Profile

I do my best to balance my time, spending as much time away from computer screens as in front of them. I love spending time under the sun tending my garden. I’ve grown a fondness for birds and have created a little urban oasis for all manner of birds and pollinators. Except for squirrels. I loathe squirrels.

If I’m not outside, you may find me in my garage indulging in the joy I find tinkering around with my car, or working on a carpentry project. If I’m not in my garage, I may be in the kitchen baking sourdough and fermenting everything from cabbage to hot sauces.

Forumula 1 is as-near-as-makes-no-difference my religion. I support the Colorado Rapids and attend as many games as I can. I’ve dabbled in music, written the odd haiku, and spend a fair amount of time back in front of the computer screen writing fiction. Doing things which are not related to my career keep me sharp, inspired, and refreshed when I do open up my laptop and get to the day job.

What defines me

I believe in the richness of people and frivolous pursuits. I work to live, I do not live to work. My career exists as an important means to a reasonable and comfortable life, but for me, it is not who I am. This approach to work and life affords me space to focus on the things that truly matter: family, community, and personal wellness.

All that to say, I take my career seriously.

The Day My Career Changed

It's not to say the richness I seek in my personal life does not bleed into my professional life. I've dedicated my career to helping people. That's what user experience design is.

In 2015 I attended An Event Apart in Seattle. The very last lecture of the two day conference was from Eric Meyer. His talk was entitled Designing for Crisis" . In it, he ran us through, often in painful detail, his desperate experience of trying to navigate unknown hospitals and cities as his daughter had been medivaced away on the verge of death. He drove home the point that our users are rarely in the perfect happy state we tend to imagine when designing our sites and products. Often they are stressed, confused, and perhaps scared. We let them down when we don't clearly understand who and what our user's needs are.

This changed me. Eric’s talk made it abundantly clear how impactful good design can be, and inspires me every day.