User Experience Design

As a child, I can remember how it bothered me when things–especially toys–didn’t work the way they should. I would complain and get upset, then lose interest in whatever it was that wasn’t working properly.

The “things” have changed but I’m still bothered when they don’t work properly, are difficult to use, or are needlessly confusing.

So, as an adult, I help make them better.

View case studies below or see additional UX work.

CHALLENGE 
The initial version of this service was created as a master’s project by a member of my Multimedia Development team. It was later adopted as an official Kent State application. Since it was developed by a single person in a short time-frame without a lot of input, I felt it was prudent to get user feedback and involve a designer. 

TEAM 
UX team: myself and two others
Development team: myself (manager), two developers, one designer 

MY ROLE 
I was manager of the development team and an equal participant on the UX team. 

ACTIVITIES PERFORMED 
The UX team worked together to develop and distribute two preliminary user feedback surveys. 
I used the responses to create a requirements analysis to steer usability testing. 
I conducted the usability tests in the Kent State University Usability Lab, which was equipped with eye tracking software and recording capabilities while my teammates and the primary developer observed from another room.
I led brainstorming and ideation sessions and collaborated on wireframes and structure planning. The development team took it from there while I returned to the role of art director and supervisor.

Note: I find it valuable to involve people who are not part of the UX team to be part of the process. Being told there may be an issue and witnessing a user stumble through a process inform the developer in very different ways.

CHALLENGE 
Carnation City Mall was struggling. There were not enough customers and stores were shutting down. They wished to redesign their web presence to attract more customers and businesses. This was a class assignment based on a real issue. 

TEAM 
UX team: myself and four others 

MY ROLE 
Per instructions, each team member was independently responsible for every part of the research and planning (competitor analysis, blueprints, wireframes, strategy document with recommendations). We then came together to compare notes and rework deliverables as a team to create a final report with recommendations.

I created all of the visuals shown here.

ACTIVITIES PERFORMED 
Each of us was responsible for conducting research in the form of a competitor analysis and literature review. 
We then made recommendations and presented them through a blueprint diagram and a series of wireframes. 
The team compiled our work into a final report and slideshow presentation. 

The competitor analysis reviewed websites for purpose, content, structure, labels, navigation, and layout to look for trends among competitors.

Note: I began this style of blueprint in the late 90s. This is how I like to think about websites due to their non linear nature, however, these diagrams can sometimes be time consuming to create so I often use a standard flow.

Visual Design

Personal Work