designer | writer | artist | science nerd | musician | traveler | gentleman
about me
not your typical UX designer
I have forged my own unique career path, pursuing my interests and opportunities as I find them.
Having started out in architecture and urban design, I've developed a keen sense of user experience that goes well beyond conventional UI - especially in regard to 3D spaces and environments.
I have not been afraid to hop from one discipline or industry to another, and my perspective and breadth of experience are perhaps my strongest assets
accomplished
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Visio/Lucidcharts
Sketchup
AutoCAD 10
MS Excel
MS Powerpoint
Google Docs
familiar
Axure
Adobe Muse
Adobe Dreamweaver
Adobe Flash/Animate
Unity 3D
Keynote
ArcCAD
Multigen/Creator
3D Studio
Mathematica
Drupal
agile/scrum
Perforce/Bugzilla
html, css
JavaScript
C#, .lua, LISP
.kmz, .kml
originality
inventive
outside-the-box
independent minded
integrity
conscientious
professional
principled
clarity
the written word
illustrations
presentations
quality
top-notch
well-organized
on time
thorough
attention to detail
all bases covered
grammatical
structure
taming complexity
keeping it simple
outlines & lists
creative
open-minded
intuitive leaps
too clever by half
deep
conceptual
philosophical
the arc of history
user-focused
deep empathy
user types
user narratives
pleasant
helpful & supportive
responsive
team-oriented
experienced
mature
circumspect
calm under pressure
quick
picks up new tools
and methods
on the fly
It seems like every project has its own unique design challenges - as does every office, work environment, and development team. One size does not fit all!
I approach every such challenge creatively, flexibly and with an open mind. My years of experience working in a multitude of styles and contexts allows me to apply my intuitive sense of the right way forward.
Nevertheless, there are a number of constants to always keep in mind. And foremost of them all is...
I T E R A T I O N
- Discuss with product managers the need to fulfill, who the customers are
- Discuss with marketing the customers and their perceptions
- Discuss with business development the monetizing factors
- Determine the goals and scope of the project/product, and understand those in context with the current information landscape and its horizons.
- Parse the product goals into an itemized set of measurable performance outcomes
- Be comprehensive and anticipate the experience from start to end
- Iterate with stakeholders and get agreement and buy in
- Survey the existing landscape, identify precedents and competition
- Listen to engineers regarding technological constraints and opportunities
- Gather inspiring examples
- Understand the requirements at a deeper level
- Research, interview and observe target users, if possible. Develop empathy
- Conceive of multiple plausible use cases and outcomes, user stories
- Compose user narratives describing their optimal experiences in some detail, depicting their mindset, assumptions, and expectations
- Collaborative brainstorms to gather ideas from as many sources as possible
- Address the obvious answers first, prior to innovating
- Private brainstorms for intuitive leaps
- Describe a set of features, functions, interactions, and environments/screens wireframes, all working in concert and supporting the narratives
- Create general map of features and the user’s navigation and experience at varying levels of detail
- Include data flow models and UI transitions
- Integrate wireframes to illustrate the user’s POV
- ITERATION, applying what is learned
- Working in more detail each time
- Keep parties updated with latest design documents and frequent presentations
- ITERATION
- Clear milestones and sign-offs
- Level of detail negotiated with engineering and QA, addressing edge conditions as much as required
- A clear, concise, well-organized description of the app’s features, functions, interactions, and environments/screens
- Steps 5, 6, 7, and 8 are handled in parallel in near constant contact with engineers
- Every n weeks have a minimum viable product ready for testing
- ITERATION
