“Paul Smith is…”

“Paul is incredible at processing user needs and articulating out of the box solutions to their problems. Working with Paul was an absolute joy. He is patient, thoughtful and extremely knowledgable about best practices and complicated system solutions. Paul is not only able to conjure out of the box solutions, he is able to make them a reality by understanding the architecture and data structures they will require to work.

In my time collaborating with him, he was always able to articulate succinct hypothesis to rationalize his work and would iterate through several conceptual models to help articulate his vision. Paul would receive feedback from myself, his team members and stakeholders with a sense of wonder and grace. His inquisitive nature always brought the right questions into focus and could find questions that we didn't know needed to be answered. And in the end, he could always summarize with how we could achieve and prove a successful outcome.

Paul is a fantastic designer, a great person and wonderful collaborator, and I hope that we work together again some day.”

Adam Beckley
Principal CX Strategist at VF Corporation
Adam managed Paul at Pearson

“Paul has many strengths, but above all it’s his rare combination of strong creative vision with efficient execution ability that made him invaluable as a leader and manager. He was able to listen to users carefully, understand what their needs actually were, and translate them into a fitting user experience quickly. He was just as adept at communicating our company vision to investors and potential partners, in conversations, formal presentations, and tech demos that captured our value prop and strategy. Paul is a trustworthy and kind person with an unwavering moral compass, which helped the team persevere through the typical challenges of a growing startup. I wholeheartedly recommend Paul as an innovative leader and skillful manager to any business.”

Ann Shen
Associate Director at Wayfair

“Paul is, without question, the best UX designer for music software I have ever worked with. He has a firm grasp of the software engineering process that makes him an excellent collaborator. His deep knowledge and diverse background give him outstanding insight and innovative capacity … He is also a fun, funny, and upbeat teammate — I cannot recommend him highly enough.”

Travis Henspeter
Senior Software Engineer — Google

“Paul is a thinker! When there is a gnarly problem to be solved he sees the challenge in 4-dimensions. But he also knows how to simplify these complexities down into manageable chunks. He routinely delights the team by understanding intricate details of UI interconnections with back-end data and systems and brings a team-first approach to working through design challenges. Paul is a fantastic design resource, an asset to any company that is looking for a thoughtful, likable, intelligent member of their team.”

Benjamin Rogers
Senior Experience Designer — Mad•Pow

“Paul was incredibly thoughtful and insightful on behalf of the users and a pleasure to work with as a developer.”

Bruce Cichowlas
Senior VP of Engineering — Sonation

“I worked closely with Paul at Pearson and as a product manager I’ve found that it’s rare to find a designer as well rounded as Paul. He drives to understand the true user needs (not just what he’s being told on the surface). Our many hours spent collaborating showed his analytical approach, knowledge of UX best practices, great eye for visual detail, clarity and balance, as well as a drive for the simple and right solution. And lastly, Paul’s just a really good person. He’s funny, light-hearted, extremely smart, and just a pleasure to work with!”

Shannon Graziano
Sr. Product Manager at Shutterstock

“I had the pleasure of working with Paul at Pearson where I was a UX researcher focused on accessibility. Paul often designed thoughtful and innovative visual and interaction designs for high-profile redesign initiatives. Even more impressive for me, however, was Paul’s ability to adapt to designing with accessibility in mind and his desire to learn about disability. Designers have a lot of responsibility to represent the needs of the people using the systems and having someone empathetic to as many users as possible is invaluable.”

Michelle Williams
Accessibility Consultant — M.A.W. Consulting