Design expert Greg Thomas speaks to students for Innovate 2022 competition

By Rakiyah Lenon | Co-editor in chief

Greg Thomas, director of user experience for TaxSlayer, spoke to students in preparation for the Innovate 2022 competition on Feb. 15, 2022.

Students and faculty filled the seats in Room 170 of University Hall on Tuesday afternoon to hear Thomas speak about design thinking, hoping to inspire students with ideas for their projects aiming to improve the community.

In addition to his work for TaxSlayer, Thomas has worked for many companies and holds a long background in designing various mobile apps, point of sale technologies, voice systems and mobile payment.

Thomas said that he spent most of his time working for Walgreens by finding ways to make stores run easier.

“I’m kind of a nerd for how people use technology,” he said.

Thomas emphasized that throughout his career helping others is something he finds important.

“I really like the good things I get to do for people,” he said.

Speaking to the students’ objective to create solutions within the community, Thomas said they must show care about the issues they want to solve.

“If you are going to truly create things that solve problems for people that they really appreciate, you have to be empathetic to what their problems are,” he said. “You’ve got to be positive,” he said. “You’ve got to be optimistic.”

Thomas said that students should not be discouraged when things do not go as planned.

“Learn to embrace failing as an opportunity to learn,” he said.

Thomas spoke about the concept of design thinking. He told those in attendance to be confident in sharing their ideas.

“Believe in yourself enough that you can put these ideas out there, even if they are crazy,” he said.

Thomas said that finding issues to solve can be difficult, but encouraged the audience to look for ways in which they can help.

“It’s not easy,” he said. “Look for things to solve.”

Scott Thorp, chair of the Department of Art and Design and part of the competition’s leadership, said that the hope is that students use their creative abilities.

Thorp mentioned that for the first time since holding the competition, they are able to provide prizes to students.

“We are really happy to fund it that way this year,” he said.

According to Thorp, the deadline to submit ideas is March 17, 2022.

Thomas was the second guest who spoke in preparation for the competition. Last month, Ben Chestnut, co-founder of Mailchimp, spoke with students at the Georgia Cyber Center. The next event scheduled will host Rachel Baker, an expert in design and illustration, on March 8, 2022.

For more information, students can visit: https://www.augusta.edu/innovation/innovate .

Contact Rakiyah Lenon at rlenon@augusta.edu.

Greg Thomas spoke of the importance of mindset when solving problems. (photos by Rakiyah Lenon)