UX Research + Design
User Experience is a Must
Put the user first. Taking the time to understand user needs and desires makes the difference between a product that simply works and a product that delights and enhances your user’s experience.
About Me
I started my career in digital products as a QA tester at Big Huge Games (BHG). My role at BHG for just under two years was not just finding defects in our AAA game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and its tools, but to provide feedback on the experience, as well.
Next, I moved to Mindgrub and was their sole QA tester for around 9 months. I worked with the executive team and production to establish QA practices for the company.
After a couple of years working in quality assurance, I was given the opportunity to work with a client producing wireframes for a single page of their website. The project went well, and I officially made the move to User Experience, continuing to work with that client for multiple years.
I continued to work as a UX Architect for over 10 years, assisting Mindgrub’s clients with discovering, defining, and acting on their user’s needs across industries including law, utilities, geospatial awareness, pharmaceuticals, wholesale supply, higher education, social networking, live events, fitness, and more.
I have a passion for games, storytelling, and interactive experiences. Digital experiences are for everyone, and I believe the user is the most important stakeholder for any product.
Project Highlights
TAK
An ecosystem of geospatial awareness applications
TAK originally came to us to perform UX and design audits on their civilian Android application ATAK, with a plan to determine opportunities for improvement and iterate through UX design and prototyping.
After an initial discovery process involving stakeholder and user interviews, on-site observation, and hands-on application auditing, we moved into wireframe and prototype iterations. Opportunities to improve usability and viewability of assets in the application were discovered, and a full UX/UI refresh was implemented for the ATAK application. While visual design resources worked on a new design system, I conducted a feature-by-feature audit and iterated based on my findings and feedback provided by the TAK community.
Improvements focused heavily on navigation and interactive elements across the application. Icons were too small in previous iterations, making it difficult to tap specific items. This was especially true in active situations. Layout of the navigation and map controls required consideration of various use cases including not just landscape and portrait modes but how devices were physically held or manipulated by users, such as mounted onto their body or a vehicle. Interactive elements lacked consistent sizing, styling, and flow. We established a set of guidelines for interactive elements and applied workflows that were as consistent as possible. The design system became a guide for developers creating features for the application to follow to create consistency and improve usability. Initially, this was specific to the Android application, but after interest grew for more consistency across platforms, I created a quick-guide based on the design system that could be used by all developers and designers.
Near the end of the five years I worked with TAK, I was the lead UX representative for the development community, augmenting the TAK team as the only resource from Mindgrub. I continued to support the TAK team with wireframe iterations and design system support until our contract ended.
Exelon
A major power utility
Exelon partnered with us to update their mobile application experience. My role on the project involved planning and conducting usability tests. Rounds of testing were conducted every other sprint for nearly a year. Prototypes were developed and provided to real customers in order to observe user behavior, determine pain points and opportunities, and receive direct feedback from the users.
Over the course of the project, I conducted over 100 usability tests. Tests were conducted in rounds of 10-15 participants, with one round focused on accessibility (participants requiring the use of accessibility tools for visual impairment). Most tests were conducted remotely using Validately (now UserTesting), with the exception of the accessibility tests and the final round.
After each round, conclusions and UX recommendations were reported to the client and the project team. Potential updates and iterations were determined, prioritized, and added to the backlog for future design and development.
Thread
A social support network
The Thread team came to us for assistance making an application for their social network geared toward a community of mentors and volunteers helping young people work toward self-sufficiency and success.
Our team met, often face-to-face, with the Thread team to brainstorm, sketch, and iterate on ideas for the application. I developed wireframes and collaborated with visual design to develop and iterate on prototypes to further hone the vision for the Thread application. I also assisted in guiding the Thread team through the user interview and usability testing process, then incorporate the findings into further iteration.
Additional Examples
A non-inclusive list of other projects I have contributed to
University of Maryland Department of Transportation Services (mobile application)
Stakeholder interviews, content inventory & audit, and usability testing
Maryland Auto - formerly MAIF (website)
Stakeholder interviews, user stories, and wireframes
PSE&G (website)
Discovery workshops, sitemap, workflows, and wireframes
Entergy (mobile application)
Discovery and wireframes
Light City Baltimore (mobile application)
Discovery and wireframes
NYC Department of Finance (mobile application)
Discovery, on-site user interviews, and wireframes
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (kiosk application)
Discovery, on-site interviews, and wireframes
Skills
Figma - wireframes, prototypes, workflows
Miro - remote collaboration and workshops
UX research - interviews, workshops, surveys, usability testing
Information Architecture - sitemaps, navigation, workflows
Atlassian Tools - Jira, Confluence
CompTIA A+ Certified