What I do
I help plan and build products. I'm located on the outskirts of Rochester, NY, and have a multi-disciplinary design background and I aim to help make people's interactions with their software as frictionless as possible.
I am the Director of Product at RV LIFE & Social Knowledge. We're working to turn complex RVing products into useful tools that help people feel comfortable and in-charge of their RV journeys.
History
My Story
I have always had an interest in design. I remember first really beginning to notice the nuances of design and style while being around classic cars. I grew up around people restoring and modifying Muscle Cars from the mid-1960’s to early-1970’s. My father was always wrenching on his cars, and I loved going with him to car shows and meets. I always loved looking for cars I didn’t recognize, or guessing ones that I thought I did. I’d always focus on the cars badges and emblems. My interest in classic cars grew, as did my interest in other design disciplines like architecture, which took me deep into the design of buildings and cities.
As I kept digging more into cars, early in high school I started taking technical drafting courses as electives. Originally this was because I wanted to learn the basics to automotive design, but that also introduced me to the technical side of architectural drawings and drafting fundamentals. Soon after, I would tell anyone who would listen that I was going to be an architect.
So I headed off to college focused on Architecture & Urban Planning, but architectures slow moving nature frustrated me. I still find great joy in the design of buildings, but I feel this was a stepping stone to find the type of work I really wanted to be doing.
“An architect's most useful tools are an eraser at the drafting board and a wrecking ball at the site.”
— Frank Lloyd Wright
While in architecture school at the University at Buffalo, I had built and grown some online forums targeted at certain types of cars. Wanting to be able to make changes to the source code, I began teaching myself HTML, CSS, and the basics of Web Design. I was hooked after just a couple weeks. I'd found what I wanted to do; design and build things online. It took some time to really sink in, but I finally decided to focus full time on UI Design over 13 years ago, and the time since has been a great ride. I have since sold the online communities that I originally created and managed to larger automotive networks.
It took years of work after first digging in, to become proficient with product design. I've always enjoyed looking for answers, or new and unique ways to solve problems. I love the elasticity and ever-changing landscape of software product design, and that you'll never know everything. Each user who uses your product can tell you something, and the speed at which you can create software and testable prototypes makes it an extremely fun and addicting place to build out and evolve ideas.
Personal
who I am
I live in Rush, NY, with my wife, Sara, and two children, Max and Aubrey. I'm quickly becoming dangerously average at video and audio editing to help Max with his Drumming YouTube Channel, and Aubrey with her Gymnastics channel.
I am far too opinionated on cars, and have a couple classic Oldsmobiles that I enjoy working on in my garage when I find the time. It's something that my father and I have done throughout the years, and I hope to continue with my children. You can keep track of my current build, a
1964 Oldsmobile F-85, here.“Ambitious, but rubbish"
— Jeremy Clarkson
I enjoy reading books about philosophy, architecture, automotive history, and of course, digital products. You can follow some of the books I'm reading or have read on my
Library page.
