Principal Research Strategist with a passion for Design. African Art Historian.

UX Research and Design are a second career for me. In my first career I was a Professor of African art history. I specialized in women's ephemeral body and mural painting in Southeastern Nigeria.  I spent years doing ethnographic field work in lots of tiny villages. I loved sitting with elderly women and learning about their lives and their work. In some cases I worked as their apprentice. I still draw upon what those women taught me in my UX career. 

Academia, however, turned out to be too much of a lone wolf profession for me. Too much sitting in an office writing things that no one read. So I resigned from a tenure track academic position and started to search for other ways to apply my visual training and research skills. I wanted my work to focus more decisively on people. UX Research has met and exceeded my hopes for a second career. I have been stunned to see how neatly the skills I learned in my first career intersect with those needed for my second career. And I have enjoyed learning a wide range of new skills along the way.

I love to travel, and am a great believer in art pilgrimages. I’m learning to play the cello. I also enjoy camping and canoeing down clear rivers in the wilds of Northern Michigan.