Where to Begin

In my design career, I've worn many hats: designer, creative director, strategist, researcher, consultant, technologist, and educator. One thing has bound each of these experiences together: the awareness that for a designed experience to work, you've got to situate it within the larger context. It's the old "w's" of journalism: who, what, why, where, and when.

Each of these has a profound effect on the success of any one design. After all, design is always created for someone and that "someone" will use it in a specific place and time. And as we expand our perspective, taken together, a series of designed experiences is nothing less than the promise any organization or brand makes.

I tend to compare this to the house that Jack built.

Business strategy, market landscape, and the experiences that come both before and after any one designed "touchpoint" all directly determine the quality and effectiveness of the work. I didn't set out to make these part of my repertoire. But for design to succeed, they must be understood.

So, while I love design details (my colleagues at Simmons used to joke about the semi-transparent 1px horiztonal rule in my designs), I'm also keenly interested in all those things that a design must know about. This has taken my career in the direction of design thinking, service design, and strategic consulting, while at the same time, allowing me to create carefully crafted and considered products and services.

I think what I like most about my chosen field is that the opportunity to make something that matters and that succeeds and endures—the hard, wonderful, at times terrifying problems—these are always waiting for the right approach to unlock their full potential.