Myles Design Studios: About Me

Having studied electronic engineering in my youth, I came to software from the hardware realm, and came to design through my involvement with technical support, training, and quality assurance.

In my interactions with customers and vendors while on the front lines of support and training I found that the vast majority of problems users were experiencing with software applications were a direct result of bad design. It came down to the fact that those building the products didn't have a clear vision of what to build, or who they were building it for. Engineers saw a product that functioned within parameters outlined by an often rudimentary requirements list, but customers saw a product that was difficult to understand fell short of expectations. What I saw was a chasm between the needs of the customer and the goals of the application developer that could not be crossed without outside help. Both sides needed an intermediary that could straddle the two worlds of user needs and technical demands; someone comfortable in and understanding of both camps. Design was the solution.

After coming to this realization I shortly thereafter became aware of existing work and thought around software design and usability by such pioneers as Alan Cooper, Jef Raskin, Donald Norman, Deborah Mayhew, Jakob Nielsen and others. I immersed myself in understanding existing practices around software design and incorporated it into my work, eventually focusing all my energy on software design.

Over the years I've been able to use my unique background and understanding of technology, cognitive psychology, and aesthetic composition sense to develop effective solutions to a wide variety of design problems. With time I've learned to quickly identify design issues wherever they may reside, and refined my skills at finding solutions as they are encountered. I firmly believe that there is an undeniable component of human insight and expertise required to develop elegant design solutions. Process, analysis, and testing play important roles, but can not lead to good designs on their own. In other words, good designs come from good designers.

Besides my work in software design I'm also an avid artist, part time inventor, and semi-pro musician. I'm a long time cycling enthusiast, and ride the trails and roads around Southern New Hampshire and elsewhere as often as I can.