I am a Hybrid

I recently updated my profile on linkedin and thought I'd post my professional summary here since it gives a little insight into my views of what I do for a living and why.

Ryan Swanson’s Summary

My goal is to create compelling user experiences through software.

This requires innovation in design and development and the fusing of capabilities and functionality with intuitive and engaging interfaces. Finding the harmony between form and function is my passion.

I am a hybrid. I am an engineer. I am an artist. I am a developer. I am a designer. I am a leader. I never stop learning, growing, evolving.

I am an entrepreneur. The entrepreneurial spirit is as relevant in a corporate development position as it is in a boutique creative design firm as it is in your own startup. It is about actively looking for a need that is not being met and pro-actively creating what is needed to meet it.

Technology does not exist for its own sake. Creative Suites, Languages, 3D Modeling and Motion Graphics Tools, Integrated Development Environments, Platforms, Protocols... These are the tools we use. Each has its benefits and trade-offs within particular context(s).

I have worked with most of them and have learned this:

Some people argue for an idea or technology they *like* the most or are most familiar with - this is successful only until the context changes.

A few of us recommend an idea or technology after considering its merit within the context for which it exists to solve a problem and will continue to challenge that evaluation knowing that in technology the context is continually changing.

The former tries to win arguments. The latter searches for truth.

I want to change the world. Let's get started!

blog.ryanswanson.com created

Hello World!

I am finally getting my act together and starting a professional blog. I will primarily use this blog to evangelize the technologies I work with in my career as an RIA Architect and User Experience Designer/Developer, but I will also include anything I find interesting or significant within the broader fields of computing, media, design, art or science.

The technologies I work with include but are not limited to:

• Adobe Flash, Flex and AIR


• Adobe Creative Suite products (of which I use almost all)


• General web technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript


• The always buzzworthy (though not really all that new for those of us who did it before the term was coined!) AJAX or Asynchronous JavaScript And XML


• Although I am a recent Apple/Mac convert, I am now a huge fan and love my MacBook Pro, so I should include Apple, Mac, and iPhone on this list.


• Elements of User Experience: in particular, Information Architecture, Interaction Design, Information Design, Interface Design, Navigation Design, and Visual Design


• Art and Design in general


• Significant advances in computing as a whole.

I have been following a number of bloggers for many years and am now hoping to make my contribution after having gained so much from so many bright lights in the community.

The following list includes the individuals whose blogs and community contributions have helped or impressed me the most. Thank you all!

(list to come)

Cheers!
Ryan