Professional

Background

My main interest entering college was in biology, but upon taking an introductory computer science class, I was intrigued. Never one for making difficult decisions, I was happy to find out about a field named 'bioinformatics' that would let me do a little bit of both computers and biology. Graduating with a B.A. in computer science and a minor in molecular genetics, I was well prepared to enter this emerging field.

Over the course of my work at UCSF's Computer Graphics Lab, my interests slowly shifted away from the science motivating the software development, and more towards the software itself. I first became aware of usability issues, and the field of Human Computer Interaction in general, due to the unique pressures of an academic software development environment. Between the funding sources that value innovation over user-friendliness, a limited amount of development resources, and the oft-quoted 'high pain threshold' of academic software users, usability was one of the lower priorities on the collective to-do list [Disclaimer: that being said, we did a darn good job of it]. It was precisely this absence of formality that first piqued my interest in the field of HCI.

It's just so exciting to be a part of this field, and to have the opportunity to explore the multitude of disciplines which HCI has necessarily come to encompass. I am consistently amazed at the array of problems that HCI attempts to solve - and consistently overwhelmed at the long list of design tools, technologies, and vast bodies of knowledge that are drawn upon in solving these problems. Of all the skills I've obtained then, perhaps the most crucial is the ability to adapt. In a field as intensely cross-disciplinary as HCI, I believe that my ability to quickly become accustomed to the information, tools, and methods required of a situation will serve as a genuine asset to any organization.

 

Interaction Design

My approach to interaction design involves both thinking and doing.

I like to think hard about problems. Not every problem is tractable, but I often find that throwing enough dedicated thought (along with a stack of blank paper and a couple Sharpies) at a problem will always result in some usable mental currency which can eventually be applied towards solving some problem. Specifically, I like thinking about how the internet is changing our lives. I like thinking about mobile devices, and the transformative power of simply being connected to the people and information we care about most. I like thinking about things from the users perspective, and identifying ways to surprise, delight, and engage them.

Unfortunately, thinking is not enough. Anyone can think … thinking is the easy part. I’m also quite fond of doing … particularly making things. Regardless of the underlying medium, transforming thought into tangible objects that you can see, hold, hear or interact with, is the only way to effectively communicate ideas. It feels good to make things, to see your ideas realized, and I’m amazed as to how much quicker you can get traction for an idea when you’ve gone through the trouble of creating some artifact. I can also rely on my technical background to think about how something can be built, and communicate these ideas to those who are responsible for actually building it. Half the battle is knowing which is the appropriate tool to use to solve a given problem.

 

Personal

I grew up in a town in suburban New York (on Long Island) called Plainview. My parents and their pack of dogs still reside there, and my sister lives in New Jersey with her fiancee.

Since then, I've been fortunate enough to move around quite a bit, living in Durham, North Carolina (undergraduate), Townsville, Australia (six-month study abroad program), San Francisco, CA (work), Oulu, Finland (three-month summer internship), Atlanta, Georgia (graduate school), Aachen, Germany (summer internship), Chicago, IL (work) and now, finally, Calgary, Canada (more work). I figure I should check out all my options before I finally decide where I want to settle down.

Some things I enjoy doing in the all-too-few hours between 5pm and 9am:

Eating - Oh do I love eating! I enjoy most cuisines, especially those that are considered 'ethnic' (whatever that means). The spicier the better. My favorite dish is Phở, a Vietnamese beef broth with rice noodles and thin slices of meat. Fortunately, this is available in great abundance here in Calgary. By corollary, I love cooking, too.

Triathlon - After a near-death experience ('college'), spending a couple years in the fitness mecca of San Francisco instilled in me a strong desire to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I got started with triathlons, competing in Escape from Alcatraz [2003], Wildflower [2004], Treasure Island [2004], and a couple of others in the Bay Area, around Atlanta, and in the Chicagoland area. I try to get in a pool, on a bike, and on the road a couple days a week to stay in good shape for when tri season rolls around.

Tutoring - I enjoy learning, and as a result I enjoy helping others learn as well. I've had the honor of participating in some amazing tutoring programs that make real differences in the lives of children, including Real Options for City Kids (ROCK) in San Francisco, and ChildServ in Chicago.