110: Human-Centered Design and Business Development with Cat Moon

LeftFoot - Fresh Conversations on the Business of Law

A Mindset of Curiosity and Empathy

Today’s guest is Cat Moon a practicing lawyer, educator and business leader with more than 20 years of experience in human-centered design, agile project management, strategic communication, and the practice of law.

Human-centered design is a process, a set of tools, a mindset of curiosity and empathy. It’s putting you in the shoes of the client; asking excellent questions and listening intently before offering solutions. Human-centered design is reorienting how you work and delivery service by putting the client in the center.

Along with human-centered design, Cat and her colleagues at Vanderbilt University Law School are teaching and practicing collaborative skills with cognitively diverse teams. Cognitively diverse teams are both efficient and effective in solving today’s business problems, serving client more broadly and with stronger conclusions than non-diverse teams.

Reflecting on her own experience as a practicing lawyer, Cat’s advice to others includes going above and beyond for clients and seeing feedback as affirming and valuable. She also encourages embracing ambiguity, asking questions and gaining insight before presenting a solution.

Cat Moon is the Director of Innovation Design, Program in Law and Innovation at Vanderbilt University Law School; where she is also an adjunct professor. Cat is the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Design Officer and Co-founder at Legal Alignment – a company focused on creating alignment in legal workflow through legal process management training and global certification.