FEBRUARY MUGSHOTS

This month, we had a delightful conversation with Alexis Puchek. :)

Alexis Puchek
Designer. Mentor. Advocate. Leader.

Principal Director – frog
Adjunct Professor – ACC

What about yourself would you like to share with our community?

I’ve been with my wife since 2002; 17+ awesome years. We got married in 2012 and legally married in Texas in 2015; it’s been really interesting to be a part of the conversations and see the equal access we’re getting as queer people. We have one fur baby, the most beautiful cat you’ll ever meet (obvs) – her name is Tilda. She’s a ‘torbie’, a tortoiseshell tabby, that we rescued from Austin Pets Alive.

What inspires your creativity?

At the heart of it, it’s the people I work with. I get to work with really talented people who are inquisitive and thoughtful and intentional: who solve really difficult problems every day. Working in a consultancy, we have to work in different industries with different problems and needs in a finite amount of time, as opposed to working on our own product in and out. It’s really awesome the way that they can dive into the work using their own super powers to solve the problems, not only for the client’s need, but for customers (the end user), creating a solution that really balances the two. Just going to work every day lights me up and inspires me to keep coming back day after day.

I also teach at Austin Community College. I’ve been in this industry for 15+ years, and it’s really inspiring to teach and interact with people at the beginning of their careers who want to solve the problems of the world. I really enjoy being a part of their process and discovery.

How do you express your creativity?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and at my core, I am a creative problem solver. So, whether it’s rebuilding a record player or tinkering on our 1930’s house or learning new things to cook or bake – I just love to learn and try new things. My wife and I also love to travel and take in new foods and experiences. I really enjoy getting to figure out our travel plans to maximize fun and food and finding ways to connect with my wife. I geek out through organizational processes ;)I’m also a bird nerd, which basically means, I love birds and birding. It’s been really fun finding ways to build habitats and an environment at our house for the ecosystem here in Austin. Huge celebrations were had when we finally got the Monk Parakeets at our house. Also, becoming a Master Birder through the Travis Audubon Society is definitely on my bucket list. I’m already pretty good at identifying birds by their shape, size, color, and sound and I want to get more adept at that and be able to teach other people to do the same.

Whose work do you most appreciate and why?

I love, love, love the work that Knowbility does. It’s an organization that trains, educates, and evangelizes universal design principles specifically around accessibility. I had the absolute pleasure of working with John Slatin when I was in college – he co-wrote Maximum Accessibility and helped found Knowbility. He really helped me become a designer who doesn’t just think about myself or doesn’t just think about the needs of the client and what they’re telling me what to do or what they think they need to do. He helped me to consider the ways I design to bring access to all users, and how to work with people and not just design for them. It’s something that I’ve evangelized since those first days working with John. I think accessibility is an absolute necessity to the way we create products, services, systems, and solutions. You would think it would be a no brainer, but we all have bias and can internalize and think about solutions for ourselves and people who are similar to us. It’s really important to broaden our perspectives and not just solve problems for individuals, but actually co-create and collaborate with them to create the solutions that best solve their needs and desires.