Spoiler alert: There is UX in everything. — I spent 11 years as a scientific illustrator and designer, translating cutting-edge research into digestible schematics. I gave several lectures around the world and the one question I got from scientists, post-docs, and graduate students was always “How do I get my figures to be good?” (Side note: process schematics…

An excerpt from a paper I submitted as part of a Systems Design graduate-level course that serves as a brief introduction to systems thinking as applied to design. — While I didn‘t fully understand the concept of Cybernetics until this year, I’ve been unknowingly drawing feedback loops throughout my career. Micro-reactions are fueled by catalysts that signal to enzymes and proteins, prompting gene expression that alters whole cells and organs. Everything is happening all the time, forever. Scientists get…

Another perspective for the endless Masters vs BootCamp debate — I arrived at my current position as a Senior UX Designer rather unconventionally; I worked as a scientific illustrator for 11 years before getting recruited as a multimedia designer for a data science platform focusing on genomic analysis. I don’t have an academic background in science, but I drew enough…

A picture is worth a thousand words, so make each one count. — This is part of a series of posts exploring assignments for a class on designing for behavior and experience, taken as part of a master of science in experience design program. I’ve got about half an hour before the muscle relaxers kick in* and, depending on your perspective, my writing…

Marinating in burnout? Have you tried building another prototype? — This is part of a series of posts exploring assignments for a class on designing for behavior and experience, taken as part of a master of science in experience design program. While that subhead seems loaded with snark, it holds true. I spend most of my day in front of…

An exercise best described by my favorite Alice Cooper album.* — The last installment of this exercise proved to be rather challenging, in terms of logistics and availability as the final tests had to occur during Spring Break. Under my psychologists’ advice, I booked the week off of work for an uninterrupted medical leave to mitigate burnout. However, the uninterrupted portion…

Pivoting to explore platforms that allow strangers to “mix” colors with their bodies. Since the hopscotch didn’t go as well as it could have, we decided to pivot and modify our intervention in order to have dimension and catch attention. …

Taking a dérive around Union Square, Somerville, in order to design an intervention that allows strangers to interact. — How do you get strangers to interact in an area with no clear affordances or verbal instructions for interaction? The initial phase of this assignment was to take a leisurely stroll and notice patterns in the environment. Starting at Bow Market, we walked the perimeter of the Union Square commercial…

I made a covert translation system that wouldn’t freak my mom out. — For the next step in the 5-in-5’s, we had to iterate on one prototype idea. I chose to further investigate the translation glasses for my mom. Speaking and understanding English has always been a hardship for her, so I wanted to design this next iteration with her in mind. My…