I have a background in mathematics and art, and find joy at the intersection of logic and beauty. I’m a problem solver by nature—the more complex the better—and I strive for simplicity and clarity in every solution. User experience design suits me well, as it allows me to flex both sides of my brain to make people's lives easier.
I’ve been working in UX and adjacent disciplines since the mid-nineties. I started my career coding client/server applications, then, in 1999, moved to a small internet strategy and development firm, where I did everything from project management to application development and testing, database design to the occasional graphic design treatment. I’d advocated for clear interactions while programming client/server "gray screens," and as I began working with the web, I was excited to learn that there was a whole discipline growing around user experience.
In the early 2000s, I began focusing my efforts on what was then called information architecture, while maintaining a healthy relationship with front-end coding to understand browsers' capabilities and limits. As information architecture evolved into user experience design and user experience design evolved as a field, I was energized by new methods and tools to collect more and better input from users throughout the design process, as this information ensured design success and assisted with feature prioritization. And, my background in development gave me an edge with respect to understanding technical constraints and collaborating with development teams to get things built.
For the past several years, I’ve been playing more strategic roles within the companies I’ve worked for, managing products and projects and teams, and eventually taking on executive roles. I’ve been inspired by the research and design and digital strategy work I’ve recently been doing in conjunction with UX, and have grown to love building teams and developing talent. At the same time, I always try to stay engaged in the day-to-day work of design to feed that part of her brain and keep up with recent innovations and best practices.
I’ve worked as a consultant and in-house, in a variety of industries, for large and small companies, as an individual contributor and a manager, with various titles and responsibilities, both in the United States and overseas. When I consider, “what's next," my main criteria are whether I will be working in a supportive and collaborative environment where solving complex problems is the focus, and whether the work I’ll be doing will make a positive difference for everyday people.
In addition to my professional interests, I’m a committed maker. I knit, draw, paint—both canvases and walls—make jewelry, cook, and am generally crafty. I’m an advocate for public education, and volunteered in the Chicago Public Schools for more than a decade, designing and delivering monthly enrichment workshops for middle school students. And, I continually look for opportunities to improve myself as a human, whether through coaching programs or rich conversations.