Steve Libbey

The Challenge

As generative AI tools entered creative writing, many optimized for speed and output at the expense of voice. Readers began reacting negatively not just to AI-generated prose, but to the suspicion that a piece might be machine-written. Writers lost trust in the tools and in the work they produced. The challenge was to design an AI system that assists without overwriting authorial intent or encouraging generic text.

Key Design Decisions

• Designed the system around preservation of the writer's voice rather than text generation
• Avoided default prompt-to-prose flows that encourage copy-paste authorship
• Built the experience around structure, revision, and decision-making
• Emphasized transparency and user control over "magic" outputs
• Treated AI as a collaborator within a workspace, not an authority

Technical Implementation

Designed UX and system behavior in parallel, defining how context and state persist across a writing project. Built production frontend code to validate interaction models and collaborated closely with engineering on feasibility. Implementation details are intentionally private while core ideas remain in development.

The Challenge

T-Mobile leadership needed a scalable business intelligence platform that could serve both current reporting needs and adapt to predicted forms of data. Multiple access levels required different views of the same underlying data without creating maintenance nightmares.

Key Design Decisions

• Determined user needs across all access levels through stakeholder interviews with leadership
• Designed UI that made the app serve both current and predicted data structures
• Implemented MVC architecture using Angular for clean separation of concerns
• Conceptualized scalable platform to be reused for future internal apps
• Led first team to adopt Agile Scrum methodology, which became department standard

Technical Implementation

Built with Angular MVC architecture, designed for maintainability and reusability. Collaborated with data analysts on ongoing upgrades until sunset in 2020. The platform's architecture was reused multiple times for subsequent internal tools.

The Challenge

Care team needed a redesign that maintained T-Mobile's fun, enthusiastic culture while giving employees clear visibility into bonus calculations. Management needed aggregated statistics organized by location. The challenge: make complex performance metrics feel approachable and motivating.

Key Design Decisions

• Worked with Java developer to realize dynamic tile function possibilities (interactive gauges, real-time updates)
• Designed predictive interface allowing employees to model "what if" scenarios for bonus optimization
• Created enthusiasm-driven UI matching call center culture without sacrificing data clarity
• Built hierarchical views: individual performance → team → location aggregations

Design Philosophy

Turned dry performance metrics into an engaging, game-like experience. The UI celebrated achievements while providing actionable insights for improvement—reflecting T-Mobile's unique approach to employee motivation.

The Challenge

Tracking information for salmon recovery projects required serving vastly different user needs: scientists wanting raw data tables, policymakers needing summaries, and students requiring educational context. Database queries returned massive tables of scientific data that needed progressive disclosure.

Key Design Decisions

• Designed familiar webpage interface with intuitive navigation
• Built progressive disclosure: summaries in graphics/charts for general users, full scientific data access on demand
• Integrated with Oracle database using APEX (HTML/CSS front-end)
• Created visualization layer that made complex conservation metrics accessible to non-scientists
• Also designed commercial fisherman trading app with regulatory compliance built-in

Design Principle

Don't hide the complexity—layer it. Scientists got their tables, students got their charts, everyone got value from the same underlying data.

The Challenge

2013 site launched with bugs due to deliberately obfuscated JavaScript. Lead programmer was fired, leaving company scrambling for 2014 deployment. Brought in late in the game to rebuild entire site with weeks to deadline.

Key Design Decisions

• Threw out previous year's code completely
• Rebuilt from scratch using Bootstrap, jQuery, and Greensock JS for animations
• Optimized for performance under massive traffic spikes
• Built fully responsive (kids use whatever device they can access)
• Created maintainable codebase using well-supported libraries

What I Said No To

Clever code. No custom animation engines, no framework reinvention, no showing off. Used battle-tested libraries and clear documentation so the next person could actually maintain it.

Fun Fact

When NPR ran the headline "NORAD Tracks Santa Begins with a Typo" for the 2014 launch, I nearly had a heart attack before realizing they meant the 1953 origin story.