This is the second in a series of profiles on women in Human-Computer Interaction. Students from Carnegie Mellon University’s Masters of Human-Computer Interaction program are conducting interviews with women in HCI to identify how they have broken through the “glass ceiling” in industry. The profiles will highlight the career path of the particular interviewee and other biographical information. This following profile focuses on Jodi Forlizzi, A. Nico Habermann Professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
In addition to creating and teaching courses, contributing to an endless list of publications, advising over 40 PhD and Master’s students, and consulting with companies, Jodi Forlizzi, a well-respected and well-loved professor at Carnegie Mellon University, still takes the time to learn from those around her. She values the knowledge she acquires from her interactions with people; ranging from elderly research participants, faculty she admires, or students she mentors daily. Jodi integrates her findings into her position as both a designer and a professor to create a narrative that will allow users to experience a story; you have to “get out in the world and understand other people.” Jodi’s ability to embrace learning as a journey contributes both to her ongoing success as a HCI practitioner and to the inspiration she provides students emerging in the field.
After receiving her BFA in Illustration from the Philadelphia College of Art, Jodi worked as an Information Designer at the University of Pennsylvania; simultaneously she started her own design and photography firm, Inks Creative Services. Realizing that the world of design was expanding to be “much more than putting a design to somebody’s content,” Jodi attended Carnegie Mellon University to pursue a Master of Design degree in Interaction Design. After graduating, she accepted a position as project manager and innovator at E-Lab, a Chicago-based research and design firm; when an opportunity to teach at Carnegie Mellon became available she jumped at the chance and became the first design professor in the School of Computer Science. Always one to further her learning, Jodi decided to pursue and acquire a self-designed PhD in HCI and Design while continuing to teach courses. Now entrenched in a faculty position, Jodi thrives on the knowledge that she is able to provide and receive through her current position. She notes, “There is something really exciting about seeing what you impart to someone else take form.” Whether it is a class she attends as a guest lecturer or a course she developed from soup to nuts, Jodi is excited to share her design expertise with others. She considers it a success when you can get an individual “to be aware of something about design and just be able to talk about it with somebody else.”
When she’s not teaching, Jodi continues to actively build her own education. Through collaboration with professors and industry professionals Jodi interacts with people from many different disciplines and she makes it her job to learn from them. Currently, she is working on future assistive products and collaborating with roboticists, social scientists, and other designers on the project. Outside the significant exposure she receives from interdisciplinary research, Jodi additionally pursues unique personal challenges to keep herself in the know; during our interview, she proudly admitted working on an Arduino assignment for an Introduction to Gadgets class being taught by another member of the faculty. In Jodi’s words, “each discipline within HCI is on equal footing and should be respected,” and based on her actions we could tell that those are words she really lives by.
Here are a few parting words of advice from Jodi for women starting out in HCI:
- If you show up half the battle is won. Show up, be professional, and be on task.
- Be nice. You never get anywhere by burning bridges.
- Be what women are – kind, empathic, and sensitive. You never know what collaboration is going to stem from a conversation you engaged in. People remember meaningful interactions.
- “Find joy in what your career, but don’t forget to build in breaks.” For Jodi, it means taking the time out to do Karate or Yoga every day if possible.
- Talk to different kinds of people – every chance you get; it’s eye opening and refreshing.