A user-centered designer
and researcher creating rich interactive experiences.
Design makes order from chaos.
I'm a formally trained designer, and a self-made futurist. My work introduces structure, strategy, and storytelling.
Trained in communication and interaction design at Carnegie Mellon University and California College of the Arts, I also have expertise in human-centered research, product and scenario prototyping, and leading creative projects.
My career has included successful product launches, effective contributions to long-range technology research, scholarly publication and design education. Recently I've designed experiences and interfaces for mobile applications, websites and other digital media. You'll find some examples of this work in the portfolio section.
I've developed a research focus on product customization and personalization, asking how designers create experiences where users design for themselves. My work launching consumer photobooks gave rise to this interest, which carried me to graduate school.
In addition to my professional practice as a designer, I am a dedicated educator and thinker. Teaching design shares much with doing design: it is process oriented and requires the same collective vision and day-in-day-out collaboration found successful in design studios and groups. I find it incredibly rewarding to work with the next generation of designers.
I've been called a techno-utopian and told I have a talent for manifesto (which suits me fine). I live in Washington DC with my husband Alek, our son Asa and two spoiled housecats.