Hi! My name is Dana. Welcome to my little corner of the web. I am currently a Senior Information Architect at Microsoft, working on structuring and making sense of all the content on Microsoft Learn.

Over the last 10 years of my professional career I have worked in information architecture, content design, UX design, and user research.

My work has helped small businesses and Fortune 500 companies alike make better sense of their information and content experiences.

Prior to my career in tech, I studied medieval history at Reed College and the University of St. Andrews. My academic research focused on perceptions of gender during the crusades as seen in the story of Margaret of Beverley, and the political works of Christine de Pizan. While at the University of Washington, I studied the intersection of technology and humanities research and how academic libraries could support the digital humanities.

Outside my professional life, I am a photographer, writer, and potter.

What I Do

Whether I am supporting authors and content creators find creative flexibility within the defined bounds of a digital experience or creating organizing mechanisms for machines to support discoverability across complex information spaces, structure is vital.

I have deep experience dealing with large information spaces and complex domains, aiming to help others make better sense of the world and issues around them.

I approach my work with curiosity and openness, always ready to embrace complexity and ambiguity in the experiences I design. I am a frequent collaborator with business stakeholders, engineers, designers, and authoring teams and find my work is made better in doing so.

You can download my résumé or request my portfolio for more details about my career.

Skills

  • content and information modeling
  • user research and analysis
  • content strategy and ux writing
  • domain analysis and knowledge graph design
  • taxonomy development and governance

Values

  • creating human-centered experiences
  • designing structures to enable creativity
  • accessibility as a default
  • ethical AI in practice
  • maxing complex things easier

Where I’ve Been

Microsoft – Senior Information Architect (2019 – Current)+–

I lead the taxonomy and knowledge graph practice on Microsoft Learn. During my time at Microsoft, I have developed a knowledge graph program to support content discovery across 20 million pieces of content on the world’s largest technical documentation and education platform. I have also contributed content expertise to the development of the platform-wide content model and regularly collaborate across engineering, product management, design, authoring, and research teams.

Factor Firm – Information Architect & User Researcher (2017 – 2019)+–

I defined the strategies and designs for complex information systems for both e-commerce and enterprise clients, including: taxonomy design, metadata governance plans, user research, and stakeholder management. As part of the Factor team, I also developed and taught workshops about taxonomy and information architecture for clients and industry colleagues.

Rick Steves Europe – Digital Production Specialist (2016 – 2017)+–

Developed the UX and content strategies, built the information architecture, and completed front-end development for a iOS app based on the Rick Steves Tours catalog. I also created new and maintained existing digital content across digital platforms.

Avvo – Content Strategist (2014 – 2016)+–

Defined content strategy and content experience for public user profiles and user-generated content. Developed user journeys to identify gaps and areas of opportunity within typical legal scenarios. Created and maintained taxonomies of over 120 legal practice areas to improve SEO and user discoverability of over 13 million pieces of user generated content.

Education

2012-2014

University of Washington

Masters of Library & Information Science

2010-2011

University of St. Andrews

Master of Letters in Mediaeval Studies

2005-2009

Reed College

Bachelor of Arts in Classics & Religion