I believe...
I believe everyone has the capability to think as a designer while problem solving , regardless of artistic aptitude.
I believe cultivating design thinking not only leads to better products and services, but makes us better human beings. Empathy, creativity, passion, and rationality are all part of design and lead to solutions that have a real, positive impact.
I believe that organizations tend to form silos unless a shared creative vision brings people together for a higher purpose. Co-creation breaks down walls of hierarchy. It builds confidence, creativity, and ownership. Teams that create openly together - even when doing so is difficult - make the changes that people adopt and love.
Carolyn Chandler has been working in the field of User Experience Design for over 25 years, as a consultant, team lead, and practice director. On projects, areas of specialty include design strategy, team workshops, interaction design, information architecture, and user research and modeling.
In 2009, Carolyn and Russ Unger came out with the first edition of A Project Guide to UX Design. The second edition was released in 2012, and the third edition will be released in 2023. The book provides a friendly overview of the practice of UX design as it applies on real project teams, and has been a valuable resource for professionals.
In 2014, Carolyn has come out with Adventures in Experience Design. This activity-oriented book uses games and short, playful lessons to take beginners through the experience design process. It was co-authored with game and toy designer, Anna van Slee.
In 2009, Carolyn began teaching Interaction Design at DePaul University as an adjunct professor. She created several courses, from 10 week curricula to single workshops, for a variety of institutions such as The Starter League, The School of Digital Craftsmanship, Kellogg School of Management, The Startup Institute, and 1871. Due to her work with students and start-up teams, Crain's named her one of Chicago's Tech 50.
She also offers organizations with customized, in-person training for their teams in order to build skills in design thinking and tools of the trade.
Carolyn has been active in the design community: she helped launch Chicago's chapter of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), and directed the Chicago edition of Hackathon for Social Good, an event in which programmers and designers donate time to work on projects that benefit nonprofit organizations. She also participated in UX for Good, working with the Dalai Lama center in Vancouver on introducing mindfulness skills (such as empathy) into school curricula, for which the team won an award at that year’s IxDA conference.
Contact Carolyn with any questions about skills or availability.