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Hello. I'm Russell.

I'm a husband, father of two terrific & terrible kiddos, and a director of user experience at Oracle NetSuite. I work in the Enterprise Resource Planning group, which is a deep ocean of product areas, from manufacturing to financials to professional services. Our team stretches across the world, from Redwood Shores, California to Brno, Czech Republic. I am always - always - learning, but I have grown comfortable managing teams across 4 time zones and diving in and out of product areas with varying degrees of complexity.

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Note: The pensive artiste photo in the top banner was taken by my then 4-year-old while I was spacing out in the car. I find it amusing. 

My short list of patents

I'm proud of my one approved US patent, don't get me wrong, but everything is relative.

If you didn't know, when you get a patent approved, a bunch of third party offerings come to your mailbox, providing any number of ways to immortalize your achievement (from coffee mugs to 3D laser etchings). I didn't like many of the options that I saw, and I remembered my old boss Nico Popp had some glass framed ones that looked pretty good.

I went to his office and meekly asked if I could briefly borrow one to find out who makes it, and he's like: you can have it. Please take it, because I've got three dozen of these things piled up and I don't know what to do with them (I looked around his office and he had 10-12 that hadn't even been taken out of the box). 

Instant humility. : )

APPROVED

Selection and organization based on selection of X-Y position

I worked on this patent idea with Egan Schulz, a sr. director of design at PayPal at the time. 

It's very much an interaction / design patent, as it is not tied to any particular technology. 

Description

An X-Y interaction (XYI) facilitates rapid relationship pairing by creating tap or selection zones that intersect variables. The y-axis contains an indefinite number of variables (items) that can be assigned to x-axis variables (groups). "Items" are individual bits of information or data, like a transaction, song, item, or a to-do task.

"Groups" are predefined buckets that apply specific rules or actions or represent specific things or people. Items get assigned to groups, and then the rules are applied to them. Items along the y-axis can be organized based on where along an x-axis a user selects an item. The selection can be by tapping, and one item can be selected for multiple groups.

FILED

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING INTERFACES FOR VISUALIZING THREATS WITHIN NETWORKED CONTROL SYSTEMS – (12/02/16)

Collaborated with a designer and product manager on a topology interaction for visualizing threats.
 

Facilitated Dispute Processing by Utilizing an e-receipt – P1507US1 (3/29/13)

Collaborated with another designer on method to import receipt data to facilitate filing a claim.

 

Efficient Transactions at a Point of Sale Location – P1086US1 (5/2/11)

Collaborated with web developer on broad-based mobile POS patent.

My oldest son competing in a donut eating contest.

My oldest son competing in a donut eating contest.

My youngest son playing in a shallow pool in Yosemite.

My youngest son playing in a shallow pool in Yosemite.

PHOTO FILTERS, the obsession

I tend to get a wee bit obsessive when it comes to my hobbies. Maybe every other designer in the Bay Area is a photographer, but that's no reason to stop doing something you love. I started out with macro photography, focusing almost entirely on rusty things (nails, metal siding, old signs, etc.). Everything was tack sharp high resolution from a DSLR. I did that for a number of years, but the simple fact is a DSLR camera is bulky when you have kids and suitcases to carry. 

My passion switched over to the iPhone, and I've found that I capture the moments without being the disconnected "camera guy." When the Prisma app came out, I jumped all over it (as many people did).

As a doting dad, I naturally take a lot of photos of my kids. When the lens is not on them, it's pointed at beautiful scenery.

I like to do more abstract stuff too. This is a lit palm tree.

I like to do more abstract stuff too. This is a lit palm tree.

What I call a "linocut cheat." Shot in Yosemite.

What I call a "linocut cheat." Shot in Yosemite.

ART?

My filtered photos are all up on Instagram under famspam2000. I absolutely think what people create with Prisma is art, but just like anything else, the quality is all over the place, and of course it's all subject to individual taste. I find that it keeps my creative mind energized, and that's all I need.