With the approach that design should focus on people not things, I've been able to have a positive impact on people's quality of life. I've also influenced others to do the same. I received numerous design awards throughout my career, and am often invited to speak and conduct workshops globally. My work has been selected for national and international exhibits.
As work requests have recently been increasing, calling more and more for an extended team, I created ThinkActHuman. It's a collective. Drawing from a network of highly skilled people we put together teams of experts to help companies and organizations innovate.
I also co-founded 4B Collective, focusing on design and gender. Many companies and organizations have tremendous opportunity to better connect with females, and to take into consideration how males and females think, act, and are built differently. The design and engineering professions often have a male bias. Topics at 4B range from food to medical products to automobiles.
And with an interest in both baseball and information design, I co-authored and illustrated the bestselling book Baseball Field Guide, employing principles of information design to explain the intricate rules of Major League Baseball (5 stars on Amazon!).
As a side project, emanating from an invitation in 2019 by the team at Condé Nast/Epicurious, I've been hosting the highly successful Well Equipped YouTube series, where I discuss inclusive design while evaluating (usually odd) kitchen products, pointing out where their designs and their design teams may have gone wrong. That series has received more than 30 million views.
In addition to my design work I helped create the Masters in Branding program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. I lecture worldwide and write frequently about design methods and the physical and emotional aspects of design and innovation. In 2017 I served as Visiting Distinguished Professor at KAIST university in South Korea.
Publications and appearances: I appear in the 2009 documentary film about product design, Objectified. In May of 2011 I appeared in CBS Sunday Morning’s segment on design, discussing the concept of “design for everyone” and the needs of people with arthritis. I was interviewed for the 2009 book Glimmer: How Design Can Change Your Life, and the 2011 book Brand Thinking. I am included in Business Insider’s DESIGN 75: The Best Designers In Technology. I also appear in the 2020 documentary Life on Wheels, a film about the future of transportation.
Background: Starting my career in 1977 I was invited to work with the Eliot Noyes studio and became the junior member of a design team that helped IBM conceive how a computer could possibly fit into a home. From 1981 to 1990 I worked with Smart Design, a company I helped establish. My work on OXO Good Grips kitchen tools became a symbol of products designed to work for everyone. The interface I created for XM/Sirius established the standard for satellite radio in the US. I played a key role in conceiving SmartGauge, an instrument cluster for Ford’s 2010 hybrids designed to influence driving behavior and save fuel – an innovation for the auto industry that has been helping drivers drive more efficiently for more than 20 years. In healthcare I've rethought products ranging from everyday consumer health items to surgical equipment.
If you weren't thinking about design but were looking for completely different topics, click here for an interview with Bo Diddley in Guitar Buyer magazine, here for information on the DeArmond Trem-Trol, or here for my articles in Premier Guitar magazine.
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