About Me

I am a (mostly) self-taught UX professional who caught the UX bug reading How Users Read on the Web while working at the local news station and have never looked back.

Since 2019, I've helped designers and non-designers alike deepen their understanding of UX, with a special fondness for the Community of Practice that I established while at John Deere.

I learn by doing and most of my skills have been acquired on-the-job. After catching said UX bug, I attended Northern Illinois University to pursue a master's degree in Technical Writing. There I took a seminar course on Usability Testing and other classes focused on creating better experiences for everyone.

I believe* that content people should come first, user testing (and design and ideation!) should be iterative, decisions should be data-driven have confidence levels clearly stated, and that success is measurable when you set goals and evaluate progress.

*Reflects edits made in 2021. Original statment written in 2017.

Interests & Hobbies

Coffee, biking, beer, and baking, though generally not all at the same time. During the summer of 2017, I participated in RAGBRAI XLV and spent a week biking across Iowa.

I also enjoy playing board games, especially strategy-based and/or Euro-style games with creative themes and unique play mechanics.