Jay is a Principle Experience Architect for EffectiveUI. Jay works in Austin, TX. EffectiveUI is a user experience agency based in Denver, CO.

From 2010-2011, Jay worked independently on mobile applications and sites for retail and start-up clients alike. His UX experience spans user research, information architecture, iterative testing and prototyping, and management. Jay’s goal is to transform his independent practice into a small partnership that provides apprenticeships for the next generation working in User Experience.

Prior to being independent, Jay worked as UX Director at an Interactive Marketing agency, Senior IA at Target, and Interface Manager at JCP.com. The bulk of his experience is in developing the UX practice in retail ecommerce companies. While in those companies, Jay seized every opportunity to advance the practice of UX, while also advancing the quality of UX work delivered. Jay considers his work championing and building Target’s Design Pattern Library to be his most significant accomplishment. It’s not because design patterns are the answer, but because discord amongst Design teams is a problem worth solving.

Jay studied applied cognitive science, especially mental models, judgment and decision-making, and discourse comprehension. He is fascinated by our field’s potential to earn a seat at the table by solving cultural, organizational, and communication problems. As a practicing abstract-aholic, Jay savors the value of abstracting characters and cultures from the surface context. He enjoys mythology and social science as frames for making sense of behavior. Hat tip to Joseph Campbell.