MS 1999; PhD 2005
VP Digital Customer Experience, Forrester Research
After the Media Lab, Joan spent six years at IBM Research working on social media and data visualization innovation projects. She wanted to have direct customer impact and to stop the prototyping, so moved to Forrester Research, where she now oversees the digital experience of their products.
How did your experience at the Lab influence your next step?
I've brought to Forrester many practices I learned at the Media Lab, such as a demo communicates better than a slide deck, user data can win a lot (not all) arguments, to encourage innovation you need to allow people to work under the radar and off the grid, to sustain innovation you need processes that allow for freedom, and an excited leader gets people to do amazing things.
In my 6 years at the media lab I found my passion and learned how to articulate it in a persuasive way. I can't imagine my career without my media lab experiences.
You don't need to hold on to your ideas, but share them openly. And likewise, learn from and build upon others' ideas.