Shortcut Core UX

Sub-tasks were a top feature request since early versions of Shortcut. Adding them meant extending a well-established product hierarchy.

I proposed we use the existing story structure as a foundation, preventing us from having to build net new and ensuring consistency while introducing the new sub-task functionality.

We interviewed users throughout the process for feedback and ended up with a natural solution that fit seamlessly into the existing product.

Docs existed as a scrappy internal prototype when I joined Shortcut. My job was to make it a real product that teams could rely on for actual work.

I designed the full collaborative layer: comments, suggestion mode, flexible sharing and integration with the rest of Shortcut, letting users create and link stories, epics, and other entities directly within a doc.

Search was the number one customer complaint. The problem was not just relevance. Shortcut had multiple search surfaces presenting results differently, creating a fragmented and inconsistent experience.

I consolidated everything into a single unified interface, leading with recents and adding smart search term completions to make navigation faster for the workflows people use most.

A feature I designed for Shortcut ended up being adopted as the primary offering of the third-party tool we built it with — rolled out across their entire customer base.

The problem it solved: the command bar had been handling both search and commands and doing neither well. By moving search back into the native product, I freed the command bar to focus on what it does best. I designed an integrated help experience that surfaces relevant articles and resources based on where a user is in the app, reducing the need to leave Shortcut to find answers.

The third-party partner liked what we built together enough to make it their flagship feature. That's the version their other customers now use.