I’m James Barnes. I think in systems and build things. The artifacts take a lot of different forms—content architecture, data models, code, strategies—but they’re always in the service of a bigger experience.

I build software that tries to get out of the way. Lately, that’s meant things like Deadsound, a discovery-first app for listening the Grateful Dead’s live archive that tames a bunch of user-generated content to reveal connections between songs, shows, tapers, and more.

I also spent a long time working at agencies like Huge, AKQA, and Siegel+Gale, where I shipped a bunch of work that tends not to fit into the tidiest of boxes. Sometimes, that’s what it takes.

Find me on Twitter and LinkedIn, or email me at james.merritt.barnes@gmail.com.