Mike Spotten

I'm Mike Spotten, a Product Designer, a Team Leader, and a User Champion from Baltimore, MD. I've been Creative Director, Product Manager, Cofounder and User Experience & Design Lead, but my most rewarding role is being a Dad to my two amazing kids alongside my wife and our menagerie of pets.

I am the UXD Lead at Videology, one of the top video advertising companies in the world. In this role I have introduced clear processes around user research and testing, iteration in design and development, and implemented the Videology Design Language which unifies the look of our platform, but also clearly states to the rest of the organization (and the world) why we design the way we do, our belief system behind the design system.

At all levels I believe that you should start with your why. And it's not in lock step with what Simon Sinek says, it's not because people are going to buy why we do it. Starting with the why on any project creates clarity up and down the chain and makes conversations easier.

I believe that working in small focused teams allows for greater collaboration and easier communication. I believe in involving the user during every iteration of the product life cycle in order to learn fast and course correct often.

I have a lot of this stuff written down and even put it in a handy presentation which you can download HERE. It's called Product Coaching, because I can do that too if you need. I also wrote a series of five blog posts on Usability Testing:

1. What is Usability Testing
2. When Should I Do Usability Testing
3. How To Run Your First Usability Test
4. Why To Adopt Usability Testing
5. What To Expect in the Usability Report

Email me if you have any questions or need some advice.

Before Videology I was Head of Product at Kinglet, a startup in Baltimore (and DC and Cincinnati) that is the Airbnb for office space. We connected small businesses with large companies with more space than they could use.

My work at Kinglet helped me to dig in, test iterations with our users, and deliver incremental value to the bottom line, getting more people in desks. Two of the new features we introduced increased adoption by 115% in three months.

And before that myself and a partner were developing apps and had some success with two of our games, Super Quiz and 7 Sevens. Both were featured, with 7 Sevens being featured on the main page of the iOS App Store. It was truly a great accomplishment and we're really proud of that little number puzzler. Check it out here!

When I'm not working, I like to run, although I've been sidelined with an injury for almost a year, play Rock Band (my kids and I are really good at Yoshimi vs. the Pink Robots by the Flaming Lips), and cook. My new obsession are the many concoctions I can make in my Instant Pot.

"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."
- Theodore Roosevelt