Trained as an architect, Scott Paterson worked as a Senior Design-Project Lead for the global design firm IDEO, where he helped organizations (both public and private, at all scales) learn and apply the tools and methodologies of design thinking. The goal being, to enhance the user/consumer experience and to develop internal systems for future innovation and growth.

As an architecture student in mid-1990s New York City, Paterson became a member of the emerging media and digital art communities, which led to his work as a principal designer & associate creative director at Frog Design in New York. At Frog Design, Scott worked on large-scale, interactive installation projects, and moved to IDEO to focus further on the intersection of technology and space. He moved to Gainesville, FL, where IDEO had sent Paterson to work with the City and the Chamber of Commerce to improve the cultural and regulatory environment for entrepreneurs and startups and make Gainesville “the best city to do business in.”

While living in New York, Paterson was an Information architect and interaction designer. He taught Interface Design, Multimedia Studio, and Thesis Studio in the MFA Program at the Design and Technology Program at Parsons. He also has taught a course, Interfaces for Public Space, at the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture.

Paterson earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Minnesota CALA and a Master’s degree from Columbia University GSAP.

After working as an architect for six years in New York, he joined Plumb Design as a site developer and technical producer. Independently working since leaving Plumb Design, Paterson explored architecture as an interface protocol between the activity of our daily lives and the space of the network.

He has received grants from the Walker Art Center, Parsons School of Design, and The Design Institute at the University of Minnesota.

Paterson was also an active member of the newly-built media art community, which included Rhizome.org and Mindspace.net.

Paterson has brought over 20 years of strategic creative leadership, award-winning design, and mentorship across multiple disciplines; he has helped public, private, and municipal organizations, their teams, and students to design innovative methods that tackle complex challenges like becoming a citizen-centered city, gaining confidence about uncertain futures, or delivering impactful services and experiences.