
Painting by Mark Starr, 2016.
About Me
I can hardly believe I do what I do for a living. I grew up in rural western Pennsylvania surrounded by farms and coal mines, and went to college to study literature. Yet here I am, a long-time UX strategist on some of the most challenging software projects. I've also mentored dozens of talented young UXers, and future UXers.
I saw this talk by Tina Roth Eisenberg recently and I think she summed up a big part of how I approach my work at this point in my career: with joy. How lucky are we who create technology for a living? Building software is fun, and should be fun. It's hard work, but exciting work.
My philosophy and my approach:
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Empathy at all times; for users, for team members, for my clients
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Never stop learning
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Share my knowledge; be generous
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No ego
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Collaboration and transparency
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Team trust and respect
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Be human and enjoy the work
"It takes no special skills to design something poorly. Anyone can do it. To design something well takes skills, knowledge, and experience."