User experience design and strategy lead with 12+ years of diverse industry experience; looking to create interesting and meaningful experiences
Client: Atom Tickets
Role: User Experience Lead
Visit: App Store or Google Play Store
Background: The movie theatre industry has been in a decades long battle to keep people coming to the theatre. As a result, we’ve seen theaters upgrade their in-theatre experiences. However, the one gap that remained was getting people into those seats. The tech startup, Atom Tickets, was ready to take on this challenge.
The Ask: Atom Tickets asked us to design a mobile app experience that radically simplified all aspects of getting people into the theatre. All ideas were on the table, including browsing movies, buying tickets, variable pricing, helpful alerts, coordinating with friends, and pre-ordering concessions.
The Challenge: We were not asked to redesign a pre-existing experience. Instead, we were challenged to design an industry-disrupting service from the ground up. To design without guardrails can be incredibly freeing but potentially paralyzing.
Our Approach: To take on this challenge, our approach was twofold. First, we identified the most likely ways somebody might initiate going to a movie (e.g. looking for a specific movie, prompted by a friend, near a movie theatre). This allowed us to conceptualize the ideal path from each starting point. Second, we looked to utilize every bit of technology to radically enhance and simplify that path (location services, social integration, credit card scanners, data integration, QR codes, etc.).
An app designed to make every part of the movie-going experience easier and more satisfying.
Early conceptual flows to identify the ideal path for a customer based on their mindset.
More detailed mappings of how we envisioned customers flowing through the experience.
Client: Gillette (P&G)
Role: User Experience Lead & Strategist
Visit: Gillette
Background: In 2015, the world’s leader in shaving products was steadily losing ground to industry disrupting subscription services like Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s. In response, Gillette launched its own subscription service, which was falling flat.
The Ask: At the request of Gillette, a cross-discipline ”task-force” was assembled to research the problem and make a recommendation about how to proceed forward.
The Insights: Although subscription services were gaining in popularity, we uncovered some important insights from consumers. The first was that subscribers to other services were frustrated by poor razor quality and the lack of control over the amount of supplies being delivered. The second was that many non-subscribers were hesitant to commit to any subscription, especially one with a higher price point (system razors are more expensive than disposables).
Our Solution: Based on these insights, we recommended Gillette modify its online business model to fix its weakness (price), play to its strength (quality), and provide an alternative to the problem that plagued the entire category (control and forced subscriptions). We called it the, “Try, Reorder, Subscribe” model.
Try - We started by enticing customers to “try” Gillette online with starter kits at a heavily discounted price. This new customer would affordably get to experience the best razors on the market, while now having a “system handle” that only works with Gillette blades.
Reorder - Customers were then prompted to easily reorder supplies through either a “one-click” experience, or via text message. No subscription required.
Subscribe - Finally, once the customer was happy with Gillette’s service, they were prompted to subscribe and provided full control over their delivery schedule.
The concept was well received by the client, but was ultimately sold by an accompanying prototype that showed what the end-to-end experience would be like for a customer.
A new service to compete in an evolving market.
The “elevator pitch” for our business transforming idea.
Positioning spoke to the insights we uncovered.
A prototype stepped the client through the entire process and ultimately sold the idea through.
Gillette launched their new online model in 2017.
Client: PlayStation (Sony)
Role: User Experience Lead & Strategist
Visit: Accessible on PS4 Console
Background: Prior to 2017, the PlayStation 4 store on console was operated by separate merchandising teams around the world. Over time, store experiences in each market diverged from each other as their teams adopted different approaches to serve their own goals and customers. This lead to an inconsistent experience across markets, increased asset production costs, and left money on the table for markets that made poor merchandising choices.
The Ask: PlayStation asked us to conduct extensive research to inform a merchandizing strategy that could be applied across markets. The research and strategy phase would then be followed by a design phase, where we were tasked with designing new templates and modules to bring our recommended merchandising strategy to life.
The Challenge: This initiative came from the top of PlayStation’s organization, however, each marketing team was confident in their merchandising approach and was hesitant to adopt a different one.
Our Approach: To establish trust between our team, store owners, and PlayStation stakeholders, we conducted extensive research that included, data analytics, user testing, and stakeholder interviews across 3 major markets (San Francisco, Toyko, and London). The objective of the research was to provide an unbiased readout of the state of each store and the markets they served.
A research-driven store redesign.
An extensive list of all research activities to build confidence in our findings and upcoming recommendations.
A new taxonomy and interface templates created flexibility for merchandizers while providing a consistent experience for customers.
A visual refresh presented games in a visually stunning way, while adhering to the underlying grid of the system.
Beautiful scrolling carousels allowed customers to browse in a visually engaging way.
Client: Cablevision (Altice)
Role: User Experience Lead
Background: In 2014, Cablevision, the country’s 5th largest cable provider, committed to delivering its content to customers via internet.
The Ask: Cablevision asked us to design a streaming digital video service that combined traditional live TV, DVR, and VOD, with digital content from sources such as Netflix, HULU, Amazon, and YouTube.
The Challenge: In 2014, designing a system like this for a cable provider was uncharted territory, as the industry was just beginning its shift to streaming delivery. Because there were few best practices to reference, we needed to be imaginative and flexible, but also organized and systematic.
Our Approach: Success in designing large scale products like this, hinges on creating intuitive, scalable, and consistent interaction patterns and content presentation. As the UX Lead on this project, my focus was on establishing and enforcing strict interaction patterns that could be applied across the system. To create this consistent framework, we conducted rigorous requirements gathering, creative explorations, rapid iterative design, and user testing.
The incredibly complex inner workings of the TV app were hidden from the user behind a simple user interface.
A simplified remote control signaled the shift from traditional cable to digital cable.
A sample of documentation meant to establish intuitive and repeatable interaction patterns.
A sample of documentation meant to demonstrate how a customer would flow through the experience.
In instances when we had multiple viable solutions to a problem, we would build out both options and test them.
Client: Southern California Edison
Role: User Experience Strategist
Background: In 2019, the CPUC mandated that all California Investor Owned Utilities begin automating their marketing efforts. Each utility was directed to take immediate action, while also taking steps towards implementing a more comprehensive solution in the future.
The Ask: SCE asked us to create a vision for how they can deploy marketing automation technology to better serve their customers.
The Challenge: Building out a vision to deliver meaningful and effective automated experiences to customers was the easy part. Our challenge was to communicate how to operationalize our approach across their business.
Our Approach: Once we defined what an automated experience should feel like to a customer, we focused on creating a simple formula to help communicate how to think about creating these experiences.
Triggers: Identify a detectable event (trigger) that commonly happens to customers that warrants a timely and meaningful response from SCE (e.g. customer received a high bill).
Governance: When that “trigger” is detected, set rules to make sure your automatic response is allowed, appropriate, and does not conflict with other more important communications from SCE (e.g. do not send if customer has received a marketing email within the last 48 hours).
Segmentation: Determine if customers who experience this event would be better served if they received different responses based on certain attributes (e.g. renters have different needs than home owners).
Channel: Based on the individual customer’s preferences, past history, and nature of the message, determine which channel the communication should be delivered through (e.g. customer prefers email over direct mail).
Personalize: Depending on the event and segment, determine if the customer would benefit from specific messaging, information, or offers that are tailored to their needs (e.g. show customer’s electricity usage data against neighbors).
Analyze: Track the customer’s interaction with the communication to gauge its effectiveness.
A plan to create a more personal experience for all SCE customers.
An example automation plan showed how to respond to a customer who recently changed their electricity rate plan.
A high-level formula explained the automation logic necessary to deliver personalized, automated communications. Capabilities were planned out in a phased approach to align with technical milestones.
More granular automation logic demonstrated how each planned communication needs to be carefully thought out.
Client: Newell
Role: Associate Creative Director
Visit: Graco, Baby Jogger, Sharpie, Rubbermaid Commercial
Background: Newell is the owner of several prominent consumer brands. Over time, the maintenance of their brands’ websites became inefficient as each site was maintained separately. Newell’s desire was to make the maintenance of their websites easier and more cost-effective by moving all of their sites onto the same platform.
The Ask: We were asked to redesign some of their flagship brands’ websites, while establishing a library of reusable page templates, modules, and interaction patterns that would eventually serve the rest of their brands as they transitioned to the new platform.
The Challenge: The requirements of each brand varied significantly due to factors such as product category, site purpose, commerce needs, marketing needs, and audience. How do you create standards for vastly different brands? It all starts with taking a systematic approach to understanding what you’re dealing with.
Our Approach: Prior to each redesign, we performed a robust “discovery” for each brand. Through stakeholder interviews, data analytics, site audits, and taxonomy testing, we developed a site approach that was tailored to each brand’s needs. This “discovery” allowed us to inventory requirements and make informed decisions about how to handle a brand’s specific requirements. For example, as we executed each redesign, we made sure to reuse templates and components we had already created. However, if a requirement was deemed high-priority and could not be adequately met using our existing library, we would build a new module or template and document it for future use.
Four brands with very different needs.
Summary of each site’s needs to facilitate agreement on what requirements should be prioritized. Graco (top), Rubbermaid Commercial (bottom).
Documentation references back to pre-existing modules or calls out the need for a new module.
Four sites built for brands with distinctly different needs, but sharing the same underlying platform, templates, and modules.
Client: Lion Capital
Role: User Experience Lead
Visit: Lion Capital’s Website
Background: Lion Capital is a private equity firm that has overseen the resurrection of many notable brands. In the private equity world, most initial communication with prospective partners is conducted offline, but may move online when it’s time to vet whether they’d be a good match. Lion Capital felt that a best-in-class website would support this step in business development by making a stunning second impression.
The Ask: Lion Capital asked us to design a website that gave off an air of legitimacy, showcased their unique process, and supported their employee’s business development efforts. Essentially, create the world’s most impressive business card.
The Challenge: Private equity business practices can be complicated and dry material. Our challenge was to find a way to present their concepts in an inviting and simple manner.
Our Approach: To explain a concept simply, you need to understand the subject really well. To do this, we conducted several hours of stakeholder interviews, and immersed ourselves in the subject matter. From there, we worked with our client to organize the information into easily digestible pieces. Next, we focused on how to deliver the content in a way that was both engaging and impressive. Our solutions included beautifully laid out content, lots of videos, a slick site navigation, and a social aggregator for their employees.
A clean aesthetic and full-bleed, sequential videos set the tone on the home page.
Neatly organized and thoughtful sequencing of information conveyed Lion Capital’s unique process simply.
A social media aggregator allowed their employees to easily monitor their brands’ social media activity.
Client: Microsoft
Role: Associate Creative Director
Background: In 2015, Microsoft was preparing to announce several major updates to its portfolio of devices (Band, Lumia, Hardware, HoloLens, Surface, XBOX). Their plan was to unveil all devices under the umbrella of “Microsoft Devices” and encourage people to visit their respective device sites to learn more.
The Ask: Microsoft asked us to update each device site prior to the announcement, as well as create a new “Microsite Devices” site to tie everything together.
The Challenge: At the time, each device’s site was being operated separately, with its own aesthetic, narrative flow, and interactions. Because the plan was to announce all devices together, the differences between sites could make Microsoft seem fragmented and disorganized. This risk lead to a change in our assignment. We were no longer just updating the device sites. We were now unifying all of the device sites to feel like they were part of a family.
Our Approach: In a massive coordinated effort between our design teams, the client, and their tech team, we rapidly updated each device site with the latest product lines, while simultaneously aligning modules, aesthetics, interaction patterns and narrative flow between each site.
The Microsoft Surface was the flagship device in a newly unified device family.
A look at each device’s home page before the new launch.
The standardized home pages of each device after launch.
A look at each device’s product detail page before the new launch.
The standardized product detail pages of each device after launch.