James Dishman
Creative Technologist · Interaction Design · AI Systems & UX Research
Summary
I am a creative technologist and interaction designer who also produces electronic music, DJs, and uses curation to compare, select, and sequence ideas. I am completing an MS in User Experience at Kent State University, expected December 2026 (reported GPA: 3.962). Focused on human-AI interaction, creative tools, and agentic UX, with practice in moderated research, accessibility auditing, interaction design, and code prototyping. Prototypes primarily in code with AI coding tools while retaining Figma fluency.
I use Clarence, a public AI collaboration system, to test single-writer governance, bounded specialist agents, and semantic retrieval in daily work. It supports working prototypes and documented evaluation across SensorSynthFM, accessibility research, and this site while I retain authority over product decisions and public claims.
Core Skills
AI & Agentic Systems
Claude Code · OpenAI Codex · Multi-agent orchestration (Hermes) · Model Context Protocol (MCP) server design · RAG/vector search · Semantic retrieval · Prompt engineering · Human-AI interaction design
Design & Research
Interaction design · Designing and prototyping in code with AI coding agents · Figma · Paper prototyping · User flows · Information architecture · Moderated and unmoderated usability testing · Contextual inquiry · Semi-structured interviews · Heuristic evaluation · Journey mapping · Affinity mapping · Card sorting · Survey design · Miro · Loop11 · Lyssna
Accessibility
WCAG 2.1 A/AA · Section 508 · VPAT 2.5 reporting · axe DevTools · WAVE · VoiceOver screen reader testing · TPGi Colour Contrast Analyser · Keyboard-only navigation testing · PDF remediation (Adobe Acrobat) · COGA cognitive accessibility · Universal design
Technical
HTML/CSS · TypeScript · React/Next.js · Python · SQLite · GitHub Actions CI/CD · Google Analytics 4
Experience
Title Abstractor
Nomad Land Services LLC
- Run an independent title practice conducting certified title analysis across multiple states and counties; currently researching property, lease, and mineral-ownership records for oil and gas projects, resolving chains of title extending to the 1850s.
- Resolve ambiguous record histories through document analysis, deed plotting, GIS resources, and probate research; deliver weekly written status reports to client stakeholders.
- Led small teams resolving title defects and partnered with attorneys on complex legal and property research.
User Group Organizer
Pittsburgh Ableton User Group
- Co-founded and lead a 10-year-running community for users of Ableton Live, organizing recurring meetings, workshops, and performances.
- Serve as direct liaison between the user community and Ableton's corporate community team, providing a decade of structured feedback on expert-user workflows.
- Designed and built PAUG.net (Next.js, GitHub Pages) as the group's public platform.
Smart Meter Technician
Wellington Energy (FirstEnergy contractor)
- Completed high-volume residential service assessments and meter exchanges across a distributed territory while maintaining a reported 3.962 GPA in a full-time graduate program.
- Communicated service interruptions to residents and documented site conditions in field-data systems.
Graduate Assistant
Kent State University, School of Information
- Helped Cathy Smith research an unfinished UX textbook; organized a book-analysis inventory and related course-resource and lecture inventory.
- Conducted site-map analysis and full copy review for the MS UX program website.
- Created an instructional draft on using AI as a self-guided tutor while learning Figma; the draft does not claim measured class outcomes.
Earlier roles: Material Handler, Osmose Utility Services (2021–2023); Assistant Brewer, Four Points Brewing (2019–2023); production, AV, and technical roles in live events and print production.
Selected Projects
Designed, built, and operate an AI collaboration system on Hermes with governed SQLite memory, semantic retrieval, bounded specialist agents, and custom MCP servers. Its August 25, 2026 public snapshot contained 10,224 current facts. SensorSynthFM, Music Atlas, Groove Dice, the Ableton timing-grammar lab, and nomadjames.com are built and evaluated through this working environment.
Working iPad FM synthesizer exploring sensor-driven interaction design through touch, accelerometer, gyroscope, and microphone modulation; MS capstone with a fully public, dated build history.
56-criterion WCAG 2.1 A/AA conformance audit using the VPAT 2.5 template; evidence gathered with axe DevTools, WAVE, HeadingsMap, VoiceOver, keyboard-only walkthrough, and TPGi contrast measurement; documented Does-Not-Support findings with reproducible tool evidence.
Contributed to a five-facilitator moderated study with 15 pooled participants; supported task design, affinity analysis, and reporting.
Multi-method expert-tool evaluation (heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthrough, comparative analysis) grounded in 30 years of music production and a decade of user-community leadership.