# Introductions (come in, say hi)
**URL:** https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41
**Category:** Design Lounge
**Created:** [April 10, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41 "2017-04-10T16:19:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@simonv3](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/simonv3)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/1 "2017-04-10T16:19:00Z")
Hey all!
Adopting a classic forum style I think it’d be cool if we had an introductions thread, something that I think was kind of missing on GitHub.
Take a moment to introduce yourself. Tell us who you are, where you are, what you like doing most on a daily basis, what brought you to open source design, and what you’re most excited about for this community. Tell us as much or as little as you like!
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### Author:  [@simonv3](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/simonv3)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/2 "2017-04-10T16:28:03Z")
And to start off - I’m a developer with a training in UX who was trained in comp-sci. I live in Skagway Alaska, and as the summer approaches I’m looking forward to digging in dirt, climbing mountains, and sitting on boats.
My open source project of choice is OpenFarm and got involved in OSD when I randomly was invited to the organization by someone. During the day I work on humanitarian aide projects and feel fortunate that I’m able to do so.
I’m excited that all of OSD’s conversations will be happening in one place and in a context that is probably (hopefully!) a bit friendlier to newcomers.
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### Author:  [@evalica](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/evalica)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2017, 9:35am UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/3 "2017-04-11T09:35:51Z")
I’ve never understood the reasons for creating such topics 🙂 but I guess it’s polite to say hi and to introduce yourself. So: ‘Hi 🙂 I’m @evalica’
The only note I want to make is that we have something similar on GitHub, see [https://github.com/opensourcedesign/organization/tree/master/people](https://github.com/opensourcedesign/organization/tree/master/people), but the participation was not that great. So if someone wants to know more about some OSD members you can check there or here. I guess it’s easier to tell us about you in the forum than creating a PR 🙂
I’m an Interaction Designer and my focus is mostly in creating the XWiki platform, which is also an open source project. I loved and promoted open source all my life and I guess that’s says it all 🙂 I’m based in Iasi, Romania.
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### Author:  [@jan](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/jan)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/4 "2017-04-12T16:32:01Z")
In a distributed community such as ours it helps getting to know each other. 😉 Good on starting this thread.
As for me, I’m an interaction designer and have been working on open source projects since roughly 10 years now. The main projects and initiatives I am involved in are [Nextcloud](https://nextcloud.com) (which is also my full-time job, formerly OwnCloud), [Terms of Service; Didn’t Read](https://tosdr.org/), and of course Open Source Design. Some time ago I also wrote a thesis called [»Usability in Free Software«](http://jancborchardt.net/usability-in-free-software) which is intended as a guidebook for devs and designers. 🙂
I’m also trying to help make it easier for beginners and underrepresented groups to participate in open source.
Otherwise I spend my time cycling, snowboarding, playing table tennis and making music. 😃 I’m currently semi-based in Berlin but travel often.
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### Author:  [@simonv3](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/simonv3)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/5 "2017-04-12T16:47:08Z")
> [@jan](#):
>
> Terms of Service; Didn’t Read
Woah, that’s you! Cool 🙂
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### Author:  [@grahamperrin](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/grahamperrin)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2017, 11:10am UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/6 "2017-04-13T11:10:00Z")
> [@The five members of staff](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/the-five-members-of-staff/25/5):
>
> … Same thing should go for the administration of this forum.
Yeah, sorry for not properly introducing myself. I’ll do so at a later date. In the meantime it’s nice to learn about other people. Thanks.
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### Author:  [@victoria-bondarchuk](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/victoria-bondarchuk)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2017, 11:12am UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/7 "2017-04-13T11:12:58Z")
Hi everyone, i’m @victoria-bondarchuk,
I’m an engineer and UX designer, @jan and I started design track at FOSSASIA, this year we got some attention and many interesting design talks, for example evalica opened a [great discussion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M9ptBxFyP4&feature=youtu.be) on what to expect from designer in open source. I’m interested on how usability and UX methods can be applied to open source culture, I love to read and collect [academic papers](https://github.com/victoria-bondarchuk/List-of-Academic-Research-on-Usability-in-FOSS) on this topic.
I’m very grateful to this community, I think it is the best what happened to me in my career. Just want to say thank you to belenbarrospena, bnvk, jan, evalica, simonv3, elioqoshi, ei8fdb, jdittrich and every one else here for being so awesome and open! ❤ Thank you grahamperrin and studiospring, and everyone who contributed and set up this forum.
I just moved to Madrid from Asia, and cannot wait to start OSD activities here! Ping me if you are in Madrid
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### Author:  [@jdittrich](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/jdittrich)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2017, 11:27am UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/8 "2017-04-13T11:27:44Z")
Hi,
I am Jan, too (Jan D. if you like)
I have been involved in design with open source projects since about 2008, starting with Mozilla’s Lab project. I do interaction design and user research – interviews, observation, surveys, usability testing etc. and wrote [libré textbook on user research](http://jdittrich.github.io/userNeedResearchBook/).
I take much (academic) interest in how methods of research and design are applied in practice: Makes “design in code” sense for designers? What do we look for when we say we want to know “user needs” etc. (This relates to a bit to @victoria-bondarchuk’s interest)
Thanks to everyone making this possible!
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### Author:  [@belenbarrospena](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/belenbarrospena)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2017, 11:36am UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/9 "2017-04-13T11:36:30Z")
Glad you made it to Madrid! I will ping you when I drop by. I go a couple of times a year 🙂
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### Author:  [@belenbarrospena](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/belenbarrospena)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2017, 11:45am UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/10 "2017-04-13T11:45:14Z")
> I’ve never understood the reasons for creating such topics 🙂 but I guess it’s polite to say hi and to introduce yourself.
LOL. I am bit the same, but since we are at it … I am @belenbarrospena. I have been an interaction designer and user researcher for 10 years. I spent 5 of those working for FOSS projects (Yocto Project, OpenEmbedded, Patchwork and OSD of course), although I am currently back to the commercial software world ☹
I am determined to bring user centered design to software engineering tools, because they are generally atrocious and I don’t see why developers shouldn’t have nice things 😉
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### Author:  [@jan](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/jan)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/11 "2017-04-13T15:26:21Z")
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### Author:  [@Xaviju](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/Xaviju)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2017, 5:17pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/12 "2017-04-13T17:17:30Z")
Hi! I’m Xavi -\> @xaviju
I am a front-end developer (I like to say UI developer) trying to build a bridge between the design and code worlds and spread open source culture in both of them. I currently work in Kaleidos, the company behind [Taiga](http://taiga.io) an open source project management tool. My background is a mix of design, communication and code.
I strongly believe that open source software NEEDS a lot of work in interface design. OSD will provide not only usability, but also credibility to OSS. I’m very excited with this initiative. I’m also trying to to improve OSS creating [small UI plugins](https://github.com/Xaviju) for software I use.
I am based in Madrid (welcome @victoria-bondarchuk)
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### Author:  [@m1guelpiedrafita](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/m1guelpiedrafita)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2017, 7:00pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/13 "2017-04-13T19:00:45Z")
Hi! I’m Miguel (@m1guelpf con GitHub)
I am a backend guy, bit I am recently trying to learn and become a full-stack developer
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### Author:  [@bnvk](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/bnvk)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/14 "2017-04-13T19:54:53Z")
Hi. I’m Brennan ([@bnvk](https://github.com/bnvk) on Github). I’ve done various design things professionally since 1999 and various engineering things 2008. I’m currently working in free and open source software primarily in the privacy, digital rights, and information activism realms. Read more [on my website](https://brennannovak.com)
I’ve contributed to OSD by working on [our website](http://opensourcedesign.net) and driving growth to [our job board](http://opensourcedesign.net/jobs/). I run the [IRC chat app](https://chat.opensourcedesign.net) and have given a few public talks and workshops.
I’m usually in Berlin (DE) these days, but formerly Reykajvik (IS) and Portland (US).
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### Author:  [@htietze](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/htietze)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/15 "2017-04-13T20:30:06Z")
Hello World, my name is Heiko. I freelance as a UX designer with background as psychologist. Working for [LibreOffice](https://design.blog.documentfoundation.org/) as UX mentor, sometimes also active in the KDE VDG. Spuriously using the term “designer” since I do not have any skills for visual design. Neither I’m a developer, although I wrote a little [game](http://scrabble.sourceforge.net/wiki/) some time ago in Freepascal. Being really good as the grumpy old guy, I guess.
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### Author:  [@RichardLitt](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/RichardLitt)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/16 "2017-04-14T01:16:01Z")
Hey 👋. I’m [@RichardLitt](https://github.com/RichardLitt) on GitHub, [@richlitt](https://twitter.com/richlitt) on Twitter. I’m a developer and UX person, trained as a linguist originally. I live on the road as a nomad, but I’ve been in Montréal for the last little while, although I’m heading to Berlin soon for a lot of the summer. I read books, write poetry, sing a lot, and have recently been really enjoying long distance running.
I recently started [Maintainer.io](https://maintainer.io) as a way of helping open source companies do open source easier, and helping developers with too much on their plate get some space. It’s been a fun week for me, watching that grow. Previously I did a lot of UX work for [The User is Drunk](https://theuserisdrunk.com) and [The User is My Mom](https://theuserismymom.com), although I was working full-time with [IPFS](https://ipfs.io) as a dev and community manager for the past year and a half.
I try to help out here and there, and have been trying to get more involved recently. Design is important!
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### Author:  [@JustinNichol](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/JustinNichol)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2017, 9:05pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/17 "2017-04-20T21:05:07Z")
Not sure if I’m welcome here. I’m an illustrator and designer and a free software partisan. I use Krita, Gimp, Blender, etc. in my work. I love free software and open source hardware and software, and attempt to use creative commons to create free culture. My website is [freeforall](http://www.freeforall.cc)
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### Author:  [@simonv3](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/simonv3)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/18 "2017-04-20T21:44:13Z")
You are super welcome here!
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### Author:  [@mray](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/mray)
#### Post date: [April 21, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/19 "2017-04-21T19:08:11Z")
Hi, I’m a Free Software advocate currently contributing to [snowdrift.coop](https://snowdrift.coop) and [freedombox.org](https://freedombox.org) but I’m also involved in free software projects in general. Living in Freiburg, Germany. My focus is on the more visual side of things.
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### Author:  [@jtmorgan](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/jtmorgan)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41/20 "2017-05-02T22:20:06Z")
HI everyone! I’m Jonathan, a [researcher at Wikimedia](https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/User:Jtmorgan). I’m excited to be a part of this group!
[Next page](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/introductions-come-in-say-hi/41.md?page=2)