Amy Ferchak has over 12 years of experience as a researcher and interaction designer. With a Master’s in Design from Carnegie Mellon University, she has designed products for clients across many domains—including healthcare, manufacturing, defense, commercial vehicle, automotive, finance, and retail.
Amy is a passionate advocate for the user, going to the edges of the earth with our client’s customers (literally). She is a natural empathizer, and develops new ways of eliciting information from people about their experiences by working to locate insights to make design decisions that lead to the right solution.
She also leads our mentoring program at MAYA, and enjoys spreading the word about design through speaking engagements and workshops—especially those that introduce the design discipline to young people.
Prior to joining MAYA, Amy’s experiences included everything from working on a schooner in Maine, to playing bass in a local surf rock band, and even running a pizzelle and biscotti-making business.
MA Design, Carnegie Mellon University
Rockland, ME
Pittsburgh, PA
Empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
You can find me with my husband and family.
“[If] people are made safer, more comfortable, more eager to purchase, more efficient, or just happier, the designer has succeeded.”
-Henry Dreyfuss
Besides a calculator, it was using a computer at summer camp, plotting x/y points to create an image.
The kitchen table and benches at my childhood home, in our garage shop with my Dad.
To design a usable, useful system, I need to get beyond the level of “information” and move up to the level of “knowledge and understanding.”
11 principles to keep in mind when applying Human-Machine Interface design to drilling equipment from the MAYA team who worked with Transocean via drillingcontractor.org.
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