Timothy Erdmann

Product Manager | Designer | Strategist

Systems Thinking, User Experience, Human-Centered Design.

Let's build products your customers will love.

WORK

Selected recent work

PITTBOS

As Director of Product And Design, I worked directly with the CEO to bring his vision to market, making sure it was incredibly intuitive and delightful for our customers to use, and sped up processing time--which increased their bottom line.

Sept 2021 - June 2024

Pittbos is a comprehensive sales & operations management platform which took the offline, pen & paper methods of paving & concrete construction companies, and materials suppliers into the cloud. The platform featured tools for CRM and lead management, materials supplier pricing & ordering, job estimating & bidding, digital geo-spacial measuring tools, project Management & job scheduling calendar, and an invoicing system.

Product Management & Design Strategy, Information Architecture, Design & Dev Team Management, AWS & Release Management, UX/UI Design

Pittbos App displayed on multiple screen sizes
Pittbos App displayed on multiple screen sizes
informationArchitecture_pittbos

PITTBOS BACKLOG CALENDAR

Active project scheuling and tracking calendar.

Sept 2021 - June 2024

For over a year, there was one feature request that kept popping up in talking with the customers. They loved the core of Pittbos Contractor with its CRM-light, project estimate and proposal features. However, a consistent message was that they could not fully transition to using Pittbos without a work scheduling component. A big part of their post-sale backend workflow was missing.

Screenshot of Pittbos work scheuling calendar

PITTBOS DESIGN SYSTEM

This was a living document that we built while flying the plane. It enabled rapid development, iteration and standardization of components, accelerating time to market.

Sept 2021 - June 2024

We collaborated as a team to come up with the design language and code structure for the system.

Working in Sketch, Figma, Miro and React we created elements and components that made it super fast and easy for me to convey an idea or concept and the team could turn around designs and working prototypes over night. I can't advocate enough for defining a design system as you build products.

A truly lean machine. This team, delivered through challenging conditions in Ukraine. One of the best I've ever worked with.

Screenshot of a page from the design system

VIASAT

Enterprise and Consumer Satellite Internet. We brought a disjointed business customer experience together into one easy to use account management portal.

Feb 2017 - July 2021

I worked on many different things in this role. Mostly business satellite service, but also heavily involved in the design of billing management process, business and sales partner tools and customer support systems.

Design Team Lead, Product Design, Design System, User Research, UX/UI Design

Viasat corporate logo
Viasat corporate logo

WRITING

Thoughts, musings, analysis, discussion.

Product Design & Systems Thinker

photo of Tim Erdmann

As sort of a follow-on from my previous post about the changing state of product management and design, I’ve been mulling product design and UX from the perspective of 'Systems Thinking’; hopefully articulating a mature and comprehensive view of what modern product design really is—systems thinking applied across technology, business, and human behavior.

In seeking out a new job, I see huge swings in the definition and understanding of ‘Product Designer’. Many people hear 'Designer' or 'UX' and think artist, someone who draws graphics and user interfaces (UI). People used to ask what I did, and for a long time I would say ‘Basically I draw for a living.’ That was really inaccurate and cheapened what I do. In reality I was always a ‘systems thinker’. An Interaction Designer.

I started out as a Product Manager. I learned graphic and Web design, and quickly moved on to front-end code with html/css, and then usability. This was partly a necessity in understanding the technologies I was working with, but I actually found it extremely interesting and enjoyable.

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What do I bring to the table?
  • Product Strategy
  • Systems Thinking
  • User Experience & UI
  • AI/LLM Augmented Design
  • Storytelling
  • Accessibility
  • Front-end Development
  • Project Management
  • Research & Writing

ABOUT ME

Born in NY. Raised in New England. Living in Southern California.
I've been at this for a while.

20+ years of Product Development, Management, & User Experience Design.

Mental Health is Important

I am also a Musician, Sound Recordist & Audio Engineer, Photographer, Amateur Philosopher, and I love to cook.

Three facts about me:

I play bass in an all-bass surf-rock band called SeaBase. We just released an album.

I like to travel. A favorite was the Forbidden City in Beijing - imperial palace of 24 Ming & Qing Dynasty Chinese Emperors. Take a look.

I used to be player-captain on a competitive, adult-league ice hockey team, called 'The Gentlemen'.

Send me an email.

photo of Tim Erdmann

CONTACT