ANGELA SHEN-HSIEH

Since graduating from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1991, Angela Shen-Hsieh has been pursuing forms of communication and information delivery that fascinate, inform and prompt people to think. Inspired by her training in architecture and a vision for the way in which design can dramatically improve the quality of our lives, she and her company, Visual i|o, are exploding the boundaries of how people interact with the increasingly overwhelming amounts of data now accessible. Visual i|o is a venture-backed data visualization software company founded in 2002. Its keen focus is on "the last 18 inches"—getting data fromthe computer screen into the human mind — bridging the divide between raw data and actionable meaning through an entirely new graphical language for navigating and interpreting data.

In its June 2004 issue, Fast Company profiled Shen-Hsieh as one of four rising stars "charting the future" of business and design innovation. In 2006, she was chosen by BusinessWeek as one of "10 cutting edge designers pushing the limits of design." Shen-Hsieh holds several user interface patents and her work and her company have been featured in numerous publications. Also, she sits on several not-for-profit boards, including AIGA's National Board, and lectures frequently.

Where were you born, where do you live, did this effect your design style or sensibilities? I was raised in a suburb of Boston. I went to college in NYC and have lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts for 22 years. NY and Cambridge are magnets for people who think, see and act from diverse perspectives, while the town where I grew up stressed uniformity. My sensibility has always been one that questions why things are the way they are — how could things be designed differently?

If you were not a designer, what would you be? I would be a commercially-focused conceptual artist. I believe that there is a big market of Americans who would literally 'buy into' art, beauty and high concept, if it were presented in the right way.

What is your design process, do you sketch first, go to the computer, take days off to get inspired? My process in visualization works from two ends: first, the human user — what are they trying to do, what's their context and mental construct for the information? Then, the data: how is it being captured, how can it be constructed to tell a better story, fill out a narrative, what is its size and 'shape'?

What is one thing you have done to help weather the economic downturn? Mainly, we have looked at the stress points of our business and how to increase leverage or bandwidth in those areas through partnering, new channels, and by adjusting our business model

YOUR DESIGN HERO?
Charles and Ray Eames

WORST HABIT?
Having the tv on all the time

FAVORITE COLOR?
Gray

FAVORITE TYPEFACE?
Gill Sans

FAVORITE TV SHOWS?
Top Chef, Project Runway, Sportscenter

FAVORITE BOOKS?
I have all kinds of things on my nightstand: a dozen different magazines, British mysteries, social science non-fiction, business books

FAVORITE MOVIES?
I cringe to admit it, but anything with Keanu Reeves

FAVORITE MUSIC?
Lounge music

FAVORITE FINE ARTIST?
Gerhard Richter

FAVORITE GADGET?
Feeling strangled by gadgetry at the moment, but after 20 years, I still love my HP12c (reverse polish financial calculator)

BOOKMARKED WEBSITES?
Baptiste Power Yoga Schedule, Comcast TV Guide, Yelp

BEST GIFT YOU EVER RECEIVED?
Good education

ONE THING YOU NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT?
Multifunctional trial size tube of Aquaphor (it's a moisturizer, lipgloss, first aid gel & hair product all-in-one, and I've also used it as a sealant and as WD40 before!)

ONE THING YOU CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT?
TV

TALENT YOU WISH YOU POSSESSED?
I wish I could drive a golf ball 300 yards like Michelle Wie