Grayson Gail West

My goal is to foster engaging and enjoyable work environments. I advocate for the freedom to experiment, learn, and evolve without fear, boosting expression of creativity and personal authenticity. I strive to nurture diverse ideas, promote continuous professional development, and craft fulfilling experiences. I fundamentally believe in the power of combining passion, creativity, and enjoyment to create absorbing and challenging activities. My aim is to integrate fun as a key element to spark innovation, kindle curiosity, encourage adventure, and drive growth within the business.

Humans have incredible potential, capable of achieving far more than they realize. This belief is rooted in my experiences, from observing my mother, an inspiring theater director, nurture talent, to learning about the power of teamwork during my time as a competitive cyclist in Europe. Leadership, for me, is about creating environments where people can thrive, fostering their innate abilities. I am fascinated by human curiosity, imagination, and especially passion, which fuels dreams and drives extraordinary accomplishments. My goal as a leader is to unlock this potential in others.

I'm an endlessly curious person, shaped by my punk roots and pursuit of professional cycling. The punk ethos taught me to question norms and value diverse perspectives, while cycling taught resilience and the courage to chase dreams. I enjoy tackling complex problems, seeing challenges as exciting opportunities to learn and innovate. I value collaboration with those who share a passion for exploration and adaptability. As a leader, I strive to foster an environment that encourages curiosity, open communication, and collective growth through a spirit of adventure and mutual discovery.

Iteration fuels my creativity—constant refining brings the best ideas and results. My high school swimming experience taught me that small, deliberate changes lead to big improvements. In work, I proactively seek to fix processes through experimentation and iteration. This mindset is vital in product development, fostering growth through incremental gains and user feedback. It keeps us adaptable, reducing friction and improving efficiency. Iteration also helps spot issues early and encourages challenging the status quo. Marginal gains, over time, lead to significant breakthroughs and meaningful progress.

Situation

Hearsee Mobility, a nonprofit developing an indoor navigation system for visually impaired people, faced challenges with their web application design, threatening the project's progress..

Task

Revitalize the stalled web application project, ensuring seamless integration with existing mobile solutions.

Result

The team completed the web application on time, reducing building mapping time by 300%. 98% of users reported significant navigation improvement. The project transformed from stagnant to dynamic, creating a comprehensive ecosystem for indoor navigation that enhances independence for visually impaired individuals.

Situation

Users frequently requested a Mac-like experience for OmniFocus 3 on iPad. As the lead, I was tasked with designing a three-pane layout mimicking Mac software.

Task

Develop a flexible framework allowing users to view three areas of OmniFocus simultaneously (perspective view, project view, inspector panel), enhancing user experience and reducing taps.

Result

The three-pane solution was successfully implemented, receiving positive user feedback. It improved efficiency and professional use on iPads. OmniFocus 3 for iOS saw increased sales and active users, surpassing its predecessor and demonstrating the value of user-centered design and collaboration.

Situation

OmniFocus, a task management app, needed a major update. As a key developer for version 3, I worked with the CEO and product manager to improve functionality and user experience across Mac and iOS platforms.

Task

Lead the UX team in redesigning the app, focusing on replacing contexts with tags, enhancing perspectives, improving calendar visualization, and making inspectors customizable on iOS.

Result

OmniFocus 3 launched successfully, increasing daily active users by 12% on Mac and 17% on iOS. It spent weeks as a top-25 grossing app in the App Store for both platforms, receiving positive feedback from users and media, solidifying its position as a leading task management solution.

Situation

Spearheaded the UX/UI design for OmniFocus 3 for iPad to resemble the Mac application, including a three-pane layout.

Task

Led user research and analysis to propose a Mac-like experience on iOS, designing a flexible three-pane framework (perspective view, project view, inspector panel) for enhanced usability and context. Oversaw the entire project design and development.

Result

OmniFocus 3 for iOS, surpassed OmniFocus 2 in sales and user numbers, and underscored the value of user-centered design, collaboration, and rapid prototyping in UX development.