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Portrait of Shelby Cinca

Shelby
Cinca

Human Making Stuff

Almost 30 years across music/consumer hardware, software, and the interfaces in between, with a fondness and specialization in the musical instruments and sonic gadgetry.

Now an elder in the design and technology field, I've navigated the shift from early computer networking experiences to modern-day touch-screen systems. That background has equipped me with a deep understanding of what's essential for developing products, SaaS sites, apps, and more. I've had the privilege of working with a wide range of clients, from large, established organizations with detailed knowledge of their customers to small startups creating their first products. This diversity has been invaluable to my growth as a designer and seer of possibilities.

I enjoy the various touchpoints on a product's journey from idea to release, and am fascinated by the evolution of human-computer interaction. The past recent years, I've delved again deeper into HMI design, discovering the enlightening process of connecting physical user experiences with touch-based interfaces and navigating the constraints of embedded systems.

Before the web

BBS
SYSOP
=
Systems thinking, one caller at a time
bbs.txt

Before there was a web to design for, there was the humble modem. I begged my dad (computer scientist, jazz musician, later: Y2K bug fixer) for a phone line in the 80s in 6th grade so I can explore the world of BBSes after learning about them from a magazine. After that I ran a bulletin board system out of my bedroom from the late '80s into the '90s, first on a Commodore 64, then an Amiga 2000, one caller at a time, dialing in to read message boards, trade files, and make awesome demo-scene art (ATOMiC!).

Running it meant thinking constantly about menus, prompts, and what a stranger on the other end of a phone line needed to see next. That's as good a working definition of UX and systems thinking as I've found since and was the seedlings of what I do today.

+++ATH CURRENTLY PURRING ON RETICULUM.

Commodore 64 Amiga 2000 2400 Baud Sysop

Product Designer, Elektron Syntakt

Elektron Syntakt groovebox
Syntakt screen detail showing an alien-in-a-ship parameter icon and radio-wave lines for another parameter
Detail of the alien and radio-wave parameter icons, inspired by extra work I did on the film Contact many moons ago, and an homage to Whitley Strieber.
Leaders should embody the values they wish to instill in others. Instead of commanding or demanding, they should quietly demonstrate what it means to be ethical, compassionate, and wise through their actions - Lao Tzu
Detail of Scale Mode, which I spearheaded with Thomas Jansson.

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves." (Lao Tzu)

Additional Elektron experience: Product Owner and Designer for a then-unannounced project, the Digitakt 1.4 firmware release, and subsequent updates carrying scale-mode integration forward.

Other notable clients

Volvo Construction Equipment

Volvo Trucks

Behringer (Lab.Gruppen)

Microsoft

Griffin Technology

Polestar

Mitsubishi Cars

Sony PlayStation

Twitter

Newell

20th Century Fox