Leslie Wolke

Leslie Wolke is Founder and Principal of MapWell Studio, a consultancy and software firm specializing in wayfinding technology. For the last fifteen years, she has focused on strategy, design, and implementation of wayfinding tools—from apps and websites to touchscreens and management systems.

Through long-term consulting relationships, she has developed innovative wayfinding solutions in collaboration with a number of large institutional clients such as MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and NYU Langone Medical Center in New York. As a specialist in the needs of patients and visitors of healthcare facilities, she has developed best practices for wayfinding tools that help people navigate these confusing environments. Her usability and user research studies in these high-anxiety maze-like environments inform solutions to more common wayfinding challenges.

At MapWell Studio, she continues her independent consulting practice and has developed a software platform for generating custom maps and exterior and interior directions for complex environments like campuses and medical centers.

As Associate Principal and Owner at FD2S Inc. from 2005-2009, she led the firm’s technology strategy and with a talented team, built interactive wayfinding tools for The Texas Medical Center, University of California San Francisco Medical Center and several regional medical facilities.

During her 25 years in the technology and design sectors, she has held leadership positions in the development, operations, and marketing of web-based portals and applications at frogdesign, Hoover’s Online, and Internet service provider SBC | Prodigy Communications.

Leslie received a B.A. in Art History from The University of Chicago, with a specialization in architectural history and theory. She has served as a visiting critic at the California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, and at the Haas School of Business, The University of California at Berkeley.

Leslie was a national board member of the SEGD from 2011 to 2014. In 2011, she founded and SEGD’s technology conference XLab and has co-chaired the event in 2011, 2012, and 2013. She has spoken at conferences such as SXSW Interactive (2011-2016) and the Texas Society of Architects Annual Conference and writes about design and technology for EG Magazine, Communication Arts, and other publications.