Chris Bernard

I'm a practicing and slightly over-stimulated design manager and consultant that works in high-tech. I'm married and have three kids and currently call the Chicago area home.

I'm currently a user experience evangelist for Microsoft. My job is woking with the software design, development and business domains to communicate Microsoft's position on the importance of user experience in software design.

Formerly I was a creative director in a large technology focused professional services company. I brings over 14 years of expertise in design, consulting, strategy, business frameworks, design research, analysis, synthesis, planning and implementation.

I used to focus mostly on motion graphic and interactive design but these days I find myself usually working on transactional Web-based applications and design specification artifacts.

My mission as a design professional is to apply the principles of contextual research, cultural, human, physical and social factors to the products, services and systems that I develop.

I'm passionate about linking the value of design to business and measurable objectives and don't like people that think designers are merely decorators or designers that act like decorators.

I've got an M.S. in Marketing Communications from the Stuart Graduate School of Business and a M.D.M (Master of Design Methods) from the Institute of Design. Both of these schools are affiliated with the Illinois Institute of Technology.

A very long time ago I got my undergraducate degree from the University of Iowa, where I majored in film studies and film production.