I lead product design strategy, build high-performing teams, and ship at scale in complex domains—from healthcare access to legal AI to media platforms serving millions. I currently lead design for I Need an A, an abortion access technology nonprofit. Over the past 20+ years, I've worked with Netflix, Robin AI, Vox Media, Quora, and many others. I'm currently available for fractional consulting opportunities.
Contact me: holly@superphysical.co
From idea to execution—this is where I thrive. I've launched everything from production budgeting tools at Netflix to reporting workflows at Robin AI, design systems at Vox Media, and products for I Need an A. I love working with startups getting off the ground as much as I enjoy working on new initiatives within larger organizations. Imagining the future and then making it happen is my area of expertise.
I've shifted between manager, director, lead, founder, and IC roles throughout my career. I love figuring out hard problems, collaborating with other designers and cross-functional partners, and driving meaningful outcomes. I'm comfortable getting strategic, getting scrappy, or doing both at the same time.
Ethics, values, mission. Working with technology can be challenging—capitalism is not always a gentle system. How might we use our time on this earth to make it better? What does progress really mean? How do we care for one another? I lead with my conscience, and try to focus my work on helping people and making the world a little better than I found it. I will always question outcomes and the way we work to guide toward ethical and humane impact and process, whether it's in or out of style.
I'm currently leading design for I Need an A, a tech nonprofit focused on abortion access throughout the US. After the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, I knew that protecting the health and reproductive rights of women and girls was something I needed to get involved with, and I've been working with I Need an A since then. Our small team provides abortion seekers with up-to-date information about clinics, telehealth options, laws, and support wherever they are, in a user-centric platform. Over 2 million people have used our site and products to learn about their options since 2016. Some projects I've designed include an anonymous web-based chat app, a data management system, and an abortion cost estimator. We design with and for an AI-based information landscape.
I work with a small number of clients across technology, media, and nonprofit organizations. I help teams get unstuck—building prototypes, shaping research and strategy, mentoring designers, and serving as a Super Senior design partner when extra support is needed. Recently, I've worked with Warner Music Group, early-stage startups, and a VC fund. If you have a project you'd like to partner on, feel free to reach out. I'm accepting small fractional engagements right now.
I'm grateful for an expansive career and the opportunity to work alongside incredibly talented teams across technology, design studios, and media companies.
2023–2024 – As Principal Designer, I led the design work of a scrappy team building an AI tool to help lawyers and legal teams understand their contracts. It was fun getting back into the weeds of startups and designing an AI-driven product. View work
2018–2022 – I worked as a product design lead on Studio XD. We built tools to help Netflix plan our studio productions throughout the world, and I was focused on the finance side.
2016–2018 – I joined Vox as a Principal Designer, leading a design system initiative for Chorus, Vox Media's proprietary publishing platform. I later transitioned into a Design Director role, leading the work of several other designers on the Chorus team.
2014–2016 – I joined Quora as their first communication designer, building out brand and visual design assets. I built and managed the brand team, then shifted my focus on accelerating UI design systems throughout the core product, and mentoring the product design team on visual design (and the trendy concept of taste). View work
2007–2010 – Earlier in my career, I cofounded a multidisciplinary design studio in Brooklyn focused on cultural and publishing clients. Running a business, managing client relationships, hiring and leading designers, developers, and content folks, and driving creative strategy — it was a ton of work, and a ton of fun.
2005–2013 – As a 90s kid, my entry point into design was through publishing — books, magazines, and newspapers. I liked making information-dense worlds that people held in their hands. During my publishing years, I worked as a designer, art director, and freelancer for publishers like The New York Times, Conde Nast, The Wall Street Journal, GQ, and Dwell. Core learnings: photo shoots are the most fun; collaboration with writers, editors, artists, and other visionaries is the magic; we've got to ship by our deadline no matter what; editing & right-sizing/scoping is an underrated skill. View work
I live in Park Slope, Brooklyn with my young daughter, partner, and our dog and cat. I grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania and moved to NYC to study design at Parsons, and am a long time New Yorker who lived through the Giuliani administration. I spent about 10 years in California before returning during Covid, and have had stints in most recently New Orleans, Paris, and Philadelphia. For fun, I love experiencing and making art, writing, museums, travel, and urban life. My current side project is designing a better way for parents to navigate the complex world of early childhood education in the NYC public school system.
Adjunct Faculty, San Jose State University, BFA Graphic Design Program (2014). Guest critic at Art Center, CCA, Fordham, MCAD, MICA, NYU ITP, Otis College of the Arts (2009), Parsons School of Design, Pratt, and School of Visual Arts.