I am a user experience designer and researcher specializing in interaction design, information architecture, formative user research, and Axure prototyping. My clients hire me when they have a complex problem that needs to be solved and they want someone who will solve it well and who will work efficiently.
I thrive on solving complex design problems from strategic vision down to the tactical details and have 16 years of experience and a master's degree in Human Factors in Information Design from Bentley University. I'm always looking for ways my design skills can have an impact on the world and am currently looking for projects in the sustainability or civic spaces.
I'm located in Brunswick, Maine and do most of my work remotely, but I'm willing to travel for meetings and to conduct user research.
Note: I take client confidentiality seriously and most of my deliverables are internal documents that I can't share on my public website. Below shows before and after states for projects that have gone live with some explanation of the process. If you would like to see samples of my UX deliverables or learn more about my process, I'd be happy to discuss and share what I think is appropriate during an interview.
I’ve been doing civic volunteer work since 2015 and took a full-time position as an Innovation Specialist with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue in 2018.
I consulted both on my own and for a UX agency for over 10 years. My projects have ranged from one off usability studies and card sorts to a 2 year stint at Cengage Learning designing an educational product from the formative user research and concepting through detailed design and development support. I have worked with companies in all stages of UX maturity and have learned what does and doesn't work with each type of company.
I was a long-term contractor with L.L.Bean for 4 years while they were making the transition to agile development and readying their site to become responsive. Much of that 4 years was spent redesigning the website's header, footer, and entire product taxonomy, which went live recently. The project involved selling the changes at all levels of the organization and doing ridiculous amounts of user research to satisfy the organization's quantitative needs because it was such a high profile change that impacts all areas of the organization. Take a look at llbean.com before and after the redesign.
I also established a practice of prototyping and early research with users. Before I arrived, they only tested designs with users after they were built. Now, they test designs early and often using Axure prototypes.
I was an integral part of H&R Block's UX team, both as a UX designer and researcher, for 10 years. I learned how to collaborate with tax attorneys and accountants to streamline regulations, resulting in a design that meets stringent requirements, yet is easy for users to understand. UXPA's magazine published an article, Visualizing Tax Returns: Showing the Impact in Design, which discussed a strategic project I lead for Block's office clients. I played a key role in the transition from waterfall to agile development processes and led the effort to figure out how UX should fit into agile projects and established a pattern library.
Re-evaluating how we work: Bringing the whole team along. Open data design at the U.S. Department of the Interior, June 2020
Slowing down agile to government speed: Bringing the whole team along. Code for America Summit presentation, April 2020
Remote work: What about design studios? Open data design at the U.S. Department of the Interior, March 2020
On being tool agnostic: Picking a design toolkit based on goals, constraints, and access. Open data design at the U.S. Department of the Interior, Feburary 2020
How to effectively champion a government product. Open data design at the U.S. Department of the Interior, November 2019
Making open data useful. Open data design at the U.S. Department of the Interior, June 2019
Journey maps as communication tools. Open data design at the U.S. Department of the Interior, May 2019
Teaching digital skills: learning usability testing by peer training. Open data design at the U.S. Department of the Interior, February 2019
How we rebuilt our open-data homepage part one: design. Open data design at the U.S. Department of the Interior, December 2018
Fostering Trust to Build Community. UX Matters, April 2018
Recipe for Productivity: A Haiku. Human in the Machine, August 2017
Remote Friendly User Experience: How to Keep and Hire Top Talent. User Experience Magazine, 17(1). February 2017
Engaging Citizens: A Review of Eight Approaches to Civic Engagement. User Experience Magazine, 15(5). November 2015
Visualizing Tax Returns: Showing the Impact in Design. User Experience Magazine, 15(3). July 2015
If Congress Went Agile. UX Matters. May 2015