About Emer
I'm a UX designer with a load of enthusiasm for people, design, and coherent content.
I started my professional career as a town planning consultant where I applied my understanding of social, economic and environmental issues to urban design problems. I've also worked as an industrial climber and rigging engineer on remote mine sites and offshore oil rigs in Western Australia. The job required a high degree of situational awareness, trust and camaraderie between crew mates, and physical fitness to solve mechanical problems safely while suspended by ropes.
In all my experiences, I appreciate how much the thoughtful design of products, services and systems can enhance people’s lives. I completed the User Experience Design Immersive course at General Assembly to improve my application of the design process. My goal is to apply my problem-solving and UX design skills to make a positive difference in the world, whether it's big or small.
I've decided to use this website not just as a UX portfolio (since I can't share lots of my work anyhow due to data and privacy restrictions!) but to share things that I know that might be useful to others, and entertaining.
My UX Process
I consider the impact of design with a great deal of empathy for people. My professional experience as a town planner, an industrial climber and UX designer has informed my thought processes and I've seen the power of good design in improving systems and encouraging better behaviour in people. I think about the user's needs and goals and adapt the process to the needs of the client or project. This process generally follows the double diamond design framework - discover, research, define the problem, design, iterate, and test as much as possible, as early as possible.
What is industrial climbing?
It's actually called rope access, but that makes little sense to most people. My job as a rigger and industrial climber was to fix things while suspended on ropes.
Working at remote mine sites and oil facilities in Western Australia was hot, physcially demanding and fun. We worked closely in teams in isolated environments on all sorts of jobs, but my favourite work was always rigging, thinking about the most efficient way to solving mechanical problems. I became well acquainted with mechanical advantage and the beauty of working smarter, not harder.
I've written a blog post about the work and how it ties in with design (design is everything!) which you can read about in my post here.
