Design 21: Social Design Network

I'm an Associate Professor of Design Anthropology and Associate Director of the City Design Center at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in the School of Art and Design in the USA. I am becoming a recoginzed leader in the field of Design Anthropology. This is an emerging field that seeks to (1) understand how the processes and artifacts of design help define what it means to be human and (2) increase the strategic value of human-centered design to business, government, and society. I teach Research Methods for Art and Design as well as critical design theory courses to students across the College of Architecture and the Arts.

I am passionate about civically-engaged design that creates politically informed and enfranchised people. My projects on Design + Governmentality have included the experiences of voting and of emergency and evacuation with the organization, Design for Democracy, and my current independent projects on public healthcare.

Previously, I worked at Sapient Corporation and then Arc Worldwide as a Sr. Experience Planner. I spent five years bringing ethnographic insight to strategic design planning and implementation. My roster of clients included: U.S. Army and Army Reserve, Northern Trust Bank, Sears, Whirlpool, Fujisawa, Unilever, Allstate Financial, and Nokia.

I hold a Ph.D. and MA in Anthropology from Stanford University and a BA in Anthropology from Bryn Mawr College.