I was born in 1984. I married my wonderful husband in 2008. I immigrated to Stockholm, Sverige (Sweden) from the United States in 2017. I previously lived in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, and rural Virginia and Tennessee. I work in tech and have been employed by Stripe, InVision, Spotify, Fitbit, Disney, Apple, and a bunch of failed startups. I consider myself an activist and care greatly about digital human rights and the environment. I enjoy traveling, reading, and writing on my blog. I am the founder of Ananas Teknik.
I am an Enneagram Type 6.
I once shared my experience switching to Mac OS X in a commercial for Apple. I said my legal name in the commercial and I had an above average online presence in 2002. This resulted in much unwelcomed contact and criticism for a high school student who hadn't yet figured himself out. It also led to several incredible friendships and job opportunities. This was an experience that happened to me, as opposed to something I accomplished. It was exciting at the time, but I'd much rather talk about the active decisions, accomplishments, and failures in my life.
I popularized the phrase “developer experience” (DX) to describe the use of user experience research and design methodologies for developer-focused products. Prior to my writing and speaking at conferences, there were no Google results for the use of this phrase in this manner.
I survived a helicopter crash. It was my first time riding in a helicopter. I've taken one helicopter ride since then. As far as I'm concerned, helicopters only have a 50% success rate.
I have been an environmentalist since I was 10. I adopted a plant-based diet over a decade ago because reducing meat consumption is the most significant thing individuals can do to reduce their carbon footprint, after flying less. A whole-foods, plant-based diet also has scientifically conclusive health benefits. I avoid dairy for lactose intolerance reasons.
In US American politics, I am a Democratic Socialist. I believe in capitalism and a guaranteed basic income. I agree with Robert Reich on most economic issues. I don’t have a strong party affiliation in Sverige yet.
I am a supporter of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union, Demand Progress, Fight for the Future, European Digital Rights (EDRi), Digital Freedom and Rights Association, Free Software Foundation Europe, Mozilla, and probably anything Larry Lessig establishes. I believe that the right to privacy is a requirement for the right to free speech. We'd be crazy to not fight for both.
My mom died of cancer when she was 34. I was 12. Every child should get the HPV vaccine. (Poem, Memorial)
I am gay. My identity has been defined more by the struggle for acceptance and equality of my sexuality than by my sexuality. I think of myself as many other things before being a gay man. I hope this is what equality eventually should feel like. (Coming out gay post)
I was raised in a very conservative Christian environment, but now am a secular humanist and atheist. (Coming out atheist post)