I'm a product design and research leader with experience growing teams, driving outcomes, and building strategies.

People First
Fostering relationships with both designers and stakeholders is important to me. I care about who they are, what they value, where they want to go, and what motivates them.
Lead with trust
I trust my team to solve the problems put in front of them. I provide input when needed, unblock, and attempt to anticipate problems the team may face.
Outcomes over output
Research, mockups, and roadmaps don't matter if you aren't making an impact for your users and your business. I work to ensure my team understands what it is they are trying to achieve.
Inspire and align
It is import to unite my team around a shared vision in order to foster alignment, motivation, and a sense of purpose. This shared commitment to delivering impactful experiences is powerful.

Leadership case studies

The stories behind my work, teams, and impact
Creating a usage flywheel with partnerships
LLMs created a great risk to Stack Overflow's business model. Our team productized our API and partnerships to bring growth to a declining business.
View Case Study
Experimenting with AI
One of the fastest growing technologies and it's changing how people use Stack Overflow. What did we learn from this?
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Testimonials

What it's like to work with me
"Piper’s leadership, vision, and ability to create meaningful, high-impact experiences make her an invaluable asset to any organization. Her work speaks for itself, and the impact she delivers is undeniable."
Ellen Brandenberger – Senior Director of Product
"I loved having Piper as my manager—she was incredibly supportive and always had my back when called upon. She was a strong leader who brought out the best in our team. On top of being great professionally, she was also someone I truly enjoyed talking to and connecting with personally. I'd jump at the chance to work with her again."
Shane Foster – Senior Systems Designer

Recent writing

In case you're wondering what I've been thinking about
Research Roadmap update, Feb 2025
I discuss our focus on understanding user motivations, reducing engagement barriers, and encouraging deeper participation. I highlight  opportunities to enhance search accuracy and discuss our teams next focus.
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February 2025
Research Roadmap update, Nov 2024
We are exploring ways to improve user engagement by refining gamification, understanding motivation, and making participation more rewarding for all users.
View Article
November 2024
Research Roadmap update, Aug 2024
We share our kick-off of validating user motivation hypotheses in order to refine gamification and improve engagement. I also share that we are addressing challenges in the answering experience to better support both seekers and contributors.
View Article
August 2024
Upcoming research at Stack Overflow
In the first iteration of this new series, I share that our team was researching how we might improve user problem-solving, scale the Staging Ground feature, and enhance the answering experience.
View Article
May 2024