I’m a Systems Thinker. I quickly find my way in a new environment and help improve it by making it more intuitive.
I’ve been said to be loyal, direct, analytical and creative. Some call me “The Machine”, but you can’t simply drop in coins – I need a vision and team I believe in and trust.
Learn
I’ve studied Computer Science, Communication as well as Marketing. I’ve been manager for Office, Communication & Fundraising but also Operations & Logistics teams. I’ve developed both websites and apps. I did consultancy for SEO, social media and AdWords. More recently I took on roles as Developer Evangelist, Advocate, before joining Zapier as Support Engineer.
If there’s one thing this tells about me, it’s that I love to learn. I easily adopt new skills and find my way in new environments, in particular when it comes to technology. Instead of memorizing every detail, I discover the underlying patterns and concepts, allowing me to extrapolate from what I know into the unknown.
“I like to learn, not by memorizing details but by understanding concepts.”
Improve
Through the way I learn, I tend to run into areas where a product’s user onboarding and overall experience and usability can be improved. Predictability is key. If B doesn’t work as I expect it to from my experience with A – and the product forsakes to inform me – then something needs fixing. You’ll find issues and pull requests for every product I’ve worked on or with. I love open-source!
“If B doesn’t work as I expected from A, it’s broken.”
Automation is also a recurring theme in my life. Whether it’s at work or at home, the lazy engineer in me hates to do the same thing twice if it can be automated in some way. I’m a big fan of Apple’s – mostly – seamless ecosystems, wrote many tools and I constantly refine my personal and professional workflows. No wonder Zapier feels like a perfect fit!
Share
I come from a family of teachers and that doesn’t leave you unaffected. They say the best way to learn is to teach and I’ve found that to be true indeed. Only when you grasp the underlying concepts, will you be able to explain them in a simple and clear manner. Public speaking, leading workshops, writing documentation and building examples have always been both a motivation and joy to me.
Docendo discimus, (Latin “by teaching, we learn”)
Another way sharing pays back is the perspective it gives on a product. If you can’t explain a feature well, then chances are the feature is bloated or the interface counter-intuitive. They say good products don’t need documentation, but I don’t agree. Good products allow being described in delightful documentation.