Heather is a member of the Big Picture Initiative board. She helps Big Picture create arts education opportunities for Peoria to heal and bring joy and hope to our community.
Heather believes that art and design can unite members of the Peoria community who often do not communicate with one another and can create solutions to social problems. She believes that products and solutions created by active, engaged members of the community will be wanted and used–a result of the empowering ownership that occurs in the interactive process. Her goal is to create experiences that will change the way people think, raise awareness, and assist those in need. Ford’s strength and confidence in asking her audience to question social and political issues are evident in her works. She is highly experienced in applying methodologies of user experience design and research to website, mobile, and product development. Heather’s portfolio of work centers on the human condition provoking the audience to face both the beauty of humanity and its ability to cause struggle. She has explored creating innovative and exciting user-centered design experiences, methods, and strategies that involve user interface, user experience, and fine art.
Heather Ford has been a professional in the design industry with fifteen years of fine art, digital creative, and UI/UX experience in the commercial and academic sectors. Ford is an instructor and coordinator of User Experience Design major within the Bradley University’s Slane College of Communications and Fine Art Department of Interactive Media. She has been a designer for several Fortune 500 clients such as Disney, Maui Jim, NASA, AbbVie, Nike, and Home Depot, utilizing a user-centered design approach. She is co-author of “Mastering Mobile Learning: Tips and Techniques for Success” and has been a speaker for Nielsen Norman Group and the UX Research and Design Summit. Heather is also currently a graduate student at Bradley University pursuing her Master’s degree in Visual Communications within the Art and Design Department.
