Hi, I’m Rick
My Work
Experience
2025 — 2026
Founding Product Designer
- Established the foundations of the company's design system to improve consistency, scalability, and collaboration across product and engineering teams.
- Mapped and refined key user journeys across the platform to identify friction points and improve workflow efficiency.
- Reduced cognitive load within complex operational workflows through clearer UX patterns, information hierarchy, and interaction design.
- Facilitated ideation and product discovery sessions with stakeholders, product leadership, and engineers to align on solutions and priorities.
- Collaborated closely with engineering teams to define and deliver MVP solutions balancing user needs, technical feasibility, and business goals.
2024 — 2025
Software Engineer
- Consolidated components used in the products core functionality
- Improved feature consistency across the platform
- Implemented improvements to onboarding process for new users
- Creating and maintaining landing page components for the marketing team
2022 — 2024
Head of Product Design & Product Manager — Mobile Apps
- Increased engineering productivity by over 15% by simplifying and restructuring the ticketing process
- Identifying potential features and improvements to grow mobile app usage
- Coordinating with all key stakeholders across the business
- Manage engineering resource availability
- Mobile app roadmap
2018 — 2022
Head of Product Design
- Implemented new design processes resulting in a 25% increase in team efficiency
- Designed the mobile account setup to tailor content to the user's preferences resulting in a 40% for week 4 retention on both iOS and Android apps
- Product managed and product designed mobile specific features, like draw, RSS feeds, and accessibility which increased iOS MAU by over 300% and Android MAU by over 700%
- Introduced new features like templates, spaces, account set up, new collection layouts, and more, growing the MAU across all products from 500K to 6.1M from 2019 to 2022
- Identified new opportunities and implemented into the company roadmap
- Align and improve the company brand/design system across all products
- Coordinated with key stakeholders in all departments
2011 — 2018
Founding Product Designer & Frontend Developer
- Sole UX/UI designer for all products (web, mobile apps, and extensions)
- Built the company's first design system for products
- Identified product market fit within education and tailored all products for educators and students growing the MAU from 0 to 500K
- Roadmap planning
- Sole HTML & CSS developer
- Coordination across the engineering and marketing team
Software
Tech
A bit about me
Designer · Coder · Entrepreneur · Author · Podcaster
With nearly two decades of experience in product design, front-end development, product management, and operations, I specialise in:
- Creating intuitive, inclusive user experiences
- Aligning product strategy with long-term goals
- Strengthening internal operations to boost efficiency and reduce risk
- Identifying and solving process bottlenecks that slow teams down
Being neurodivergent (dyslexic), I'm passionate about accessibility, equity, and designing solutions that work for all, especially those often overlooked. I've co-authored a book with ISTE, co-founded a platform used by millions, and bring a deep understanding of what it takes to move from idea to implementation in the fast-evolving world.
My thoughts
On Paper
Today's Learners, Tomorrow's Leaders
Published 2025
Every learner has the potential to be a leader - both inside and outside of the classroom. With this grounding principle in mind, this book guides middle and high school educators in incorporating student entrepreneurship and leadership into curriculum, fostering the skills students need to become proactive, socially responsible and versatile individuals equipped for academic achievement and prepared for lifelong success in a rapidly evolving world.
In Audio
The Play Ed3 Podcast
2025 - Present
Play Ed3 is a podcast for educators, leaders, and lifelong learners who believe education should inspire curiosity, creativity, and confidence. Hosted by Tisha Poncio and I, each episode explores the ideas, challenges, and innovations shaping the future of learning. From classroom strategies and leadership to technology, neurodiversity, and the stories behind remarkable educators, every conversation is designed to spark new thinking and provide practical takeaways you can use right away. Whether you're in the classroom, leading a school, supporting teachers, or simply passionate about education, Play Ed3 is a place to learn, reflect, and grow together—one conversation at a time.
Presenting
- Designing Learning for All Minds ISTE + ASCD · 2026
- The Confidence Loop for Teachers and Students: Create, Reflect, Lead ISTE + ASCD · 2026
- Today's Learners, Tomorrow's Leaders LinkedUp · 2026
- Guest ThriveinEDU · 2025
- Digital Portfolios, Feedback Culture, and Rethinking Readiness My EdTech Life · 2025
- More Than a Showcase: Digital Portfolios for Personal Growth and Learning ISTE + ASCD · 2025
- Creativity is the Assessment ISTE + ASCD - WeVideo Booth · 2025
- Supporting Neurodivergent Voices ISTE + ASCD - Wakelet Booth · 2025
- 3 Ways to Build Student Confidence ISTE + ASCD · 2025
- Portfolios: A Practice not a Project ASTE · 2025
- Presenter Ed3 Summit Session · 2024
- Web3 & The Evolution of EdTech ISTE · 2023
- Digital Portfolios: The Future of CVs ISTE · 2023
- Sketchnoting on Wakelet! Get Creative Wakelet Webinar · 2022
- SEE to Lead Podcast Ep. 208 House of EdTech Podcast · 2022