Initiative Check

For me, leadership is about creating clarity, building trust, and helping others do their best work. It’s empathy in action, for players, teammates, and the cross-functional development process of making games. Leadership requires initiative.

At Big Fish, I led a team of UI and UX designers across multiple titles, mentoring individuals, shaping process, and representing the player in strategic conversations. Earlier in my career, I found myself building pipelines others could inherit, supporting junior teammates, and asking questions like “does this feel right to the player?” long before “UX” was a formalized role on the team.

In 2021, I earned NN/g’s UX Management certification — not to pad my resume, but because I believe leadership is a design discipline of its own: intentional, human-centered, and worth practicing with craft and care.

To me, leadership is just another good experience, designed and tailored for a different audience.

System-Led, People-Centered

Shared Ownership Starts with Shared Understanding

To reduce ambiguity across disciplines, I use RACI models early in development to clarify who’s doing what, and who needs to be looped in when. These aren’t bureaucratic tools; they’re alignment accelerators. They help cross-functional teams focus their energy where it matters and reduce handoff friction later.

“Robert brings clarity when we’re lost in the weeds.” — Peer feedback, FY2021

Process Isn’t the Goal, It’s the Support

I created this flow to help standardize UI/UX development across multiple titles, a shared framework for moving from concept to implementation. It’s flexible, but clear: when to collaborate, when to lock, and where to expect iteration. Designers know what they own. Engineers know when to plan. QA knows when to test. Everyone wins.

“Robert helps others stay focused when things get messy.” — FY2022 Performance Review

Designing the Invisible: Culture of Documentation

The third piece is often invisible unless you’re inside the team. I invest in internal documentation not to check a box, but to build shared language. From onboarding guides to UI prefab specs, I’ve helped teams move faster by not starting from zero every time. A good doc is quiet leadership: it respects people’s time and helps them act with confidence.

“Robert builds processes others actually want to use.” — Peer feedback, FY2023