In a nutshell, I’m a senior UX designer and frontend developer with over a decade of experience in both industry and government sectors. Throughout my career, I’ve been the go-to person for creative solutions. My journey began at FIVE GUYS (yes, the burger place), where I was a corporate trainer and traveled around the world opening restaurants and training employees. While I was there I discovered I really enjoyed design work and got my masters in instructional design.
Fast forward a few years and I’m doing design work for the government, but I start to get the itch that I need some new skills because I couldn’t actaully build the things I wanted to create. One day I’m watching the show Silicon Valley on HBO and think to myself “Coding looks pretty cool, I want to learn how to do that.” So I became self-taught in frontend development and the rest is history.
The Things I Value
Every designer has a unique set of values that guide their work and decision-making process. These values can vary widely, reflecting different approaches and philosophies within the design field. For me, the following are the core principles that shape my design practice:
1. Simplicity
I believe in creating designs that are straightforward and intuitive, ensuring users can easily navigate and engage with the product.
2. Collaboration
Working together with diverse teams and stakeholders enriches the design process, leading to more innovative and effective solutions.
3. Feedback
I value constructive feedback as it is crucial for continuous improvement and refinement of designs.
4. Cleverness
Ingenuity and creative problem-solving are at the heart of my design approach, helping to overcome challenges in novel ways.
5. Getting things done
I prioritize efficiency and actually pushing things out. Wherever possible I really try to avoid ‘side quests’ and focus on completing the task at hand.
My Design Approach
1. Research
Great designers prioritize understanding. I seek out opinionated users and develop rapport with them, as their insights are invaluable. Having these users on my side allows me to bounce ideas off them and gather innovative suggestions. By asking a lot of questions and listening intently, I uncover the true needs and goals of the project.
2. Design
Before diving into code, I create visual representations using Figma. I like to create some fast initial drafts, usually over a day or two, and then show them to others to ensure I’m on the right track. This step is integral to my problem-solving process as it helps identify areas of opportunity and ensures alignment and clarity.
3. Develop
This phase involves bringing the design to life. My go-to tech stack includes TypeScript, React, and Tailwind CSS. I also heavily value unit testing with libraries such as Jest and Playwright to ensure future changes don’t break existing work.
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4. Iterate
The process doesn’t end with the initial build. By monitoring user behavior and gathering feedback, we can identify areas for improvement, sparking another cycle of research, design, and build.