Mike Neustedter
Executive Director
Paradox Sports
A Silicon Valley native, Mike Neustedter kicked off his career providing creative and design direction for Adobe Systems, Sony PlayStation, SAP, SanDisk, Ducati and Lockheed Martin. While guiding skiers with visual impairments and volunteering for Burton Chill on the side, Neustedter felt the urge to step away from the tech world to combine his marketing career with community efforts within the adaptive sports industry.
For five years, he directed marketing strategy and provided graphic design solutions for the Adaptive Sports Center, a nonprofit nestled in the Rocky Mountains that provides therapeutic adventure programs for people with disabilities. Neustedter is now the executive director at Paradox Sports, an organization that specializes in adapting rock and ice climbing for people with limb differences.
The Human-Oriented Side of Design
There is always risk and unpredictability working in the outdoors—especially with bodies in motion. Paradox Sports faces these challenges every day while taking people with disabilities into the backcountry to rock climb, mountaineer, ice climb, kayak or raft.
Executive Director Mike Neustedter finds that a critical element in providing a successful experience is safe and efficient adaptive gear. Paradox Sports researches, tests and customizes equipment—to provide each participant with the highest-quality experience possible. See how the gear team achieves its number one goal of considering how design interacts with the intended user.
Mike Neustedter, executive director at Paradox Sports, will explore how adaptive equipment designers are putting themselves into the shoes of the person they are designing for in order to improve or make the lives of the intended user better. Beyond technical specifications and usability, Paradox Sports focuses on helping develop design solutions that are worthwhile for that person in order to change their life for the better.
