My name is David Smith. I'm a Principal Designer at Teague, where I've spent eight of my eighteen years as a UX practitioner focused on defense. Working across large primes and early-stage startups, collaborating in rooms with stakeholders and warfighters, I design systems where clarity, trust, and speed aren't aspirational qualities but operational imperatives.

Design for Defense is where I write through what I've been experiencing, capturing thoughts and observations. The audience I have in mind is defense industry practitioners; people who work in this space and are interested in thinking about it clearly. The writing comes from my design practice, not from journalism or academic research; sometimes it’s anecdotal and occasionally uncertain, but always honest.

For the fuller context, read my point of view.

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are solely my own and do not reflect the official policy or position of my employer.