Susan Ripley
Product Leader & Artist

Not every photograph needs to become artwork. Here's how I decide when artistic interpretation adds meaning—and when the strongest creative choice is to leave the photograph alone.

How photography and art help me recharge, express myself, and make space outside of work. I love what I do. I’ve spent most of my career in product design and UX, and a big part of my job today is helping people solve complicated problems. I’m thinking about customers, teams, strategy, business problems and priorities. What’s working? What’s not? What should we do next? I’m creating clarity, helping teams move forward, making decisions and supporting other people as they navi

My artwork begins with a real photographic moment. Here's how I decide what to preserve, what to transform, and when a photograph should simply remain a photograph.

Creative leadership isn't about being the most creative person in the room. It's about creating clarity, useful constraints, psychological safety, experimentation, and space for other people's best ideas to emerge.

Photography has changed how I pay attention—and reminded me that strong product discovery often starts by slowing down, noticing workarounds, changing the frame, and staying curious long enough to find the better question.

Professional product design and personal photography ask different things of creativity. Together, they strengthen observation, iteration, judgment, craft, and the ability to notice what others move past.