About Me
As an interaction designer, I rely on principles of Agile development, Lean UX, and Design Thinking in the process of creating websites and mobile apps, and I appreciate the value of working in teams to solve challenging problems for end users.
I believe research and testing are at the heart of creating solutions that meet user needs and provide better user experiences.
Two buzz-phrases that have stuck with me are Test early, test often and Fail fast.
My Story
Teaching and UX Design
Before transitioning to UX Research & Design and Front End Development, I taught English courses at a college in Bentonville, Arkansas. As an educator, I enjoyed designing assignments and in-class activities that helped students grow step-by-step toward broader learning goals.
In the UX field, I still like to think about how people learn, considering whether they are able to make sense of what they see on a screen or at a given point in a customer journey. Just like creating assignments or activities that are enjoyable and make sense to students, my goal in designing digital products and experiences is to anticipate (and validate through testing) how users will interact with the options presented to them at each step in any given user flow.
Between Cultures—Understanding People
I grew up as a third culture kid in four different countries. While I don't consider myself fully part of any of the cultures I was exposed to, each one is a part of my story. Being between cultures, I'm curious about people different from me and enjoy learning about others.
As we know from the field of UX Research, understanding people is essential to designing great user experiences. I'm interested in how culture and subculture can be at play in design.
Fun Facts
- I've lived in Ecuador, Ukraine, Russia, and the USA. Now I live in Canada.
- I speak English and Russian.
- I studied classical piano in Moscow, Russia for four years. Hours of intense practice!
- I started my own business as a piano tuner.
- I was fortunate enough to be able to go to grad school to study a passion of mine: translation of literature.
- In high school I was a bit of a Linux-geek. I would spend hours getting different Linux distros to work on my old laptops.
I enjoy making data visualizations. Take a look!
The intersection of the work I've previously done and UX Design
How long I've been active in my past and current interests
Language gain and loss in my life over time
Places I've lived and how long I've lived there
