Palmer D’Orazio earned his Bachelor’s of Science in computer science in 2016. D’Orazio began his career at JazzHR as a user experience designer. While at JazzHR, D’Orazio created visual designs for several product enhancements, led rigorous and contextual user research to uncover problems and was a project manager. He was soon promoted to a senior user experience designer in 2017. In early 2021, D’Orazio took a new position at Kiavi (formerly known as LendingHome). As a senior product designer, D’Orazio works on user research and design work in multiple cross-functional product teams. We are proud of Palmer D’Orazio and his hard work!
- What was an impactful experience you had as a student at Hope?
- This is cliché, but study abroad. Vienna Summer School was technically my last semester, and it was the perfect experience to catapult me out of the Hope bubble.
- What is your current job title? In your own words, describe what you do.
- I’m a user experience designer. I study how people interact with a product or service, then design some changes to help them accomplish their goals more easily.
- What do you love about your chosen career?
- It’s very interdisciplinary. In any given week, I get to interview people, design experiments, write stuff, play with typography and colors, and more. For me, design scratches the same itch that had me walking between the VanderPlex and the music building every day.
- What was your favorite food at Phelps?
- Shoutout to the popcorn chicken bowl!
- Which class would you want to retake if you could? Why?
- During senior year, I took Christian Love with Dr. Hoogerwerf. Perhaps ironically, it helped me come to terms with being a queer agnostic, but that’s the liberal arts for you.
Hope College is proud to honor Palmer D’Orazio ’16 with the 2021 10 Under 10 Award. The “10 Under 10 Awards” honors emerging leaders who are making significant contributions by living out their callings; engaged in the local and global community through professional and/or volunteer involvement; and use their education to think about important issues with wisdom and clarity, communicate effectively to bridge boundaries that divide human communities and act as agents of hope living faithfully into their vocations. Designed for alumni who are within 10 years of graduation, they are presented by the Hope College Alumni Association. Make a nomination today!