👋   I built this in 2017, updated in 2019.
It's a little rusty for now, but life is good.

 

Alastair designs software and hardware for better health at Forward in San Francisco.

We're a small team working on diverse touchpoints and working to redefine the medical status quo, piece-by-piece. This includes building new products, iterating and refining, conducting user research, working with physicians, animating, debugging, crafting hardware, and designing customer service. We're hiring!

Occasionally I write, mentor, and guest lecture, and I'm thoroughly enjoying doing more of this over time.

   — LinkedIn
 

At Forward

I work on a range of design projects across our member app, exam room interfaces, and hardware.

Forward is working to revolutionise primary care, both raising quality and improving accessibility for all. I'm excited proud to be a part of this journey. Some projects I've dived into include designing for genetic analysis, developing diagnostic hardware, honing core app functionality, and running user research.

I think Forward is a truly incredible place to work and we're hiring.

 

Previously At IDEO

I led interaction design on projects internally and embedded with clients abroad. I like to stay hands-on to build product.

I’ve been lucky enough to run customer service prototypes in Montreal, launch a startup in Australia, build car interfaces in Chicago, host workshops in London, and impact government in Singapore and Washington DC.

I also hold the IDEO donut/run relay record.

 

Selected Studies
(ages ago)

At Umeå Institute of Design I tightly wove together digital and physical design. Nowadays my work is mostly digital.

Health Loop— making outdoor gyms approachable, appealing, and effective (2014)

Neonook— pioneering biorhythm-based improvements to neonatal care (2013)

Breathe.Easy— enabling lifestyle through asthma prevention and mitigation (2011)

 

Recognition

I've been fortunate to gain acclaim internationally for a range of projects.

Additionally, Forward has been recognised by Time's Best Inventions 2017, Forbes, The New Yorker, Fast Company, WSJ and more.

 

Advising and Teaching

I enjoy giving back and developing perspectives through speaking, mentoring, and advising.

Guiding Students— I’ve mentored with the Standford d.school, taught and guest-judged at CCA, and given talks on careers in design. I've also advised the winning team in a financial-inclusion app competition and delivered professional talks.

 

Writing—Future Foresight

In seeking to improve my foresight skillset I’ve developed and published visions of San Francisco in 2028 with IDEO.

Future Streetscapes— “How Autonomous Vehicles Gave Us Our Streets Back” (10,000 readers)

Hyperlocal Food— “I Ate an Algae-rito and It Was Delicious” (...I regret the non-click-bait title)

 

A Few Words on Me

Design, adventure, thought. I’ve lived in 6 countries and call San Francisco home.

I once biked 2100km across France with a hammock and zero experience. It was both amazing and "character building".

I speak Spanish and German poorly, and Swedish even more poorly. And no French (see previous).

On an embedded project in Australia I joined a dance school and discovered latin dance. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

I’m an early bird. 4am early if we’re talking fresh snow or empty waves. Otherwise, 6am and we're good.