new job!
I haven’t posted in a good, long while. Maybe you’ve noticed. But probably not?
I don’t really have excuses for it, other than laziness, the impending birth of a daughter, and the general fog-headedness that comes with searching for, interviewing for, and getting a new job.
So thaaaaat’s what’s bringing back into the blog realm. I have a new job. And I want to tell you about it.
The past: tech writing
4 years ago, I started as a technical writer at Trisept Solutions. I have a degree in Technical & Professional Writing. But up to that point, I’d just worked jobby jobs. Things to get by, pay a few bills. I wasn’t putting my degree to use at all.
In 2006, my wife (then girlfriend) was finishing up acupuncture school and we decided to move back to Milwaukee from Chicago. Cheaper cost of living, closer to friends/family. That sort of things. And I landed my job at Trisept, where I’d actually use the education my parents paid so much for.
Enter UX
Several months in, the company hired a Usability Specialist. A really great one named Deborah Sova. I had no idea what usability was. But Deb and I quickly struck up a rapport and she graciously took me under her wing, involving me in all her projects. Heuristics, user testing, the works.
It was the best, most intense education I’ve ever had.
About a year later, Deb left for a different and her role was handed to me. I continued to hone my skills, work on different types of projects, and just generally grow the UX practice within the company.
The freedom I had to learn at Trisept was astounding. I dove in deeply and lost myself in the nooks and crannies of UX. I got really excited about the field and realized that it’s exactly what I want to spend the rest of my working life doing.
Need for a change
After a few years in the UX role, I started feeling the need to diversify. Trisept creates technology for the travel industry. Both B-to-C and B-to-B sites. Great stuff, but you need to grow to stay relevant, right?
The departure
So I started shopping around for new job. Keeping my ears open.
My good friend, colleague, and mkeUX co-conspirator, Mike Kornacki, had recently been hired as UX Architect at Johnson Controls (JCI). He promised me and Steve Grobschmidt that he’d keep us in the loop about any expanded UX needs at JCI.
Within three months of his hire date, he had us in the door.
I started as Information Architect a week and a half ago. Steve started as UX Lead earlier in July.
New things
I’m totally stoked about learning a new industry and continuing my UX education in a new domain. I’m also super excited to be on a UX team with people I genuinely respect and like personally (Gretchen Thomas is also part of it!). We’re being empowered to create the organization’s UX process from the ground up. Exciting stuff!
I’m sure I’ll be telling you more about it as I get settled. And hopefully the change of scenery will kick start me back into blogging!
