Zavier Alexander

The MindWave headset is one of the first consumer brainwave sensing devices. I worked intimately with NeuroSky's neuroscientists, engineers and business planners to develop the form of an entirely new product category. Challenges included many novel human factors considerations, extreme cost sensitivity, after market business strategy and public perception of a nascent technology. It has connected exceptionally well with its intended audience of early adopters and developers who have since used the product to create ground-breaking new games, educational aides, research studies, and treatments for ailments such as ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease‎). 

Robotic cat ears animated by your mind! Necomimi is the brainchild of NeuroWear, a small experimental subsidiary of the Japanese advertising giant Dentsu. The original rough prototype was built using a hacked NeuroSky MindWave, yet it generated millions of engaged fans via a YouTube video. I stepped in to help them develop their initial idea into a fully manufacturable product that could reach people all over the world. I led the development of the design from initial sketch to first customer shipment in approximately 4 months while improving comfort, costing down and enabling more user expression. It was recognized as one of Time Magazine's Top 100 Inventions of 2011.

LifeBeat is a wrist-based activity tracker with extremely precise ECG (EKG) heart-rate sensors that can be used to gain deep insights into health and wellness. I was responsible for designing the overarching usage model, industrial design of the band and the mobile app ecosystem. 

Dandelion is a short conceptual project inspired by my desire to own a drone and my disappointment with the current offerings. Designed over the course of a few long car rides between Tampa and Key Largo, FL.

MindSet was one of the first single sensor EEG (Brainwave sensing) headsets. I worked on form development, CMF, graphic design and packaging for this project. 

The Adventures of NeuroBoy was one of the first brainwave controlled games for use with NeuroSky headsets. I worked closely with a team of developers on many user interface problems regarding feedback loops, appropriate mental models, game mechanics and UI design. 

I was responsible for the visual design of several versions of the NeuroSky website and design strategy. The primary audience for the site evolved over time and the visual language adapted to each change. Website design, graphic design, photography, user testing. 

The Hearty project was a series of mobile ECG (Cardio sensing) concepts and a functional prototype test run in collaboration with Stanford Hospital and Clinics. I generated biosensor phone case designs, oversaw low volume production of prototypes for field testing, and developed the UI for the mobile app. 

CardioStick is designed to enable ultra-affordable, ultra-portable access to EKG (Cardio sensing) for anyone. It is small enough to fit on a keychain and simple enough to be produced at a cost significantly lower than other "mobile" EKG products. I produced the product design and mechanical design for low-volume production. 

The LifeBeat band is just one part of a mobile health tracking ecosystem. I led the UI/UX design for the consumer mobile app and corporate administrator dashboard (SaaS). Both apps were developed in a highly collaborative Scrum process with engineers and major stakeholders.  

Recent sketches

I love to shoot professionally and personally. Much of my product photography for NeuroSky has been featured in publications such as Discover magazine and Wired.com.