professional users expect.
Building and shipping production code
At Topaz, I believe in hands-on leadership. I personally contribute production code regularlly across our products. This practical coding experience gives me credibility with engineering teams and allows me to make informed decisions about technical feasibility and implementation approaches.
Our Photo AI, Video AI, and Gigapixel products are used by millions of customers worldwide, from professional photographers and videographers to everyday enthusiasts. I take pride in not just designing these experiences but testing them and contributing directly to the code that powers them.
Creating effective teams from within
One of my proudest achievements at Topaz has been building our product design team organically. I started in an individual contributor role and was promoted to Director based on my performance and vision for the team. Rather than bringing in outside talent exclusively, I’ve identified and developed internal team members with potential, creating growth paths forward.
This approach has resulted in a highly collaborative team that deeply understands our users and technology. We’ve established design processes and a tight-knit collaboration process with our engineers, that allow us to work at extremely rapid pace while maintaining high quality standards.
AI image processing innovation
Our tools leverage cutting-edge AI to solve complex image and video processing challenges. I lead the design of these sophisticated workflows, making them accessible to both professional and consumer users. Whether it’s noise reduction, upscaling, or enhancement of archival footage, we’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with computational photography and videography.
The AI components of our products require particular attention to user experience design - creating interfaces that provide appropriate control while abstracting unnecessary complexity, and establishing trust with clear explanations of how the technology works.
Photo AI, Video AI, Gigapixel
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