“Basically, we just help people make really consistent, really incredible designs,” says Christine when asked to explain what she does. Christine has managed to have an impact on countless rooms in countless hospitals without having to be anywhere near the needles that make her so queasy. She’s certainly put in her time in on the hospital floor, but maybe not in the way you’d expect.
You see, when Christine was younger, studying design and learning software skills, she was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer. What followed was a lengthy ordeal of treatment, surgeries and long hospital stays. During this time Christine honed her resiliance, and her ability to keep a positive outlook, regardless of the hand that life deals you.
“Not everything that you think is bad for you actually is,” says Christine. “The best choices you make are the ones you make out of necessity.”
A career improving people's lives
Now, as a Design Lead working on hospital systems, she fights pesky patterns that slow down efficiency and user experience. What she does helps saves lives “just by the speed of use, just by being more efficient,” she says – “being able to display exactly what’s going on.”
To Christine, it’s a deeply embodied interest that stands at the nexus between art, science, and personal experience: the drive to get rid of the patterns that weigh us down. Although most of us seem to fall into such limitations endlessly, Christine demonstrates the uniquely human talent for overcoming them.
“Good design shouldn’t get in your way,” she says. Rather, it should support us in our everyday tasks. “Like I had with a laparoscopy, your blood pressure starts to drop. It’s the machines that tell the nurses you’re in trouble, it’s not you.”
Christine brings many kinds of knowledge to her team and network at Philips. Knowledge of what a patient might feel, of what the rules are, and when to break them. She’s also bringing new forms to the products she works on. Forms that we could go ahead and call ‘Bright Patterns.’ The future is indeed bright for Christine.
How has Christine turned her struggles into career success? Here are her top 5 keys to success:
