The most important part of building technology isn’t technology. It’s humans.
Hello. My name is Dave Cooksey. I have spent 25 years working at the intersection of people and technology as a developer, researcher, and information architect. That experience has given me a firm conviction: the teams that keep humans central to their work build better things.
What I do
I help teams understand, structure, and align.
Understanding — I bring human-centered research methods to the questions that matter most: who are your users, what do they need, and how does what you are building fit into their lives?
Structuring — I give shape to messy information. Navigation systems, taxonomies, semantic models, content architecture — the structural work that makes information findable, usable, and trustworthy.
Aligning — I help teams get on the same page. Around language, around priorities, around what they are actually building and for whom.
Who I work with
I work with teams building with AI who need to get the information layer right, large organizations that need coherence across channels, systems, and teams, and product teams who need to understand how what they are building will fit into people’s lives before they build it.
About me
My technology career started in 1999 as a web developer, database administrator, and webmaster (ask your parents). In 2005, I moved into my first UX role as an Information Architect and user researcher at GSI Commerce, later acquired by eBay Enterprise.
In 2008, I founded saturdave, my consultancy for UX strategy, research, and architecture. For nearly a decade I helped clients understand their users to build great experiences, working with brands like Anthropologie, eBay, Vanguard, and Walmart Grocery, among many others.
Most recently, I have been applying my user-centric toolkit to artificial intelligence: designing human–AI interactions and building semantic models for RAG platforms. My interest in technology centers on where it intersects with information and society (shorthand for culture, politics, and ethics).
Formal foundations
I am an avid reader and enjoy teaching. My work draws on formal study in both information systems and social science.
Drexel University
Information Systems — I studied human-computer interaction, design methodologies and evaluation, Information Architecture, and taxonomy at one of the world’s first iSchools.
University of Illinois
Political Science — Graduate studies providing a firm foundation in social science methodologies, philosophy of science, and postmodern critical theory. I also taught undergraduate courses.
Community engagement
I have shared my passion for the human side of technology by participating in the global UX community for several decades. It’s people who make technology. Learning from one another makes technology human.
IA Conference, née IA Summit
I have volunteered with the Information Architecture Summit (now the IA Conference) for 10 years, including co-chairing the 2017 Summit in Vancouver.
PhillyCHI
I also served as Chair of PhillyCHI four times and was an active member for more than a decade. PhillyCHI is the Philadelphia chapter of the ACM SIGCHI (The ACM’s human-computer interaction interest group)
Additionally, I have given workshops and talks about UX, user research, and taxonomy at community events in North America and Europe.