by Annie | Jun 17, 2015 | Design, Game Design, Instructional Design, Tech
I’ve been part of the tech industry off and on since 2006, and in that time, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of talented and passionate people, most of them men. This is pretty typical for the tech industry, especially in game development, in which the percentage of women is lowest amongst all other tech fields. I’ve experienced firsthand the impact that gender equality can have on team dynamics. I’ve been on teams in which I was the only female, which, I’m proud to say, taught me how to drink beer and enjoy it. I’ve also been on teams with much smaller or nonexistent gender gaps, and for me, as a woman, the difference is palpable. According to the latest data, while game development has the lowest percentage of women amongst the tech industry, elearning has the highest percentage, which means I’ve now been on both ends of the spectrum. Each team composition brings out a different side of myself, but regardless of the gender makeup, I continue to push myself to be the best I can be. So while I love my sisters in tech, I’m also a fan of the brogrammers. Check out the full breakdown of the gender diversity data from this post on Measuring Gender Diversity with Data from...
by Annie | Jun 8, 2015 | Design, Product Design
Early on in my design career, I focused diligently on the problems that were assigned to me. A specific market segment had been identified, a specific need had to be met… I was on it, immediately researching the problem and coming up with a variety of potential solutions. But design has taught me to stay young. To look at everything through the mind of a beginner, to question everything, and to forever be curious. I’m a designer by trade, but I’m also a designer at heart. Even when I’m off the clock, I examine everything, always looking for hidden opportunities to use design to improve the world. As Tony Fadell, the guy behind the iPod and the Nest thermostat, puts it, “It’s easy to solve a problem that almost everyone sees. But it’s hard to solve a problem that almost no one sees.” Indeed, the world is full of invisible problems that most people are accustomed to and thus can’t see. As a designer, I have the unique and exciting challenge of finding those hidden issues and designing a better world, one small solution at a...
