Multiple lenses. One conviction.
I'm Jason Sonderman, Head of UX — a design leader with twenty years of evidence about how UX creates real value for software, and enough practice operating in partial certainty to know the difference between incomplete research and research that's telling you something you haven't asked yet.
At ARCOS, I built a team and a delivery model from the ground up. We move from discovery through design to draft front-end code entirely within the UX function — cutting the kickoff-to-handoff window from two weeks to three days, because the speed the work demanded left no other responsible option.
That approach isn’t something I learned from a methodology. It came from leading teams across India, Poland, Belgium, and the US — and from a faith practice rooted in holding traditions in tension rather than collapsing them. My faith in Jesus Christ is the foundation. In theology and in UX, the practice is the same: hold multiple lenses, and pay attention to what the intersection reveals.
“…Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth, and when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”
— David Bowie
My Values
These aren’t rules I follow. They’re how I think. They came from years of leading creative teams, learning from failure, and paying attention to what actually makes collaboration and craft work. I’ve held onto these because they’ve held up.
There are no bad waves
We can’t control the speed or size of the wave — we can only commit to riding what comes. Great leaders don’t wait for perfect conditions. They take what’s given and see it all the way through.
Can’t be halfway
Partial investment produces partial results. I expect full commitment from myself and I work to create conditions where teams can bring their whole selves to hard problems.
No simple problems
When you think you’ve defined a problem, dig deeper. The real challenge is almost always underneath the presenting one. This is why research isn’t optional — it’s the foundation.
Failure is an outstanding teacher
Innovation lives beyond the edges of what’s known and safe. I push teams toward the edges, not away from them — with the conviction that what you learn from a failed attempt is often more valuable than a cautious success.
Break things to make better things
Nothing is too sacred to question, including our own assumptions. If something can’t survive being taken apart and rebuilt, it was flawed to begin with. This applies to systems, processes, and designs alike.
No mistakes, only opportunities
A mistake is a good idea in the wrong context. When I see a team member stumble, the question isn’t what went wrong — it’s what we can learn and build on.
Yes, and…
Borrowed from improv, essential to leadership. When someone brings an idea into the room, validate it and build on it. The magic in any collaboration lives in the space between perspectives.
Be a great listener
Really listen. Not to formulate your response, but to understand. Every person in the room has seen something you haven’t. That’s the whole point of having a room.
Don’t bail on your partner
Support your team. Sometimes that means being the loudest voice; sometimes it means being in the background. Either way, you show up fully and you don’t leave people hanging.
Featured Case Studies
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Arcos, IncClosing the Design-to-Dev Translation Gap with AI-Assisted Delivery
How I led cross-functional alignment to restructure the design-to-dev handoff at Arcos — building an AI-enabled model where UX transmits design intent as production-adjacent code, cutting kickoff time from two weeks to three days.
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Arcos, IncBuilding a Research-Backed Vision for Emergency Preparedness
How I led 2.5 months of embedded field research across 14 utility sites to reframe a greenfield product direction — then held the research-backed vision through two rounds of MVP scope cuts to ship convoy tracking in August 2025.
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BetterCloud Secure PlatformRedesign for Real-Time Risk Remediation
Redesigning BetterCloud's Secure Platform to empower IT teams with real-time risk remediation capabilities, enhancing data protection and operational efficiency.
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BetterCloudHow a shared design language cut prototype time by 40% — and what it revealed about cross-functional adoption.
How I led the design of Fulcrum, BetterCloud's internal design system — unifying a fragmented SaaSOps product suite and learning firsthand what it takes to carry a design system across the boundary from design into engineering.
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Athens State Online Degree MicrositeRevolutionizing Higher Education Recruiting by Enhancing the University Website Experience
Discover how we transformed the Athens State University digital presence, employing innovative design and user-centric strategies to enhance the online experience for prospective students.
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Peru State Online Degree Program Marketing PagesEnhancing Higher Education Recruitment by Optimizing Landing Pages
Through user research and data-driven design, we created optimized landing pages for higher education institutions, significantly improving student engagement, conversion rates, and university brand awareness.
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The Cerner Learning Journey PortalTransforming Training in Healthcare Technology Through Experience Optimization
Enhancing the user experience of a Learning Management System by incorporating organizational change management processes to improve usability and engagement for healthcare professionals.
