Tanner Walsh

Tanner Walsh has many interests ranging from testing his mettle in a cage fight to defending a philosophical argument at an academic conference. While these interests have shaped the person he is today, he wants to take the discipline, commitment, perseverance, and determination that he has garnered and apply these traits to helping others. Gratefully, after finishing a master's degree in philosophy, Tanner came across user experience (UX) research and user-centered design (UCD) while in the Technical Communication program at Texas Tech University. He loves creative opportunities, solving problems, and taking action. Thus, UX and UCD naturally caught Tanner's attention. Taking courses in this discipline taught him two important concepts: 1) you are not your user; and, 2) be "T" shaped. First, if Plato was a UX researcher, he would have said "know thy user." Tanner's intuitions, emotional responses and experiences with a product, do not always match those of others. Hence, going out in the field, talking to people, and designing around their experience is tantamount to a successful product. Second, being "T" shaped means having a breadth of knowledge with a deep focus. Among other things, Tanner has taken courses in Human Factors, learned about front-end web development and some graphic design, and helped direct a UX lab. Overall, Tanner aims to take the skills he learned from the program and merge them with ethical and critical thought to not only create an enjoyable experience for people, but a meaningful one too.