Lean Otter

I started Lean Otter in 2025 as a UX and product design studio for established businesses. Companies that have built real products, real customer bases, and real revenue — and need to take them to the next level before competitors do it first.

We bring twenty years of product and UX experience to bear, combining design thinking, user research, rapid experimentation, and AI-accelerated execution. The goal is always the same: measurable growth through better product decisions. We work on a project basis, not a day rate — scope stays honest and clients know what they're paying for before we start.

The hardest part of this work is resisting the obvious answer. On one engagement, usage data pointed clearly toward UI improvements as the fix for churn. After interviewing real customers, we landed somewhere completely different — an AI-powered feature that pulled the platform together in a way incremental fixes never would have. The lesson is the same one I've carried for twenty years: the data tells you where to look, not what you'll find.

The name comes from two places. Lean, because the methodology matters — focus, simplicity, moving toward what's real. Otter, because my kids suggested it, and because otters are smart, curious, and playful.