Revision Path

I knew about Aricka Lewis through our mutual volunteer work through AIGA, so I'm really glad we had a chance to talk so I could learn more about her! Aricka is a senior UX designer at Ad Hoc, as well as an adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas, so our conversation began talking about the ins and outs of her work, as well as what it feels like teaching at her alma mater...

While the internet has helped loads of people get into design, it's design educators like Jennifer White-Johnson who really help teach the next generation of our industry. As a multidisciplinary artist, designer, photographer, activist, and advocate, Jennifer brings all this to her work as an assistant professor of visual communications and digital media arts at Bowie State University...

The best way I can describe Ari Melenciano is that she is a renaissance talent. As an artist, researcher, and creative technologist, Ari is always finding new ways to express herself, speak to social issues, and find ways to use her art to enhance the lives of everyday people. Ari talked about her residency at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, which helped her create Afrotectopia, a multi-day new media arts, culture and technology festival...

As designers, we are uniquely equipped with the skills to tackle any number of problems. Randy Ellis knows this, and our conversation really reflects just how much of his career and creative energy goes towards this very goal. We talked about his work through his consultancy, 5ivehat UX Agency, and then went into a spirited discussion on diversity in the design community...

Y'all, we are starting off November with a really inspiring interview with DevOps engineer and tech education enthusiast Aaron Brooks. By day, he uses his skills at Baltimore-based software development company Fearless, and by night, he's helping educate the next generation of techies through MASTERMND Academy, a free 12-week bootcamp that he livestreams on Twitch...

As an engineering manager at Abstract, Dee Tuck juggles a lot. But whether it's overseeing teams or recruiting and retaining talent, Dee makes sure that diversity and inclusion are a crucial element of her work from day to day. That's where we began our conversation, but wait...there's more! Dee talked about her time attending the illustrious Tuskegee University, gave insight on where her strong sense of ambition stems from, and talked about the importance of bringing your whole self to work...

Adrian Franks is a one-of-a-kind renaissance man. His work as a UX creative director at IBM focuses on experience design (iX) for their global business services brand, but trust me -- his skills don't stop there. Our conversation began with Adrian walking us through his typical days of meetings and projects, but things really came alive when we talked about his days growing up and learning design in Atlanta...

Civic design focuses on the common good, and no one quite sums up just how vital that is to our local communities than this week's guest, Sabrina Dorsainvil. As the director of civic design for the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics in Boston, MA, she uses her skills as a designer and illustrator to develop strategic, human-centered designs that address some of the city's most complex issues...

Dantley Davis has been a mainstay in the Silicon Valley tech and design community for almost 20 years. His work at PayPal, SAP, Yahoo!, Netflix, and Facebook have all led him to his current role as VP of design and research for one of the most well-known websites in the world -- Twitter. So as you can imagine, I had a lot of questions to ask him, and Dantley was gracious enough to give some insight into what he does and on his perspective of the current tech and design industries...

We've had several people from Facebook on Revision Path before, but this week's conversation with Dr. Quaneisha Penha is a special one. As a user experience researcher, her work spans many of the industries and disciplines that make up the Facebook experience. Quaniesha walked me through her regular routine, which involves interviews, usability testing, and a lot of other methods. She also spoke about her time at Stanford, attending North Carolina A&T for her Masters and Ph.D...