TL; DR; Biography
What makes people tick? How are they making their decisions? And why? How does that work?
These are the questions I’ve been asking since a very young age. Eager to discover the world, I’ve spent countless hours playing with a solar-powered calculator in the backyard, or with a microscope looking at different organic materials. When other kids were having their jolly time outside, I’ve been at home, trying to pierce the inner intricacies of this world.
I spent delighted hours upgrading my Atari 520 ST and later transitioned to PCs with 386 Intel Processors, adding more RAM and a better GPU. Believe it or not, I didn’t give in to the obscure force of Apple before 2016. I coded my first website at age 13, on Netscape 4 for a 640px cathode-ray tube monitor.
My parents envisioned me as a scientist. Photography, Painting, Music, Drama were my outlets.
After a brief year in a Vocational High School for IT Technician training, I switched to Arts, minoring in English Literature.
The lack of degree in Web Anything — except Cobol and C++ Developer — led me to pursue a degree in International Business, with a minor in Linguistics. Taught in college how to identify and pursue market opportunities, I decided to take the matter into my own hands and opened my first freelancing activity as a Web Designer at age 20. I moved to Paris a year later.
“I recommend you stop right there. You will never be a good designer”, said the Director of the first agency I interviewed at. It didn’t deter me. I reassessed and worked hard to come back stronger.
In the meantime, my tenure at a top-ranked ISP for customer support led me to be offered a job a block away, at Metaboli — today’s GamesPlanet — first of its kind to offer games in the cloud.
Focused on results, I became Focused on results, I became Manager of its Customer Service within 3 months, managed a team of 11 Representatives and QA and successfully negotiated a Level 1 outsourcing. I was 24 years old. I made good bucks, but my heart wasn’t there.
Web crisis.
It was 2008, and the market was facing an existential crisis: should a web designer know how to code?
I mastered HTML/CSS a long time before, but I was still lagging on JavaScript and PHP. I then decided to fill the gaps and I taught myself.
A year later, another crisis hit the French market: some agencies and freelancers were selling templates packaged as hand-coded websites.
With other concerned individuals, I organized a workshop with Art Directors, Developers, and clients, about respect of our final users. And I initiated the Ethical Guidelines for People who Makes the Web, signed by more than 200 important leaders of the French industry.
Gradually, I became interested into Usability and Cognitive Psychology. It made my first conference at Paris Web the same year, Usability: When Web Marketing meets Web Design, amongst Denise Jacobs, Mike Monteiro, and Denis Boudreau.
Ever since, I envision UX Design as a Triad: the Human and its thought process we need talk to, the Meaning of the Visual and Interaction Design we use to do so, and the Device and its constraints we need to code to.
Fast forwarding to 2013.
Ecole Multimedia honored me with a carte blanche UX Design Supervisor position, after a couple of startup ventures, exciting projects, accolades, and peer recognition.
They meant to test my innovative approach in a very competitive private sector. Not only were my students cum laude grades (average GPA 3.9), but my efforts as Head of the Innovative Lab elevated the college to the very 1st national rank, before the historical and prestigious Gobelins Art School.
Along with Ecole Multimedia, I also conducted workshops for top-tier journalists at the Institute of Journalism, and gave lectures at the University of Poitiers for 2 years in Applied Cognitive Psychology.
I moved to New York in 2014.
I created The One Who and kept working as a freelance Chief Design Officer. I became a member of the UXPA and volunteered at HackerX as a Facilitator. I have been honored to become a Guest Critic at General Assembly and NYU, before becoming a Mentor at Thinkful, and a Professor at CUNY.
Prior to these two humble opportunities, I had the tremendous chance to be mentored by Reginé Gilbert, and to establish Guidelines for Accessibility in XR at the XR Access Symposium. It sharpened both my skills in WebGL and in Accessibility compliance.
"Christophe really made a huge difference for the organization in maturing the brand and making Mimsi visible. We appreciate everything he has done for us and acknowledge him for his passion and verve for our mission."W. Tovar, Executive Director - Mimsi
During my journey in New York, I met amazing individuals who shaped my understanding of the American way of life and business.
It polished my soft skills and my communication across cultural differences. It reinforced my belief that, whether on one side of the Atlantic or the other, silos and waterfalls hurt the User Experience; that mentoring and supportive care of our teams count more than awards.
It made my urge to advocate for the Human even greater, and to support Inclusivity, in real life and on the web, because different should never mean ostracized. I believe in Tim Berners-Lee, when he first stated that the Web should be open to everyone and to help contribute to the community.
I believe in the power of User Experience and Inclusive Design to help make the world a better place. I believe in a World Wide Web where the Web is a playground, not a wall. That the most powerful tool is in the hands of the Creative Technologist.
What do you believe in? That's what I want to know. Take a swing at the web.Shoot me an email Can't wait? Schedule a meeting