Back in 2002, I entered the new Modeling & Simulation graduate program at the University of Central Florida. My track combined human-systems engineering/HCI with training system development. This was a major shift from working in startups in management and sales roles. I had spent several years as a martial arts instructor in Florida and finishing college before that.

In my first year of grad school I landed a great fellowship opportunity. I began working with the Army Research Institute as a civilian researcher, on site. After completing a body of research on inattentional blindness, I switched focus to designing custom control interfaces for soldiers piloting unmanned vehicles. My research on military drones was later published in Human Factors of Remotely Operated Vehicles, vol. 7 (Nancy Cooke, Ed.) along with Dr. Paula Durlach (my mentor).

After graduation in 2006, I accepted an offer from Dell to move to Austin and join the Experience Design Group doing usability engineering and global research. I was given the opportunity to explore several disciplines here. I managed hardware usability for workstations, laptops, and tablets, as well as several targeted software programs. During my tenure, we achieved record revenues on two of the portfolios I led. As my experience increased, I moved into advanced engineering projects where I architected customer experience for new technologies such as wireless docking and cloud services for CAD users. My last role at Dell focused on the redesign of IT management interfaces and blade-server usability.

After Dell, I launched NeumannUX L.L.C. and began consulting. I've enjoyed working on different projects and have learned a lot getting outside my comfort zone. Moving into the innovation and mobile space has been a real boost. I enjoy the challenge of designing interactions and defining behaviors for something without a blueprint. My last major contract role was with USAA Bank as an experience designer in 2014-2015. Two of the products we designed were later shipped - the TrueCar USAA car buying app, and the USAA Budget app.

IBM Design was my next stop, and the experience was invaluable. Designing for IBM Cloud and rebuilding their cloud architecture center provided knowledge of IT that I literally applied every day in my role with Cigna | Express Scripts. In January 2020, we launched the largest technology program in the history of the company - Health Connect 360. If you’ve ever delivered a program with legacy architecture, no historical roadmap, and one that requires stakeholder alignment at all levels, then you understand the challenges involved. In UX, being able to work well with Software Engineering and product owners is critical. Being able to speak their language and genuinely understand what they have to work with has made these interactions much more meaningful for me and my team.

Write up on the HC360 implementation (Q1-2020): https://www.wsj.com/articles/cigna-uses-ai-to-check-if-patients-are-taking-their-medications-11576174743.

Near the end of 2020, I was able to move back to Austin and start teaching at the University of Texas! I’m teaching Accessible UX, and so far it has exceeded all expectations. I’m excited to be teaching again after my St. Louis assignment. This is an important field of study, and the course is having a big impact on the students and community.

At the same time I moved back to Austin, I started a role with Visa Design. Not 6 months in, a rocket-growth Fintech startup named Trustly, Inc persuaded me to join their team. As the Director of UX Design & Research, I finally got the opportunity to put all of my insights and expertise into practice. The results have been remarkable.

I spent my early life outside of school playing baseball, golf, and coaching. While in Texas, I've enjoyed hiking, eating delicious BBQ, the great music, gardening, and playing some golf. I've also had the opportunity to travel, be it for work or vacation. Seeing so much of the world has changed my perspective considerably.