As a kid of the 90s, it probably won’t surprise you to know I was a big fan of the early internet. In particular, Neopets. It was the perfect storm of creativity for me. I crafted lore for my pets, learned HTML to make them pretty webpages, and made friends around the globe. I dreamt of being a creative jack-of-all-trades. A modern renaissance person, if you will. Art, literature, drama, you name it.

My obsession with layouts and organization probably stems from the sheer volume of books I read. Books are perfectly formulated containers of interesting content for consumption–they embrace white space and order to provide glimpses into the futuristic and the fantastic. It wasn’t long before I was jumping from series like His Dark Materials to shows like Star Trek, and from there even further beyond.

I spent so much time going through sci-fi classics, writing my own adventures, and drawing up my own spaceships and interfaces that it’s a wonder I didn’t get into user experience sooner. I always considered myself creative, but I neglected to assimilate this creativity with my scientific and logical sides. The two were at odds in my head. Until one day I realized they didn’t have to be. (And probably weren’t.)

It was a pretty normal day, I’d worked my 9-5, came home for dinner, and after settled in to play video games. I was starting up a new title (Dragon Age: Inquisition, 2014, if you’re curious), and reflexively navigated to the settings to turn on subtitles. I always used subtitles. When I started playing though, the subtitles were poorly formatted and practically illegible, setting aside the lack of subtitles for any juicy party chatter outside of cutscenes. To my frustration, there was no recourse to fix them. 

Here I was, in modern times, without access to something basic that streaming services had all but solved. I remember thinking: what about people who are hard of hearing? What about low-vision users? These ‘subtitles’ utterly failed both those groups of people. (And probably many others.) 

In a way, everything that followed was kismet. It was inevitable that I would get sucked into using my [design] skills for good. I sought out every opportunity to improve any project I touched, whether it be print, digital, or other, and ensure everyone could enjoy it. 

So, of course I came full circle into organizing data and imagery in digital spaces, echoing the curation I did for my Neopets in the 90s. I guess I knew what I wanted to be from the beginning, and the journey has made the destination all the more rewarding.

P.S. If you haven’t read The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, you should. Talk about the future of AI right there.

Some Stats:
Multiple Certifications from The Interaction Design Foundation (2023/24)
Previously a Senior Art Director for Avalere Health (2018-2023)
BFA in Graphic Design from University of the Arts (2013)