I <3 design. I love those great products that just make sense. Those little details that make the whole thing worth it. Simple and beautiful. Form, function and usability.
Design is not just an outcome. It is not the final result. Design is the experience, the process, the exploration along the way. Mistakes make it worth it. If you're not screwing up, you're not learning.
I love problem solving, and helping others figure out solutions to their problems. I really enjoy teaching and sharing the process. There's nothing quite like that aha moment, when it clicks in a student 's head, and you can see in their eyes that they understand not just the current state, but why their path has lead them there, and they begin see the next steps. The same can be said for an end-user of a product, that smile and nod that comes from an innate understanding of what is in their hands.
I'm a very hands-on kindofa guy. I think with my hands. I tinker, I pull apart, I rebuild. I'm a doer.
I have worked in many shop environments over the last ten years, from furniture to bicycles to wheelchairs, from research to design to development, from prototyping to testing to production.
I have spent the last six years developing assistive technology for all types disabilities, with a primary focus on mobility impairments. It's a very user-centered process, with input from all the stakeholders involved, not just the end-user. To successfully design a whatever, one must include the patient and caregivers, clinicians and doctors, manufacturers and insurance, pretty much everyone along the way.
At the same time, I have also just completed my masters degree in Industrial Design. I've worked with many great people on a variety of projects over the past few years, and learned a lot along the way. My final project is a the "User-Centered Development of a Braking System for Manual Wheelchair Users." I'll bore you with details later :)
My favorite part about working in such a interdisciplinary and collaborative environment, is there's always someone who knows more about a subject then I do. I can honestly say that I have learned something new everyday.
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