My Background
Design
Even before I knew what good design was, I recognized its power. I noticed certain “things” just communicated more effectively than others. A desire to understand the reasons behind this fueled my interest in design.
I’m constantly fascinated by the way all elements of design work together to make products accessible, relevant and beautiful.
Technology
My background in technology is fairly broad. I've product managed web based technology applications, freelanced as a creative front end developer, and produced an extensive variety of web-based multimedia.
Throughout my career I've combined technology and design to create simple, elegant solutions to complex problems.
Education
I began my career as an educator. I have a Master’s in Education and have instructed learners of all ages, backgrounds and abilities. I've taught in formal classrooms, online environments, and professional conferences and workshops.
I have a natural inclination to teach and an ability to communicate complex information in easy to understand terms.
My Skills
Learning
Design
I have special expertise in learning design. Much of my formal education and career has been spent designing, implementing and evaluating learning programs, products, and environments.
I’m particularly skilled in the design and delivery of online instruction, and in crafting creative solutions to interesting teaching and learning problems.
Web Design &
Development
I consider myself a practical designer. While I understand the theories and trends that guide the field, my primary concern while designing is simply “will this work?”- does this design communicate the information and feeling I’m trying to convey?
I also develop. Being able to combine the design and development phases allows me to take a very agile approach to production. While I love to design, development gives me the opportunity to flex both my creative and logical muscles.
User
Experience
My skills and interest in UI / UX go well beyond web design. Whether I'm teaching, consulting, producing, or designing, my focus is always on creating environments and experiences that resonate emotionally with people.
Part of what attracts me to UX design is the challenge of balancing the desire for beautiful UI with the realities of technology, devices, user expectations, and user needs. These are problems I enjoy solving.
Management
& Strategy
I love getting my hands dirty with day-to-day design and development. But I equally enjoy managing teams and setting overall project strategy.
At Amazon, I product manage internal web applications. At the University of Texas, I provided design, technology, and project management consulting services on a wide range of projects. As a freelancer, I perform all aspects of project management - write contracts, create scopes of work, recommend vendors, and establish positive client relationships.
Learning Design
I have special expertise in learning design. Much of my formal education and career has been spent designing, implementing and evaluating learning programs, products, and environments.
Web Design & Development
I consider myself a practical designer. While I understand the theories and trends that guide the field, my primary concern while designing is simply “will this work?”- does this design communicate the information and feeling I’m trying to convey?
User Experience
I focus on creating experiences that resonate emotionally with people. Part of what attracts me to UX design is the challenge of balancing the desire for beautiful UI with the realities of technology, browsers, devices, and user experience. These are problems I enjoy solving.
Management & Strategy
I love getting my hands dirty with day-to-day design and development. But I equally enjoy managing teams and products and setting overall project strategy.
