What I bring to the table
A theory of design cognition divides design ability into four sets: mindset, knowledge set, skill set, and tools. Mindset defines one's philosophy and world-view. Knowledge set defines the bodies of knowledge one draws on in design. Skill set is the set of abilities one has to do design work. Finally, tool set is the list of tools one uses to execute a design vision.
I have separated my abilities into these four categories as listed below.
Mindset
My mindset is made up by three principles:
- The primacy of engaged, experience
The core of design is to provide an experience leveraging prior experience, tapped into human needs/expectations, providing a consistent/coherent flow of experience, and building toward anticipated future possibilities. - Reflective practice
Design is an engaged practice, where designer must be sensitive to the design situation, talk-back from the design problem, and the experience of a diverse base of knowledge on which to draw. Reflective practice is about adapting to the ever-changing situation. - Role of enjoyment, pleasure, and fun
Beyond functional capabilities, any interaction design has a responsibility to create an enjoyable experience for their user. That experience should engage and delight.
Knowledge set
To represent some of the core areas of knowledge, I am using a bubble plot. Box size represents my familiarity with the area of knowledge and the exact plotting shows the relationship between these knowledge areas. The further to the top corner, the more heavily used it has been.
Skill set
I am using bar charts to represent my skills and tools. You can alter between my level of overall usage, recency of use, and level of familiarity. I am using the same structure below for tool set. Higher bars represent higher values for the skills and tools, but all skills and tools included show some level of familiarity or use.
General Research Methods
Tool set
Adobe Products
Education
The following is a listing of courses I have taken:
Course Work
| Human-Computer Interaction Design |
| HCI Seminar I & II Grad (2006-07) |
Prototype Design & Techniques Grad (2005) |
| HCI Design I & II Grad (2004-05) |
Usability & Evaluation Methods Grad (2004) |
| Social Science |
| Cognitive Approach to Media Grad (2008) |
Experimental Methods in Cog Sci Grad (2007) |
| Pedagogy & Practice in Informatics Grad (2007) |
Social Informatics Seminar Grad (2007) |
| Virtual Ethnography Grad (2006) |
Intro to Research & Statistics Grad (2006) |
| Modeling Emergence: Games, Gossip Grad (2005) |
Ethnography Seminar Grad (2004) |
| Intro to Informatics Grad (2004) |
Growth of the American Nation U. Grad (2000) |
| Humanities |
| Philosophy of Cog & Info Science Grad (2007) |
New Media Art Seminar Grad (2005) |
| New Media & Interactivity Grad (2005) |
Beginning Irish I & II U. Grad (2003-2004) |
| Aesthetics & Philosophy of Art U. Grad (2002) |
Sacramental Theology U. Grad (2002) |
| Intro to Philosophy U. Grad (2001) |
Foundations of Theology U. Grad (2001) |
| Renaissance Literature Seminar U. Grad (2001) |
Beginning French I & II U. Grad (2000) |
| Computer Science & Engineering |
| Visual Analytics Grad (2008) |
Advanced Databases U. Grad (2004) |
| Behavior-Based Robotics U. Grad (2004) |
Biometrics U. Grad (2004) |
| Computer Graphics U. Grad (2003) |
Artificial Intelligence U. Grad (2003) |
| Algorithms U. Grad (2003) |
Database Concepts U. Grad (2003) |
| Theory of Computing U. Grad (2003) |
Compilers U. Grad (2003) |
| Computer Architecture I & II U. Grad (2002-03) |
Data Structures U. Grad (2002) |
| Operating Systems U. Grad (2002) |
Logic Design U. Grad (2002) |
| Functional Programming U. Grad (2001) |
Programming in C++ U. Grad (2001) |
| Mathematics |
| Intro to Numerical Methods U. Grad (2003) |
Differential Equations U. Grad (2003) |
| Probability U. Grad (2002) |
Linear Algebra U. Grad (2002) |
| Discrete Mathematics U. Grad (2001) |
Calculus I, II, & III U. Grad (2000-01) |
| Science & Engineering |
| Complex Systems Grad (2006) |
Intro to Electric Network U. Grad (2001) |
| General Physics I & II U. Grad (2001) |
Intro to Engineering I & II U. Grad (2000-01) |
| General Chemistry I & II U. Grad (2000-01) |
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Self-Guided Course Work
| Online | Audio Lecture |
| Video Game Foundations |
Great Ideas of Philosophy |
| DirectX Graphics Programming |
Great Ideas of Psychology |
| 3D Modeling in Maya |
Great Minds of Western Intellectual Tradition |
| Introduction to Network Programming |
Theories of Human Development |
| Society, Science, Survival: Walking Dead |
Understanding the Human Brain |
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How to Listen to and Understand Great Music |
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The Art of Teaching: Best Practices |
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Understanding Complexity |
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The Art of Critical Decision Making |
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The Art of Conflict Management |
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Strategic Thinking Skills |
