User Research
UI Design & Branding
Content Writing
Interaction Design
Introduction to KAI:
KAI is an eco-friendly lifestyle brand that I created to make it easier for users to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle. Founded in a deep understanding of user psyche, KAI instills feelings of confidence and optimism in users. This case study illustrates the importance of thorough research, brainstorming, and iteration.
Problems to Erase:
• "Our target audience wants to live a more sustainable lifestyle, but they're overwhelmed. They don't feel confident that their actions make a difference."
• "Users say that it takes too much effort to find products that are cruelty-free, carbon-neutral, ethically sourced, etc."
• "Users are getting increasingly burnt out by screens and express an increasing desire to connect to local communities."
My Solutions:
• I designed a signup flow that helps users understand their local climate and choose tasks that would be impactful, addressing fears that their actions don't make a difference.
• In order to alleviate the frustration of finding clean products, I designed an online store to help users shop with a clearer conscience.
• I addressed user needs further by designing a Meetup-inspired flow to help users find local, eco-friendly events, while ensuring that the app features valuable resources to keep engagement high.
KAI Takeaway:
Continued conversations with users and industry leaders convinced me that products like KAI are the best way that designers can make their greatest impact. Design that simply rivals its competition isn't enough. As much as I'd like to think that I understand a product's target audience, thorough research is the only way to uncover user fears, desires, and motivations. The needs and wants of users must be honored in order to create truly powerful and delightful experiences.
User Research
UI Design & Branding
Content Writing
Interaction Design
Introduction to Accountlight:
AccountLight is my conceptual, all-in-one finance app. This case study demonstrates my expertise in user interface design, branding, and security-first thinking. The biggest challenge that I faced was balancing modern, trendy visuals with design choices that instill feelings of trust and confidence users.
Problems to Erase:
• "We want our app to look stylish and trendy, but we don't want to appear less trustworthy than our competitors."
• "We have limited resources, so we need our project and development teams to spend minimal time on future updates."
• "We're willing to pull out all the stops to keep app retention rates higher than our competition's."
My Solutions:
• I created a design system and user flows that convey trust and security, without sacrificing future-facing, trending visuals.
• I ensured that the design system was comprehensive, with clear and thorough instructions, guaranteeing that less time would be spent on future UI updates.
• In an effort to give this app an edge over its competitors, I incorporated ideas for personalization that were revealed during research. I designed a space for optional widgets and I created flows for accessibility settings that would allow users to change color palettes and fonts.
Accountlight Takeaway:
AccountLight brightly illuminated the importance of bold branding, a flawless design system, increased accessibility settings, and clear, user-targeted copy backed by extensive A/B testing. I realized that the best design solutions often satisfy both stakeholder wants and user needs. During this project, my process for creating a design system improved tenfold.
User Research
UI Design & Branding
Content Writing
Interaction Design
Introduction to Golden Coast Finance:
Golden Coast Finance is a mortgage-lending company based in Los Angeles, whose website was in desperate need of a makeover. I transformed their digital presence from three pages of 20th-century terror into an elegant and immersive 50-page (and growing) experience befitting of their bright and authoritative brand and principles.
Problems to Erase:
• "Our users are so turned off by our website that they end up contacting other companies for loan options."
• "The bounce rate on our application page is 95%. This obviously needs to be fixed immediately!"
• "We want to be leaders in our industry, but even our own employees are frustrated and embarrassed about our weak online presence."
My Solutions:
• I carefully crafted a modern, comprehensive design system, incorporating colors, fonts, and other style choices that inspire optimism and confidence.
• I designed user-friendly, intuitive application and pre-qualification flows to reduce user friction and decrease drop-off rates.
• I designed calculators, a blog, and an "Ask an Expert" page in order to address user feedback and help the company establish itself as an industry expert.
Golden Coast Finance Takeaway:
The key takeaway from this project was the ever-increasing importance of elevating and refining product design to a level that continually inspires trust and confidence in the user. In an era of A.I. advancements and security concerns, a flawless user experience and pixel-perfect user interface is a necessary foundation for establishing lasting relationships with one’s targeted audience.
User Research
UI Design & Branding
Interaction Design
Introduction to My Approach:
One of my favorite ways to demonstrate the power of strategic design is the creation and implementation of a comprehensive design system. By enabling teams to streamline their design processes, ensuring consistency across both product and business units, and elevating the user experience to new heights, several of my clients have benefited from the sustainable magic of a proper system.
As both a Lead Product Designer and Design System Architect, I have played a pivotal role in defining system components, guidelines, and governance framework, as well as guiding its adoption across various product teams.
Considerations:
• Strategic Planning: I collaborate closely with stakeholders, client services, developers, and project management to establish a strategic roadmap for the design system, aligning it with organizational objectives and long-term goals. By articulating the value proposition and benefits of a design system, I garner support and buy-in from key decision-makers.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Recognizing the interdisciplinary nature of design systems, I facilitate collaboration between design, development, and product management teams to ensure that diverse perspectives are considered in the system's creation and implementation. Through regular workshops, design reviews, and cross-team communication channels, I foster a culture of collaboration and shared ownership.
• Empowerment and Enablement: As a believer in the power of empowerment, I empower team members to contribute to the design system by providing them with the necessary resources, tools, and training. Whether through hands-on workshops, documentation, or one-on-one coaching sessions, I make sure that team members felt confident and capable of utilizing the design system to its full potential.
• In particular, I try to spend extra time with the Front-End Dev(s) in analyzing existing patterns and components, if they have them (and they don’t always). Since the design system is just a bunch of visual ideas if the FED isn’t able to implement it in a pattern library, their buy-in and partnership is critical.
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Design Systems Takeaway:
Through successful implementation of design systems, I have helped clients achieve significant improvements in design efficiency, consistency, and collaboration across product teams. By reducing duplication of efforts and streamlining work flows, I've helped accelerate product development cycles and deliver higher quality experiences to users. For my latest client, having my design system in place helped the development process become over 45% more efficient and saved us a day out of our standard development cycle. For the company's bi-monthly homepage updates, development time went from four hours down to 20 minutes.
