I get this question a lot.

And people have their own assumptions about what I do as a designer at NASA:

My mom thinks I work on plans to destroy the Death Star.
Friends think I float in space as an astronaut.
Society thinks I do something with aliens.
My bosses think I fight for the user.
NASA engineers think I sit at my desk and draw pictures of rockets.

My response has been, “I’m a therapist to aerospace engineers.”

Because I spend the majority of my time talking to people. Yes, really. I spend the majority of my time in conversations:

I bring people from different backgrounds together, facilitate conversations, and help them see each others ideas. And sometimes, I don’t even design anything. I just get people in a room together to talk.

Sometimes, it’s like group therapy:

And because I lead group therapy sessions, I’m a mediator and a translator. I bring people together, guiding conversations between people and groups of people.

This is not at all the type of work I thought I’d be doing. But it’s really what I spend the majority of my time doing. 

I thought I’d be doing design work: designing cool interfaces for some spacecraft controls and analytics, or designing a command center for a Mars Rover. But I am not.

Depending on the discussion and the people involved, I listen, mediate, document, negotiate, translate, and facilitate conversations.

Recently, I’ve realized that the term ‘therapist’ no longer captures what I do. Instead, I’ve started using a new word to describe my work: connector.

The reasons I like the word connector:

A connector is not just someone who knows many different people and brings them together. A connector is also compassionate and supportive. A connector actively builds and maintains a wide network, introducing people from different circles to foster mutually beneficial connections. A connector acts as a bridge between individuals or groups with shared interests or needs.

Being a connector is a natural role for designers, as we are active listeners who encourage collaboration and boost problem-solving to achieve mutual goals. And that is exactly what I do!

So, going forward, when someone asks what I do as a designer at NASA, I’ll respond with, ‘I’m a connector.’ It may not be the glamorous job people envision when they hear I’m a designer at NASA, but it’s incredibly rewarding —and that makes it all worth it.