Honing In

If our websites are our homes in this vast digital landscape, then jess herrera, a Venezuelan graphic designer, writer, and restless creative, is an architect. Informed by their experience moving through the immigration process, farming, and being in tune with their own humanity, they build human-first digital spaces for real needs.


Together jess and I unpack the “user experience” when it comes to navigating online spaces, along with examples where the experience is overridden by a need to streamline and systematize. jess also shares the various ways that tending to the fields as a farmer has guided them towards centering ease and care into every aspect of their work. If you’re looking for the complete opposite of “tech bro culture,” this episode is it.


Together we hone in on:
  • How jess identifies projects across personal and professional work 
  • What makes something a “human-first digital experience”
  • How the immigration process has informed jess’s approach to building truly inclusive online spaces
  • The various ways that farming has given jess insight into the “user experience” and has helped them center human-first care
  • jess’s art expressions of writing, collaging, and screen printing as ways to explore their queer identity and Venezuelan culture


Mentioned in this Episode:


More from jess:
More from Kate:


Podcast editing and support by Softer Sounds Studio.
Theme song by Melissa Kaitlyn Carter


What is Honing In?

Honing In is a podcast for creative thinkers where we’ll hone our skills, explore our passions, and nurture our dream projects into being.