Let’s try to cover a few of the important ones.
Tell me about yourself.
I’m a hybrid digital designer/developer with a passion for creating products and improving user experiences. My professional journey reflects a dynamic career path driven by curiosity and a love for collaborative work. I love talking shop and new ideas. I live for that.
My first professional role in technical support at a telecommunications company, I quickly learned the nuances of technical writing and corporate linguistics. My early career included roles as a project manager and trainer in the yearbook publishing industry, where I became an expert in creative software, even authoring technical manuals and creating video tutorials before YouTube’s era.
My professional evolution took me through web design, front-end development, and ultimately to User Experience design – a field that perfectly matches my strengths. I thrive in environments where I can ask a lot of questions about how a product is used and extrapolating how to build it from aggregating the information I gather. Ideally in my roles there’s only very short periods of isolated work. Unlike many developers who need deep focus, I’m energized by understanding complex systems via speaking with stakeholders and users and providing something of value for them, which I can iterate quickly.
What are your greatest strengths?
- Anticipating unspoken needs in projects
- Quickly identifying potential pitfalls and alternative scenarios
- Asking important questions about functionality
- Developing system-breaking scenarios early
- Estimating task complexity
- Understanding development challenges, even outside my expertise
- Leveraging adjacent knowledge from close work with developers
- Adaptability with design software
- Rapidly learning new 2D vector, UI, and prototyping tools
- Applying trainer experience to quickly master new software
- Strong interpersonal skills
- Building trust and rapport quickly with colleagues
- Serving as a confidant and supportive team member
- Connecting with diverse personalities and learning from everyone
This combination of technical insight, adaptability, and people skills allows me to contribute uniquely to projects and team dynamics.
Can you wireframe?
People ask this question a lot. So, Yes, quite well. But I have to also point out, Very few teams I’ve been on are wireframes sufficient even for early stages. I know people always say a wireframe is good so you don’t overly set expectations. But the problem is, the vast majority of rooms I’ve been in, the stakeholders do not connect well with wireframe sketches. With few exceptions, I start with high fidelity mockups because they often don’t take much longer, and I learn more creating them, so in effect I understand what I’m building through the extra time. I can’t think of a single time I needed a wireframe faster than I could crank out something realistic. I’ve worked with the following tools to mockup up software designs: Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape, Photoshop, Affinity Designer, Sketch, Adobe XD, Libreoffice Draw, PowerPoint, Draw.io, and even Axure.
Do you really know all those software tools you list?
Yes all of them. Everything I list I know the ins and outs of almost all of them, where it counts. Some I can tell you the menu selections where I need to go to do things without looking. If I ever list software that I know, I really mean I can do 100% of my work with them, even if I only kinda remember 80% of the tool without looking at it. I never oversell the things I put down. If I listed it I know it. Too many people B.S. their way through life. I’ve never felt the need to do that. Because it’s often easier just to learn something. There’s one area I probably undersell my skills, and that’s Javascript. I try not to claim too much knowledge, despite being able to create what I’ve needed to over the years, I don’t like to set high expectations when I’ve spent more time debugging over the years than I would have liked.
Name a time when things didn’t go your way and what you did about it.
This goes back quite a ways. During a college video project, I was appointed director of a shoot. I was deeply invested in our script and vision, because it took so much time trying to lock down the plausible ideas. However when we lost a key filming location, I became completely derailed. Instead of adapting, my enthusiasm whithered. My rigidity cost us the project. I was so attached to my specific idea that I couldn’t see alternative solutions. My teammates ultimately tried to salvage the project without me. It’s an experience that left me with regret, but one that I will not repeat.
Years later, I recognize my script was built around a Macguffin – a plot device with little inherent meaning. Had I been more flexible, I could have more easily reset expectations for myself and completed the project with relationships intact.
This experience fundamentally changed how I approach teamwork, teaching me to be less myopic and more open to collective problem-solving.
Why do you want to work here?
Do I? In some organizations I’ve worked I can say definitively there’s a growing humanity deficit. I.T. has a way of stripping the soulfulness of a workplace. I think partially it can attract the shy, introverted types, but the work also can induce a sort of emotional coma. And I work hard to restore that in my teams. The big picture of the work is supposed to be service and sustainability. If it becomes merely a daily grind of fielding system tickets, limiting human interaction in order to save time, this is tragic and it cannot ultimately succeed. So let’s all strive to contribute with significance and build each other up, help see our own greatness. My work improves the more I actually participate across teams. So my vision of a better workplace is where I’m making you better and you make me better in turn. I think it’s possible to make that a culture in a workplace, but too often people claim a workplace has a great culture when there’s no real evidence of it. But that also leaves an opportunity to create one where it’s missing.
What is your process for UX?
- Seek out the real users if at all possible
- Understand system functionality and user roles (many many questions)
- Identify user pain points
- Question existing processes, discover how it all works
- Draft designs considering:
- User flow and error handling
- Permissions and accessibility
- In-points and Out-points
- Evaluate with stakeholders (assess the difference between real needs and favored functionality)
- Try to accelerate feedback loops
- Iterate on feedback
- Deliver
- Stay involved during development to course correct
- Prepare for subsequent projects so work efficiency stays on upward spiral
What tools do you use?
One thing I’m proud of is having become quite platform agnostic. I can work on Windows, Mac and Linux. I’ve got toolsets that will work on all the platforms at this point. In my work I need a good notebook, which is why I invented one. But software I like having a diagramming / mindmapping tool like Draw.io or Freeplane. And in designing screens I like Figma, or Affinity Designer, Penpot (open source) or Adobe XD. For prototyping HTML, I very much like working with Pinegrow and then editing with say VSCode or Notepad++. And of course the browser dev tools (F12).
I’ve largely moved away from Adobe subscriptions in personal work just as a challenge. I know I’ll keep the skillset indefinitely but it’s more fun trying new tools and seeing how far I can go. It’s unattractive to tie myself to monthly recurring payments. But the bottom line is I use what I need to use to collaborate and deliver. If that requires using Adobe or Figma, then I’m going to do that and adapt. I like Nextcloud and Dokuwiki or Jira for documentation of work tasks. And I’m OK but not fantastic at Git, Github or BitBucket.
I often use Blender 3D even to to block out certain design ideas that might ultimately be delivered in 2D just because it helps me with perspective and composition. I do a lot of screenshot work and file renaming and I have tools for that. Always on the look out for PDF tools, though I have a few that run locally with a web interface. I won’t name them here but that’s an area that I work with often.
What is your favorite website or app that demonstrates UX?
The one I point out to people is the catalog site for McMaster Carr. Perhaps most people haven’t heard of it, but it’s place to shop for all sorts of mechanical fasteners and construction parts. Whereas the design might look a bit dated, the speed of indexing and product loading, I’ve never seen something this efficient. I thought I was the only one talking about it for years and then another guy made a video pointing out all the performance tweaks.
Another application I’m very enthusiastic about is Ayoa. It’s a mindmapping tool that can draw more organic branch shapes akin to the wonderfully illustrated mindmaps of the originator Tony Buzan. And while it might not be the most efficient way to generate mindmaps, it can be more valuable in readability and retention depending on the person.
Outside of work what are your hobbies?
I really enjoy inventing kind of DIY maker projects. Often the work and inspiration comes from a component or furniture that doesn’t exist and I’m convinced it should. Or something breaks and I must find engineer a fix. I don’t have a 3D printer at the moment, used to have one. I used to have a laser cutter too. I’ve own a good number of tools and I really enjoy putting together just the right portable toolkits, the more portable the better. If you ever want to talk shop, tool organization, I’m game.
Also very much into bike riding, specifically BMX bikes. They offer the most fun on all different terrain I think. I have a long history with BMX freestyle. I used to compete in stunt contests doing flat ground BMX freestyle tricks. And in that same category, I like to try out different types of riding, for example I owned a OneWheel for a time. That was fun, but I sold it as it was heavier than I liked and it was taking away time from riding bikes. Also like trail running. A 5k has always been enough for me. I don’t care about races, the enjoyment is just being in the moment. Although I will use a race as a reason to stay in training or to jumpstart me out of a seasonal lull.
Where do you see yourself in a few years?
I’m passionate about building things and team dynamics. My professional journey is becoming less about individual technical skills and more about team potential. There is a massive gap in the IT world of bringing up new talent via apprenticeships. You almost never see it, whereas in other technical fields, apprenticeships are the norm. About time we change that. I can see being in a situation where I’m spearheading some of that. Can’t do it alone though.