MY
GALLUP STRENGTHS FINDER
THEMES
ACHIEVER
EMPATHY
FUTURISTIC
IDEATION
STRATEGIC
Leading UX teams is great fun. User Experience is a field people "arrive at", happy they've found challenging work that utilizes their polymath talents. I have found that as a group, UX folk seem to love collaboration and their career choice more than most disciplines.
With that knowledge in hand, I've always subscribed to my father's simple business credo: "Hire people smarter than you". I surround myself with talent and energy, which directly translates to good business results.
LEADERSHIP
I am a User Experience leader looking for my next adventure
I've recently exited a role as the first UX executive in the Software Integrity Group at Synopsys (now Black Duck) and have been attending to family matters in the meantime. Just prior, I worked with AstraZeneca defining how pharmaceutical trials can be improved and accelerated by placing much of the patient journey in the digital realm. Previously at Honeywell, I led global design strategy for their Security and Fire businesses, collapsing disparate systems into a unified whole. My great teams at TiVo were instrumental in helping define today's entertainment experience
In a prior life I received my degree in computer science, and soon after co-founded polarfire design, a successful user experience firm
MY
GALLUP STRENGTHS FINDER
THEMES
ACHIEVER
EMPATHY
FUTURISTIC
IDEATION
STRATEGIC
Leading UX teams is great fun. User Experience is a field people "arrive at", happy they've found challenging work that utilizes their polymath talents. I have found that UX folk love collaboration and their career choice a bit more than most disciplines
With that knowledge in hand, I've always subscribed to my father's simple business credo: "Hire people smarter than you". I surround myself with talent and energy, which directly translates to good business results
Quick Story:
A few years back I had a fairly new researcher on my team who, because of some program changes, lost her upcoming slate of work. I spoke with her manager and we had two options: figure out a redirection, or layoff. We decided to have her explore patenting around her own concepts
When I'd drop by her desk to get updates I couldn't always follow her thinking. But she had conviction, and I had faith. By years end her effort manifested thusly:
-
Top patenter in the company with 16 patents filed
-
Company record of most patents ever filed in one year by a single person
-
First female top patenter in the company
Phenomenal results, but not isolated - my group held 8 of the 10 top patenting spots that year. This type of performance was sustained, cementing my UX team as a profit center to the tune of millions of dollars a year
MY
GOLEMAN LEADERSHIP
STYLE
COMMANDING
PACESETTING
COACHING
AFFILIATIVE
DEMOCRATIC
VISIONARY
WORK
The recent past has seen me lead forward looking UX teams and programs for Fortune 500 companies. Unfortunately, NDAs mean I'm not able to get into much detail
My teams have created great experiences in use by millions daily. I have successfully led many dozens of software design projects for PC, mobile, TV and all manner of industrial devices with screens (and even some without). I've also had purview over a number of industrial design/hardware projects, one of which has recently garnered a coveted International Forum Design award
Process
Product & Innovation
PATENTING
Wait...how does a user experience background fit into patenting?
Answer: hand in glove
Filing IP in the course of a UX career is a logical output from design thinking. Now, to be clear there are some industries - whether because of their advanced maturity or technical acumen - that are a bit trickier to realize new IP from a user experience perspective. I don't traffic in those industries :)
Importantly, I'm not referring to design patents. Ironically, I have none of those yet (they can be pretty nice too - just ask Apple).
What I'm referring to are utility patents (i.e. normal patents), which protect your company's ideas while bringing clarity, value and additional importance to a UX team
Interestingly, virtually all the patenting I and my teams have been a part of have not been specific to software or hardware interfaces. Instead, the connective thread is describing unique methods for improving some aspect of an experience, with most of these seeds born from the germ of observation
As illustration, some of my patents can be classified thusly:
-
accessibility
-
advertising
-
augmented reality
-
business models
-
crowd sourcing
-
machine learning
-
personalization
-
recommendation engines
-
social networking
Patent Brag Infographics
Not in the least bit humble
TOP FACTS
Patent Applications Filed
98
Total Patents Granted
4
9
3
Unique Utility Patents Granted
5
Triadic Patents Granted
6
2
(I dunno why...)
Patents Granted in Portugal
78
4
30
35
18
19
9
UNIQUE UTILITY PATENTS
Musk
Gates
Brin
Bezos
Peterson
Jobs
Einstein
COMBINED NET WORTH
$500,000,000+
(...)
Citations
These fine companies make up the majority of the 1000+ references to my IP within their own research, patenting and papers.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in South Dakota, I have lived as far off as Finland - the happiest country in the world
I have two wonderful, talented children who keep their father in awe most of the time
My direction was set by age three, spending my time either playing with Legos, drawing, or poring over M.C. Escher books
Back before PC guy vs. Apple guy, I was a Commodore kid who saved up from high school jobs for an Amiga 1000 the day it was launched. IMHO still the greatest computer ever designed (for its time)
My kids in Hawaii
Photo taken not too long ago, when they were smaller than their Lilliputian father.
D'Arby Portrait
My first "real" painting, done in an acrylic course back in the day. Assignment limited us to using only white & burnt umber.
Acrylic on Canvas
1989
Maze 16
I went through a phase of illustrating mazes.
Marker on Paperboard
1990
45 Insert
My dorm at UCSC had a mural contest. I did well :)
Acrylic on Wall
1992
Oil on Canvas
2019
Christmas present for my son
Spinosaur Swim
Kathleen
Christmas present for my daughter
Oil on Canvas
2019
Sterling Stingray 5
2010s
Ibanez Roadstar II
1980s - first guitar
Epiphone SG G400
1990s
Teisco "unknown"
1960s
Jackson J32 Dinky
2010s
Fender Stratocaster
1996
Fender Jazz Squier
unknown age (30+)
SX Fretless Bass
unknown age (10+)
Ibanez AW 25 12 string
1980s
Kramer 650 G
1976
Sitar
unknown age (20+)
Italia Rimini 12
2010s
As shown above, I create some passable art on occasion
Love traveling and meeting new people and cultures. My career has afforded me the opportunity to go all over the globe
Cooking is a passion and my skills have become impressive for a home cook. Thanks Pandemic!
Music is my main hobby. My rockstar moment was playing bass in a backup band supporting members of the Pharcyde and Wu-Tang Clan at a club show back in the mid '90s in San Jose, California
Credits
No generative AI (was knowingly) used in the production of this portfolio. While I still do a lot of my own stunt work, it is with great thanks to the following exceptions:
All the great crews at AstraZeneca, Honeywell, Synopsys & TiVo for the design and experience work shown
Amanda Mallardo, ex-teammate
Douglas Seyller, ex-teammate
Liza Summer, from Pexels
Max Vakhtbovych, from Pexels
Photo of Playschool research
Composed product imagery in TiVo panels
Photo of woman holding phone
Photos of TVs in TiVo panels