Published inUX Collective·Sep 21, 2020The CatchIt has now been 4 months and 14 days since my job at IBM dissolved, and on August 18th, I accepted a contract role to become a Principal UX Designer for PayPal, started yesterday (September 14). Big sigh of relief for me. On Twitter, I noticed a designer (https://twitter.com/rodrigotellom) post…Job Hunting8 min readJob Hunting8 min read
Aug 29, 2020Tales from The Business MachineVol. 1: Fear & Pivoting in Silicon Valley My manager and I had just sped out of the San Jose airport, when I looked at him with a hint of fear in my eyes. …User Experience7 min readUser Experience7 min read
Jun 12, 2020The HuntWhen I was 15, my father took me muzzleloader hunting. For those who don’t know, muzzleloaders are rifles that use black powder to fire, much like an old timey musket. We went with my uncle and one of my father’s employees, Walter, who is a Navajo native. The hunting days…Careers4 min readCareers4 min read
May 31, 2020On lossA reflection of a friend & mentor When I first met Abdullah Shaikh, I was at first put off. He was boisterous, loud, and would interrupt you at a moments notice. …Loss9 min readLoss9 min read
Feb 3, 2020Flattery will get you somewhere in 2020, probablyI’m terrible at taking compliments. I found myself thinking about that subject today because a colleague gave me some wonderful compliments earlier. They included the fact that I listen, I empathize, and I’m a weirdo, just like her. (I won’t go into details) She recalled a moment last year, when…Compliments3 min readCompliments3 min read
Published inUX Collective·Mar 9, 2018How does design strategy work within a large enterprise?Last October, I visited my alma mater, the School of Visual Arts Masters in Branding program, which teaches graduate students about the intersections of business & design. Whenever I visit, there’s always students that have questions about what I do, both as an IBM’er and a Design Strategist. …Design5 min readDesign5 min read
Published inIBM Design·Feb 6, 2018How to say goodbye & welcome the firehose.(or, what’s it like when you join a new team) — Cat’s out of the bag. I’ve joined a new team at IBM. After spending nearly the last two years working on various cognitive developer experiences within Watson Core, I needed a change, which has taken me to the world of Watson Health, where I will be focusing on Empowering Heroes…Design5 min readDesign5 min read
Oct 13, 2017How do I make a portfolio look good?What is a portfolio? Is it an opportunity to show finished work? A way to convey process? The life and death of a project? Is it a Dribbble account? Over the course of my career, I have redesigned my portfolio to reflect new skills or new work, and I have…Design3 min readDesign3 min read
Sep 7, 2017Creativity comes in bursts.Lately, I’ve been reflecting on my life and career…primarily because I’m building a case for my next journey at IBM, to be a Design Principal. I started to think about how Creativity comes and goes…for me, it’s something I actively decided to stop pursuing, because it results in half finished…Creativity2 min readCreativity2 min read
Dec 13, 2016AI ObservationsBecause of Black Friday, I, like many people now have a cognitive enabled assistant sitting in our homes. It’s name is Alexa. I say Cognitive Enabled Assistant because Alexa isn’t truly AI yet. Here’s why: Request based: All inputs are treated as requests…if you ask Alexa something that isn’t a…Amazon Echo2 min readAmazon Echo2 min read
