Brian Christiansen

Medford, Massachusetts

Biography

Brian Christiansen is the Director of Digital Media for User Interface Engineering, a leading research, training, and consulting firm specializing in web site and product usability, in North Andover, Massachusetts. Brian is a producer of digital products, such as podcasts and web-based interactive seminars. He also designs and does research. Brian is active in Boston’s new media communities.

Brian’s fascination with computers began with LOGO on Apple //s in elementary school, he hacked Windows boxes in middle school, and explored the Internet when BBSs and Usenet were the norm and AOL was considered cool. In high school he took a computer graphics class where he decided his life’s work would involve design and computers.

Brian designed his own major at the University of Connecticut (BA, ’97-’01), combining art and design courses with communication science and journalism. Much of his course work focused on the Internet. He discovered the fields of usability, accessibility and was heavily influenced by the work of Jeffery Zeldman and the Web Standards Project. Brian bought his first Macintosh and never looked back.

As an intern at the university’s Instructional Resource Center, a mentor introduced him to the crossroads of pedagogy and technology. The growing field lagged behind the rest of the web in several areas, especially in the design sense. After working at the IRC for a couple of years, state funding dried and up he took his chances “in the real world.” This was August 31, 2001. Twelve days later, the real-world was no longer hiring.

Never the less, Brian packed his bags for Boston, with nothing but his life savings and determination. Four months passed and the job market was still stalled. Brian took a job with Apple Retail, where he was promoted quickly as a salesperson, trainer and triple-certified technician (a “Mac Genius”). He built an internal communications project that was deployed in the retail service division world-wide. Unable to move to California to continue with the company, Apple and he would soon part company.

Opportunity stuck at the inaugural PodCamp Boston, in 2006, where he met usability guru Jared Spool. Brian would join Jared’s UIE within the month, and he has been with the company ever since. He has built their nascent podcasts and virtual seminars into popular products with thousands of users.

Never content, in 2007 Brian enrolled in the Master’s program in Instructional Design at the University of Massachusetts. This would be his first step towards making a difference in educational technology and design.

In the future, Brian hopes to join or found a small, innovative company to influence the future of educational media and web applications, while furthering the cause of quality design, standards, compatibility and open-source software where ever possible.

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