Telling you that I am a former #1 tennis player in Maine should give you a little insight into the type of passion that I bring to all aspects of my life. I have had a passion for science fiction ever since seeing Star Wars in the theater and having my little mind blown away by laser beams and star battles. Zeroing in on one aspect of my life, my journey with technology should give you a little insight into the type of person I am and why design has had such a profound impact on my life.
On Christmas 1992, my life changed. My brother woke me up early in the morning, as he always did on Christmas, and we waited for my parents to call us downstairs to see what Santa had brought.The dulcet tones of a synthesized version of Jingle Bells started to play downstairs. We rushed downstairs and, to our shock and delight, our parents had purchased a Gateway 2000 PC for Christmas. This was the first event in a life-long love affair with technology.
Growing up, Star Wars was a constant in our house. Return of the Jedi was a staple that we watched whenever we got the chance so our VHS tape would sometimes display a blurry screen due to its overuse. When Star Wars X-Wing Fighter was released for MS-Dos, I jumped at the chance to fly my own X-Wing just like Luke did in Jedi. In 1993, getting a computer to run a game out of the box proved to be a challenge, as games in ‘93 ran off of multiple floppy disks and not CD-roms.
My journey with education has brought many challenges and many wins along with it. One of my proudest accomplishments was working with my administrator to design and implement 3D printing design programs district-wide. The Design Process became all-encompassing as I worked to instill the grit and determination to solve problems through well-researched design thinking with students. I guided them through the design process to help them create something tangible and possibly solve a wealth of problems along the way. We designed and 3D modeled bridges, chameleons, creepy carrots, and eventually we even designed our own models of eco-friendly houses for the homeless.
The design process has always been a guiding force in my life and served as the kindling for the fire that led me to the path of becoming a UX designer. This passion for creating, coupled with my desire to engage my inner engineer, has become the foundation of base camp at design mountain. Throughout the journey multiple camps will be assembled as I encounter new mountains to ascend. Each destination throughout my adventure is an opportunity to redefine good design, starting from the foundation up. Let’s make camp in good design, shall we?
“Good design is like a refrigerator—when it works, no one notices, but when it doesn’t, it sure stinks." –Irene Au
