About
I ask why a lot and make things.
I’m Aslan French, a design technologist and researcher living in Austin, Texas.
Professionally I mostly work in civic tech and public-interest software. I make things: tools, systems, and services that combine people, processes, and technology. I use research and analysis to understand how things work, help the people involved decide what needs to change, and carry that through design into actually building the darn thing.
I grew up making things with computers, an OG Macromedia Flash script kiddie and a self-taught digital artist. In a small rural town, digital tools and the World Wide Web opened up possibilities I couldn’t find locally. I later studied traditional studio art, with a focus on fine art painting.
After college I started freelancing as a designer and then sorta fell backwards into a tech career. In 2015, I got interested in neural networks (now called AI) as a medium for making images. Getting those models running locally introduced me to the terminal and pushed me further into programming and open source software.
My writing and research explore craft, technology, and the organization and governance of work. I’m interested in how tools shape what people can do, how knowledge and judgment develop through making, and how we decide work gets done.
Check out my case studies, read some of my writing, or look through my side projects.
You can reach me at howdy@aslanfrench.work, or schedule a chat at schedule.aslanfrench.work.
Now
Updated June 2026 from Austin, Texas.
I’m preparing to start the MSIS program at UT Austin this fall. My attention is mostly on civic technology, public-interest systems, service design, and how AI tools can help people make sense of complex work without flattening it.
Right now I’m rebuilding this website and portfolio, organizing Open Austin work, and developing a few essays around technology, design, aesthetics, and institutional life.
I’m especially interested in public-sector design systems, civic tech infrastructure, AI-assisted knowledge work, agentic service design workflows, and the messy practical work of making organizations more legible.
I’m selectively open to conversations around internships, campus work, civic tech, public-interest technology, and thoughtful collaboration in Austin.
This section is written in the spirit of Derek Sivers’ /now page idea.