Nate Bolt, El Presidente

Nate is fascinated by the personal, social, and cultural role of technology, and how research and design can transform those roles. After pioneering and directing the User Experience department at Clear Ink in 1999, which included the construction of Natural Environment and Remote Observation laboratories, Nate co-founded Bolt | Peters. He now serves as el presidente, where he has overseen hundreds of user research studies for Sony, Oracle, HP, Greenpeace, Electronic Arts, and others. Beginning in 2003, he led the creation of the first moderated remote user research software, Ethnio, which is being used around the world to recruit hundreds of thousands of live participants for research.

Nate regularly gives presentations on native environment research methods in both commercial and academic settings, and has co-authored Remote Research, a book on remote testing. Working with faculty at the University of California, San Diego, he created a degree titled “Digital Technology and Society,” which focused on the social impact of technology. He also completed a year of communications studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he was jailed briefly for playing drums in public without a license. You can find more about him at all these handy places:

Kate Nartker, Office Superstar

Kate calmly balances running the office, accounting, and incentive management at B|P with an astonishing ability to keep the vivid officeplant life flourishing. With a degree in Media Studies from Ohio State University, she has researched the relationship between technology and people from several angles and continues to pursue this interest at Bolt | Peters.

While originally from the mid-west, Kate finds San Francisco to be much more inhabitable and interesting. When not sitting in front of a computer, she is probably in front of a sewing machine honing her fashion design skills or riding her bike. She also holds the distinction of having the best quote describing life in the Pacific NorthWest – “living with the rain in Seattle is like being in an abusive relationship. It will be great for a few months but then it’s right back to the same old crap.” She also once performed a syncronized swimming dance to Paul Simon’s Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes in Napolean, Ohio.

** twitter | facebook **

Cyd Harrell, Director of Research

Cyd has had a passion for the way things work since before user experience was a recognized field. She received her formal training from Yale University, where she studied Linguistics with a focus on socio-linguistics. Cyd’s career has included roles in Marketing, QA, Product Management, and official User Experience. Her expertise in qualitative analysis and her interpretive skill have enabled her to bring together user needs and business requirements to the benefit of both. Along the way, she made time to help found San Francisco Women on Web, an education and networking organization.

Cyd joined Bolt |Peters in July 2006 after several years at Charles Schwab. She manages B|P’s consulting arm, and has assisted clients such as Sony, Washington Post, and Harvard Business School in making major changes to their web offerings. In the rest of her life she writes poetry, practices yoga, and hangs out with her young daughter.

** twitter | cydharrell.com (personal site) | linkedin **

Sela

This is the office dog. Her name is Sela. There is literally nothing more that needs to be said about Sela, other than that she is the rad dog that comes to our office twice a week. Unfortunately, it looks really weird with no text here and a picture of a dog. She is sort of internet-famous for a robotic dog treat dispenser that Nate built for her though.

** Sela’s Personal Site | twitter |**

Distinguished Alumni

Tony Tulathimutte
Brian Patrick Enright
Julia Houck-Whitaker
Mike Towber
Benjamin Lerch