Hannah Chatham

Meet me

Hi I’m Hannah. I’m serving as a civic designer and researcher for the New Jersey Office of Innovation, currently working to launch a free tax filing tool called File Your State Taxes. New Jersey is the third pilot state (after Arizona and New York) to execute this fantastic work started by Code for America.

I've also worked closely with the New Jersey Department of Labor to improve key pain points when applying for paid family leave. I'm particularly passionate about paid family leave as a vehicle of building in equality and support for people when they need it most. One outcome of my work with New Jersey was the development of the Maternity Coverage Timeline Tool. 

Before that, I helped design airport wayfinding at San Francisco Airport with the City ID design team. 

For me, design started by staging photoshoots with my younger siblings in the backyard, making collage cards from magazines, and attempting weird face sculptures from plaster of paris (dangerously on my brother's face–sorry Lucas). 

I'm not too different in adult life. I try and approach work with a  "what the heck" curiosity and not take myself too seriously. I want experiences to look and feel excellent, and I like trying different ways to get there. I don't mind ambiguity, love to learn from real people who will use said designs, (actively seeking out the less-heard user group) and always want to get to the finish line as a team. 

I consider myself primarily a systems and service designer, but have worn hats in graphic design, package design, environmental design, design research, wayfinding design as well as in project management, design team leadership and held down my own freelance business during pandemic times.  

I enjoy facilitation and community gathering, in all its forms. 

Find me at Hannah.chatham@gmail.com, on LinkedIn. I currently live in Los Angeles, CA. 

Resume (google doc)