About us
PDT is a community of creative problem solvers advancing human-centered design literacy through high-quality events, lively conversation, and practice-based development.
We're made up of all kinds of people: practitioners who use human-centered design methods and mindsets every day, designers and researchers, design strategists, Agile scrum leaders, urban planners, and many more who use or appreciate Design Thinking.
One way to define design thinking is that it is a mindset, approach, and set of tools and techniques for problem-solving and innovation anchored around human-centered design. Design thinking is different from other innovation and ideation processes in that it’s solution-based and user-centric rather than problem-based. This means it focuses on the solution to a problem instead of the problem itself. Design thinking is the essential ability to combine empathy, creativity, and rationality to meet human needs and drive business success.
Typically, we meet monthly, mostly virtually, and occasionally in person. Our monthly meetings, announced through MeetUp, may be webinar-style, or interactive and focus on some topic of interest to our community.
But we're about more than just meetup events.
You can find information about our upcoming events as well as links to recordings of past events on our website [PortlandDesignThinkers.com](portlanddesignthinkers.com).
We have an active, private Slack workspace – it is a thriving online discussion space for all things design thinking. Please join us there --[ https://bit.ly/2JuQ2V6](https://bit.ly/2JuQ2V6).
We also have a private LinkedIn group. Please join us there as well – https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13997019/.
PDT is a volunteer-run organization. We rely on sponsors and donations to help us offset these costs. If you or your organization is interested in sponsorship opportunities, please contact Deb Mrazek (debmrazek@gmail.com ).
Upcoming events
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Building D3.js Visualizations For Non-Technical Audiences
·OnlineOnlinePortland Design Thinkers are thrilled to announce our next event: Building D3.js Visualizations for Non Technical Audiences with Bret Bernhoft
This presentation introduces D3.js as a powerful tool for transforming complex data into clear, meaningful visual stories which non-technical audiences can understand and use. It explains what D3.js is, how it works with web technologies and why visualization is essential for revealing patterns and insights raw data alone cannot show.
This talk emphasizes designing visualizations with the audience in mind while also covering core D3 concepts such as data binding, scales, layouts and interactive graphics. Through examples, case studies, design principles and practical tips, this presentation demonstrates how builders can use D3.js to communicate ideas effectively and empower people to discover insights from data.
About Bret:
I am a software engineer specializing in low-code development, with a strong focus on building secure, scalable applications using Quickbase and cloud-integrated automation platforms. My background spans from WordPress deployments to enterprise-grade business systems, giving me a unique perspective on how people interact with technology at scale.Since 2021, I have led the development of production-ready Quickbase applications, engineered API integrations across services like AWS, Trello and Zapier and delivered automation workflows to cut operational overhead. My work consistently emphasizes collaboration, user-centric interfaces and real-time reporting to empower all users.
I focus on blending application development, business process automation and platform interoperability. My current toolbox includes Quickbase, AI, Python, TypeScript, React, SQL and platforms such as Zapier. I also maintain a private homelab where I prototype integrations with self-hosted LLMs and AI-driven tooling.
My ongoing goal is to design systems that simplify complexity, reduce manual effort and expand access to reliable, high-performing technology.
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If you have any questions or would like to connect with other members of PDT, join our Slack community.PDT is a volunteer-run Oregon nonprofit organization, and as you can imagine, organizing events can be expensive. We rely on sponsors and donations to help us offset these costs. If you would like to help, we accept donations through Venmo @PortlandDesignThinkers.
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