About the Work

I work at IBM and lead core web strategy and information architecture for IBM.com and many other digital properties. My team is approximately 50 people strong and comprised of web strategists, developers, and information architects from around the world and in different stages of their careers. I work on projects that vary from global and secondary navigation to personalization to translation into 13 languages to taxonomy management for the website on AEM and Adobe DAM to content hierarchy and management, etc.

I love the variety and the challenges! IBM has existed for over a century and we have the latest technologies but we also have to migrate and maintain legacy systems. We have a wide customer base and over 400 products, so working with the UX research team is fun and sometimes cringey when it comes to watching users work through our site.

As a manager, I feel the impacts of teaching and leading my team so they can move quickly with intention. As an information architect, I can see the impacts of my work in our data and conversions.

My job is the culmination of everything I learned at the School of Information. I often joke that UX design and research were born in the Library and Information Science field, but the Marketing field learned to market them better. We understand the user, the information lifecycle, and are connective tissue between them.

How the iSchool Prepared Them

Classes - Information Architecture for the Web and Understanding Users stand out. But I took classes that benefitted me about social/actor theory at the School of English, and an Internet Policy course at the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

The iSchool Computer lab - see below.

Teaching assistantships - I taught the Tocker Women Fellowship course with Mary Lynn Rice-Lively and won an award and i312 - Information in Cyberspace

Mentor/Advisor - Mary Lynn Rice-Lively was the Associate Dean at the School of Information while I attended. She was also my advisor. She was the single greatest impact to my experience and development during graduate school and after.

Texas 4000 - I rode my bike to Alaska while I was in the iSchool! I also made their first website and won an award! We connected blogs to the rider profiles and if you can believe it, it was bleeding edge communication innovation.

A Memorable iSchool Experience

I was a purple shirt in the lab from 2002-2004. Some iSchoolers had laptops, but not all and internet connectivity wasn't always a given which made the lab a very important community and learning space for graduate students. I learned SO much working in that lab and met so many people. I helped undergraduate students digitize their VHS home movies. I learned how to write and record tutorials with Quinn Stewart - who also taught me about accessibility and captioning. I coded my first websites. I worked with other students who became friends and colleagues like Sam Burns and Patrick Williams. Basically any time working in the lab is a favorite memory.

Advice for Current Students