SHAPING CULTURAL OPINION

While working on the Motiis Market Innovation Team I researched and prototyped multiple business ideas for the Kenyan market. Eventually assigned as an executive on the Bamba Water team, our first established business, I drove all the primary marketing and sales efforts. Beginning with research on consumer behaviors and perceptions, we then applied it to the design of the brand and promotions. At first locals did not believe the product would catch on but our efforts included a balance between playing within and breaking cultural norms. What resulted was a mass-recognized and beloved brand that propelled the product through the market.

2013 – 2014 | Mombasa, Kenya

How does this poster influence Kenyans?

Headline: Swahili communicates more clearly to lower economic consumers.

Color: Most water companies in Kenya have dark blue brand colors. Using cyan allowed Bamba to standout.

Demo: Showing the product in use helps connect the dots for consumers who are new to the product.

Bold: Our testing revealed that Kenyans respond more positively to logos with a bold type.

Price Setting: In informal markets prices are often negotiable. Including the price helps consumers avoid being over charged.

Certification: Using the KEBS mark is essential to building trust in a market full of pirate products.

Status: Our model appears African rather than African–American according to research. She also holds a smart phone as a symbol of status.

BUILDING ON CULTURE

Catch phrases or “mistarti,” such as one in red type, are very popular in Kenya. These stickers adorn shops, cars, and homes and the phrases are frequently repeated. After picking up on this cultural phenomenon we developed some of our own and posted them throughout the city. Because of our clever headlines matatu and boda boda drivers were pleased to decorate their vehicles with them.

BRIDGING BELIEFS

In 2011 more than two hundred works of Islamic art came to the Brigham Young University Museum of Art. The show was curated by key individuals from the muslim community with the goal of bridging the gap between Islamic and Christian belief and culture. I was tasked with creating several media installations to emphasize the primary aspects of Islamic belief and communicate them through an interactive experience that an American could relate with. The installations focused on the importance of calligraphy, the word, the influence of nature, and the embedding of meaning within meaning.

2012 | BYU Museum of Art in Provo, UT

IMPROVING INTERFACES

Whether it’s updating an existing interface or designing a new one, I relish the challenge of finding a balance among utility, simplicity and pleasing aesthetics. Below are two examples of interfaces I designed. Some of these designs are concepts others are prototypes along the design process and others have been fully implemented. My process for user experience design involves deep research and understanding of the users, frequent and fast prototyping and detailed design of both static files and interactive front–end code.

2015 | Utah

SIMPLIFYING SCIENCE

One of my responsibilities while working at the Jet Propulsion Lab was to take the science from NASA’s many missions and translate them into engaging learning experiences for the public. One of the several projects I assisted on was an installation for the JUNO mission by Dan Goods, Resident Artist. A primary goal of the mission is to peer under the planet’s gassy atmosphere using instruments and identify its surface for the first time. Our representation of the mission was a large fog pit—a static cloud which hovered over infrared lights only visible using cameras. As viewers of the cloud attempted to take cell phone photos of the installation they would be delightfully surprised to find a tumult of flashing lights beneath the surface.

2010 | NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA

OTHER IDEAS & TINKERINGS

Designing digital files on the computer is something in which I have years of deep experience. However, in recent years I have been intrigued by the design of tangible interfaces. Below are a sampling projects I created while in graduate school that represent my interests in haptic, communication and the blend between tangible and digital interfaces.

Featured Below:
– Guitar Stool is a stool that allows the performer to control the drum accompaniment by rotating to certain angles.
– Mobile Hapticons was a concept that explored how texture can be used to add emotion and meaning to communication.
– Dermatext Bracelets explored the use of vibration and sequence to communicate between individuals without speech.
– Pen Message Demo demonstrated the experience of using mundane technology to accomplish what is currently only possible with digital tech. Through this experienced we raised the question of what life would be like with simple, disposable and socialized technology.