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Mr. Mike (as he's affectionately known by his friends, colleagues, and mother) is the Sr. Director of Product at Empatico. We are an Ed-tech company who’s mission is to empower school-aged students around the globe to form meaningful connections that foster a more empathetic world through virtual ‘pen-pal’ experiences. Before that he was the Director of UX of Kid Power (when it was originally created for UNICEF) and the Lead UX Designer/Creative Director of Skybrary (when it was originally created for Reading Rainbow - LeVar Burton Kids). He’s also a founder and host of "We'll Talk: UX" a long running Meetup (since May of 2014) originally in North East Los Angeles (NELA) - but eventually “elsewhere/virtual” since the pandemic - where he and his dedicated gang of UX / Tech friends build and strengthen the UX community through mentorship, project sharing, and having a good laugh. He's an active board-member of both NELAUX & LAUX and he’s also on the advisory boards of CommonAlly and (on occasional) LA Tech4Good. Before eventually transitioning into the EdTech/Social Impact space, he got his start as an Industrial Designer working at the BOSE Corporation, ORION Research, ThermoElectron and others in the Greater Boston area after earning his degree from the Massachusetts Collage of Art in 1994. He also had a moment of pursuing some “non-design” related work between 2002-2008. It’s nothing to bother you with right now, but if you really want to know, feel free to ask him if you ever meet IRL or follow him on Twitter and DM him? @MrMike_UX When he’s ‘off the clock’ Mr. Mike is most likely playing drums in one of his bands, silk screen printing, working on the house, or (seasonally) cheering for the LA Kings. P.S. - All the items on this website are c. 2011-2014, just before starting at RR… There are plans to update things when there is “a free minute” available. But in a sense, it’s kind of a nice blast from the past and is a constant reminder that we all have to start someplace. P.P.S. - To anyone randomly coming across this site and managing to make it this far, and you’re new to all of this UX stuff, Keep It Up! And also, if you’ve been doing it forever like me, you Keep It Up too! There’s room for all of us and we’re all needed in some-way-shape-or-form. We all have something special to contribute… Just be good and have fun with it. Cheers. |
