Ann Paradiso is an interaction designer and the Principal User Experience Designer for the NExT Enable group at Microsoft Research. She’s also the epitome of a phrase she often uses to describe other people: a force of nature. Together with a diverse array of team members and collaborators, many of whom have ALS or other conditions that affect mobility and speech, Ann works on new interaction paradigms for assistive technologies hoping to make a more bespoke approach to technology solutions accessible, at scale, to the people who need it most.

On today’s podcast, Ann tells us all about life in the extreme constraint design lane, explains what a PALS is, and tells us some incredibly entertaining stories about how the eye tracking technology behind the Eye Controlled Wheelchair and the Hands-Free Music Project has made its way from Microsoft’s campus to some surprising events around the country, including South by Southwest and Mardi Gras.