My Design Capabilities

Design is how it works

I see design primarily as how it works, not the surface aesthetics (visual, tactile, auditory) that typically come to mind. The aesthetics are certainly a factor, but not the only, and certainly not the most important (in my opinion).

My sense of design is tactical, practical, and focused on the purpose. And the purpose is achieving whatever end goal the user has; therefore, it should start with the user. Then, we can get creative in all the avenues to design for that goal in a way that works. Sometimes that means getting creative in how we engineer parts of the solution because of technical constraints.

Like how I built a never-before-done (I checked!) dual-API approach to combine static GTFS stations data with dynamic stop API data to allow Chicago transit riders to select for direction specific train routes because that's what makes sense.

Chitrack user picking their direction to track — Chitrack user picking a direction at a nearby station

Or how I used Google Apps Script to write a function that let us track product feedback in an interface we didn't control, so the user only needed to click once.

Chatbot flow linking to support — Chatbot replying with a link to trigger the app script

Chatbot success confirmation — User successfully triggered the app script

Chatbot log of conversations — Logging the feedback from the app script

So here's some more examples of things I built that are designed (i.e. work) for the purpose they serve

For the Garpple running app, the magic moment is when runners see their health data on their phone in a way they've always wanted -- so they experience it after their first two taps.

Garpple onboarding step one — Garpple launch screen

Garpple onboarding step two — Getting necessaryhealthkit access right away

Garpple onboarding step three — Immediately showing the magic moment

When I couldn't deliver hand written notes to colleagues as a way to thank them for their impact, the next best thing was to make it "real" with a 3D experience where they could digitally touch and open the letter themselves.

Interactive letter responding to touch input — User opening the letter themselves

An app that sparks conversations for a social platform should be easy to share.

Concept for sharing Strava workouts — Results screen with prominent sections for sharing and comparing to other results

Answering an ambiguous question ("Which Divvy bike station in Chicago needs another rack?") should have an experiment designed such that there can be a recommendation.

Divvy wireframe highlighting key states — Breaking down the problem into a measurable metric

Divvy dashboard showing ride volume data — Gathered the data

Divvy station recommendation module — Turned the data into a recommendation

A portfolio given to a recruiter should clearly showcase your work ("show, don't tell") in a format that's easy to scan because they have limited time.