I improve user engagement in complex products by practicing user-centered design.
For more than 12 years, I have designed experiences and created UX strategies that create measurable improvements for products across multiple platforms and touchpoints.
I led UX strategy, interaction and visual design for an early-stage consumer research program at Google. I have designed applications, physical experiences, augmented reality, and 3D interactions for consumer and enterprise audiences at Google, BlinkUX, Vertafore, and Pearson. I have experience with Software as a Service (SaaS), Learning Management Systems (LMS), and using Machine Learning (ML).
I've had the privilege to contribute to projects for these clients:
Product Design
Product Design
Interaction Design
Product Design
The discovery phase of a project is crucial to formulating a plan of action. Taking the time to approach things with intention is the right thing to do. I do all that I can to learn about the problem space and the users I am designing for. Performing some level of research is a must.
Documenting the user’s end to end journey is a great way to get an overview of a product’s experience. Providing this narrative in a visual format allows everyone to engage with the product’s story and visualize the areas of the experience that need attention.
The user journey map I have included here was used to demonstrate the performance of an early stage product’s Alpha launch. It highlighted critical areas of the experience that needed improvement. This map served as a way to set UX priority for Beta release and beyond.
Delivering useful content is a matter of understanding the context in which the application will be used. The example included here is for a pregnancy application that is able to sync with the patient’s medical records and deliver tailored content based on the way their pregnancy is progressing. It also adjusts the tone and delivery of the content in a contextual manner, such as: displaying different screens when tracking daytime vs. nighttime feedings. This document was drafted after numerous user interviews with expecting moms.
READ TIME - 8m
Check out the app
A project has lots of moving pieces. When working with project managers and development teams to design the best experience, it takes a lot of compromise and negotiation to arrive at something realistic that fits within the timeline, budget, and level of development effort. I take initiative to share my ideas early and often by communicating on a weekly basis.
I like to start by doing some whiteboard sketches to quickly gain consensus with the team on the interaction design. From there I start creating higher fidelity architecture documents.
Information Architecture PDFREAD TIME - 5m
There’s so much to gain by interviewing users. I can set a great foundation for your designs by hosting a mind mapping or card sorting exercise. I often ask participants to visually represent how they think about the structure of a system as part of an interview session.
This example is a workflow analysis of the how promotional pricing was being managed manually for a cruise line. The promotions were being formulated and tracked between several departments with multiple versions of an Excel document. That document was then used to update the company’s website by data-entry. The company was interested in creating a software solution for this workflow. In order to access the way promotional fare prices were presently being set, I interviewed multiple users. During that research I learned about the various systems and software used in the process as well as the undocumented business logic that was being used to set the prices.
READ TIME - 15m
While I stress the importance of functionality and usability, I still expect a high level of visual design from myself. I know that an excellent visual design comes from the use of typography, color, and story telling. These are essential for producing quality, compelling products and services.
Sometimes it can be easier to show rather than tell. Being able to create quick and expressive prototypes helps to gather feedback from users and stakeholders early on in the process. I’m very familiar with the Bootstrap framework and its responsive grid. I know my way around front-end code and use it mostly for creating prototypes. I'm very familiar with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and CoffeeScript. Bootstrap and Framer JS are the two frameworks I use most in prototyping.
This shopping application example is a prototype I created to demonstrate the animation and screen transition into the purchasing page.
Transition Example
A good wireframe document breaks down the anatomy of an interface and tells the story of how each piece affects the behavior of the application. It serves as an instruction manual to help the developer breath life into the design. I use storyboards, timelines, annotations and prototypes to convey complex interactions and animations.
Adherence is a patient’s propensity to take their medication on time and at the correct dosage. This is a design exploration into how a user would be able to track their adherence to the prescription and stay motivated with a simple application.
When developers in another state or country are using your wireframes, it’s good to be specific about the design. In this example, I meticulously detail this document viewer’s interactions all the way down to the keyboard command and touch gestures.
When you are designing for an application that creates content, you’ll have to allow the user to manage their storage somehow. This example comes from a sports application that allows users the ability to create their own replay footage.
