Alex Mercado

About Alex Mercado

Think of me as your helper, one of your guides. I want to help you name the problem behind your aches and make your vision a reality. I began my career as a cyber security researcher and software developer. I\'ve seen the massive losses that happen when users are confused, frustrated, and try to work around a broken system. I also know that software can be difficult to build and maintain, and I have a sense for what\'s easy or not.I got into design as a hobby, mostly—making print journals, posters, and t-shirts to help my friends and find community. In my day job as a developer, we didn\'t have any designers, and I found myself disoriented and my users frustrated. What exactly were we building, and why? Everyone had a different answer.So long before I had the title, I became the designer on the team. I sat with, talked to, and observed our users. Meanwhile, I had nurtured a passion for the people of under-resourced language communities, so I joined SIL and moved to Kenya to help them with their problems and see first-hand how they experienced our software. As a lone designer, I work with dozens of developers to make tools so people can thrive using the languages they value most.I live with my wife and toddler near where I grew up, in sweltering Tarrant County, Texas. I came back after a decade away in Washington, D.C; Hanover, NH; Bamenda, Cameroon; and Nairobi, Kenya. Raising a child has helped me delight in play and the delicate beauty of every human—big and small. Story has helped me to hold both the grief of loss and the goodness of life without dropping either.When I\'m not working, I long for to stroll through tall forests, climb granite mountains, and dive vibrant reefs. I find peace in the beauty of the world around me.

Experience

1. Sr Product Designer

   Sil Global

   Jan 2021 — Present

   Paratext Studio is a collaborative environment for translating Scripture with quality and efficiency. Platform by Paratext is open source effort inviting tech innovators to put new tools into the hands of Bible translators worldwide.

Education

• Dartmouth College

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Computer Science

  2007 — 2012

• University of Maryland

  Graduate coursework, Human-Computer Interaction

  2013 — 2016

• International Baccalaureate

  High School

  2004 — 2007

• Naval Postgraduate School

  Graduate coursework, Digital Exploitation

  2012

Skills

• Computer Science
• User Interface Design
• Graphic Design
• Python
• Javascript
• Html
• Public Speaking
• Computer Security
• Programming
• Research
• Data Analysis
• Java
• Ict4d
• Computational Linguistics
• Software Engineering
• Machine Learning
• Cloud Computing
• Linux
• Latex
• Bash
• Haskell
• C
• Vhdl
• Layout
• Photoshop
• Event Planning
• Teaching
• Social Media
• Ideation
• User-Centered Design
• Natural Language Processing
• Paper Prototyping
• Contextual Inquiry
• Focus Groups
• Survey Design