About

The craft

Design found me before I found it. I started my career thinking I'd be a usability professional forever - I had a graduate degree in Human-Computer Interaction, ran user research teams, and thought I'd found my path. But I kept getting restless. The field felt static while I craved constant learning and growth.

So I started tinkering. During research sessions, I'd find myself adjusting designs. On nights and weekends, I taught myself Ruby on Rails and JavaScript, building web apps as a way to understand the full creative process. I loved how design and development flowed together: the thinking, the making, the solving.

When I stumbled into my first product design role, I barely knew what I was doing. But I learned fast, driven by that same curiosity that had pulled me away from research in the first place. It wasn't until years later, living in Switzerland and watching a beautifully designed house come to life near our home, that I truly understood what I was part of. Every detail was intentional. Every choice had meaning. I realized I was doing the same thing in the digital realm, creating spaces and experiences with the same thoughtful consideration.

I was reminded of Jim Harding's airport signage and wayfinding work that I had seen years earlier, and everything clicked. Seeing the thought and attention that went into the smallest aspect of the design changed me forever. I realized the power of detail, down to the very word used. I also realized that some of the best designs are the ones no one even realizes exist. They're so natural they enhance the experience without people knowing why or how.

Now I see design everywhere, in the Ugmonk Analog on my desk, the Baron Fig Squire pen in my hand, the thoughtfully built house down the block. Each day I'm surrounded by work that inspires me and reminds me why this craft matters.

That's what drives my work: the belief that design shapes everything around us, often invisibly. Whether I'm designing a dashboard, crafting an onboarding flow, or solving a complex user problem, I'm always asking: how can this be more intentional? More natural? More beautiful in its simplicity?

The persistence it took to rebuild my career taught me that growth requires discomfort. But it also showed me the freedom that comes from refusing to be trapped by what you thought your path should be.

"The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried."

— Stephen McCranie

The family

My husband and I have two incredible teenagers. My family has had the biggest impact on who I am as a person than anything else in my life. I'm so grateful for my husband and my kids. They've shaped my perspective, challenged me to grow, and taught me that the most meaningful work happens in the quiet, everyday moments of showing up for the people you love. Everything I am, my curiosity, my persistence, my commitment to kindness, has been deepened and refined through the joy and challenge of family life.

I believe the single most important decision you make in life is who you marry. I chose wisely.

For over twenty years, I've been married to a man who loves me, believes in me, and supports my growth in ways I never imagined possible. He's the kindest person I've ever met, the type of person everyone remembers because he genuinely cares about the people he encounters. Our kids think we know everyone, but the truth is he's so incredibly kind that everyone remembers him.

He's made me a better person, and I know I wouldn't have grown into who I am, or who I'm still becoming, without him by my side. His patience and kindness as a father constantly inspire me to be better.

Parenting has been harder than I anticipated, but that difficulty has been the source of unexpected growth. I thought it would just be easy and wonderful, but what no one tells you is that the challenges stretch you in ways you didn't know you needed. When our children became teenagers, everything shifted again. You become more of a coach, building the kind of relationship where they turn to you with questions and advice because they want to, not because they have to.

I'm far from a perfect mom, I constantly mess up and wish I could go back and do things differently. But I keep trying to learn, to improve, to be the parent my incredible kids deserve. In our family, we often say "choose kindness," and I tell them that when I look back on life, I've never regretted choosing to be kind. If they're going to err on anything, it should be on the side of being kinder than the situation seems to deserve. They'll never regret that choice.

Family life has taught me that growth happens in the spaces between, in the daily choices to be patient, to listen, to show up even when it's hard. These lessons show up everywhere in my work: in how I approach user problems with empathy, in how I collaborate with teams, and the kind of person I want to be for my colleagues - people deserving of kindness and consideration.

"We who lived in the concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

— Viktor E. Frankl

The future

I'm genuinely excited about the future in a way I haven't been about technology in years. AI isn't just changing how we work, it's fundamentally reshaping what's possible for anyone willing to learn and experiment.

Right now, I'm deep into "vibe coding", using AI to build literally anything I can design and imagine. I'm rebuilding all my websites, created a Mac productivity app that I wanted but couldn't find anywhere on the market, and have plans for so much more. As a designer with technical experience, this feels like a superpower. The barrier between having an idea and bringing it to life has almost disappeared.

But it goes beyond the tools themselves. AI is transforming creativity, productivity, and opening doors to possibilities we haven't even imagined yet. I use it daily in my work, and I've written about how collaborative prompting is shaping the future of human-AI interaction. Every day brings new ways to partner with these tools to solve problems and create solutions.

The speed of change is both thrilling and daunting. AI is going to require all of us to relearn how we do almost everything. Those who learn fastest will be furthest ahead, which is why I'm diving in headfirst, exploring, experimenting, and building.

I think about my teenagers entering the workforce during this transformative time, when AI will likely handle most entry-level work. It's concerning, but it's also an incredible opportunity. If they can learn to use AI to amplify their abilities and accelerate their learning, they'll thrive. I hope my excitement and example can fuel their own curiosity about what's possible.

This moment feels historic. We're not just witnessing technological advancement, we're participating in a fundamental shift in how humans and machines collaborate. The future belongs to those who embrace that partnership, and I can't wait to see what we'll build together.

"A year from now, you'll wish you had started today."

— Karen Lamb