Hi – I’m James Keith Howard – a user experience and web designer living in Austin Texas. Currently I’m an Interaction Designer on Dell’s Global Site Design team. In my time I’ve done it all – web design, visual design, interaction design, information architecture, usability testing and research, web development, product management – in the end you do what it takes to get the job done and the titles just start to pile up. The thing that I enjoy most in my professional work is using my varied skills to design complete web experiences. Web sites are custom-built tools designed to do very specific jobs. My goals are to make websites that are easy to understand, easy to use, and enjoyable. It’s not about what you can do – it’s about what you should do.
I’m a husband and father of 3 sons. There’s nothing that I love more than spending time with my wife and children. I love to experience new places and things, to meet new people, but above all I just want to enjoy today. I have a hard time sitting still. In fact, I’m struck with a bad case of wanderlust. I like to be moving and exploring. My boys are the perfect companions for my adventures. I’m lucky that I have a career I really enjoy and find fulfillment in. My interests outside design include photography and travel.
I have always been called “Keith”. It tends to cause some confusion here and there. It turns out that it’s a great way to identify telemarketers – they always ask for James. There are quite a few Keith Howards in the world. The harsh reminder that I’m unique, just like everyone else, manifests itself in the fact that I’ll probably never have the domain “keithhoward.com”. I’ll answer to any of my names but my home on the web will have all 3.
Because so many different bits of the world interest me they tend to work their way into my conversations. I call them “tangents” because they tend to lead to topics far astray from the original. I’ve dubbed the process “tangination” (tan-ja-nay-shun) and myself “The Tanginator”. If you’ve forgotten the point of the conversation I probably have too.