Finding the solution to a a design problem is often the easy part for a good designer, as you to learn to intuit the user's perspective via research, inquiry, and good listening skills. The greater challenge is often inspiring a team to deliver a world class experience.  It is difficult to create extraordinary user experiences without teamwork, so I always work to build the kind of relationships where everyone feels like a stakeholder in the process, which ensures the commitment needed to get the job done. 

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With the coherence of a good team and excellent communications between all stakeholders, I like to output solutions quickly and iterate and improve over time. Seeing positive results always gets people excited, and in this most projects generate greater support via short term wins.

Steps to Success:

The following are some of the typical steps I follow to create a successful UX strategy:
 

• The first step is to interview stakeholders and to look at what others are doing to solve similar problems.  Good research is key and saves a lot of time; there is no need to re-invent the wheel with every project. 

• Once I understand the overall picture, I do a deep dive on all available analytics.  Looking at analytics always reveals a story and sometimes, secrets that have not been unearthed. That is the fun part.

• Understanding the demographic profile of the target audience is key, so I try to gather as much information as possible about the target audience and how they are using the product (on a computer, tablet, mobile device, etc.). I do as deep a dive as possible to really understand the target audience's cultural, geographical, and psychological influences.  I often create personas to make sure I address the needs of different users in the design process.

• My next step is to look at customer support data.  If it's an existing product, are there available customer comments and call logs?  Most people who communicate with customers daily will know exactly what is happening with an existing product or website and where customer's desires and pain points lie.

• As part of "full cycle UX", I also do an extensive  branding  and content audit. If it's an existing product, does the product have effective branding and post-sale communications? Is the content brand-consistent, following brand values/tone of voice, and user-friendly?

• I also look at how the product will be marketed, and how will users be introduced to the new or updated website or product. Customers can easily become alienated and upset by UX changes in familiar programs. Often A/B testing or rolling out to a small audience to start is the best way to gather data in an agile way.

• After contemplating all of these parameters, I start mapping out solutions and create a stakeholder presentation to support my concept proposals and designs that includes my insights and research alongside of prototypes using the existing design system. I also excel at creating design systems for websites and applications, and  have also created entire branding systems for companies, as well.

Unique Process

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I have my own unique process that I apply when designing UX solutions, which includes looking through the lens of several human factors/psychological tools such as Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), and the Enneagram, which is a branding/personality system that identifies core attributes. In NLP, there are three predominant learning preferences: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Often designers make the mistake of thinking that their own preferences are universal. However, with three distinct learning preferences, it is best to design a solution that supports each preference while identifying the target audience's predominant preferences, in. general.

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Communications

 

As part of the design process, there are a lot of communications with team members that need to happen, typically with multiple stakeholders.  You have to be able to monitor many channels effectively to implement a solution across teams in disparate locations, especially when working remotely.

I have over a decade of experience working remotely both in hybrid and full-time roles. I have managed international teams in different time zones, including offshore IT resources, very effectively.
 

Overall, designing optimal user experiences is a passion for me, because I like to help people and love creating/building websites and new products. It is a balancing act, and often a marathon, to deliver stellar solutions: you have to pace yourself and prioritize skillfully based upon data and impact. I have learned that if you maintain the right focus, you can achieve great things for stakeholders and users alike.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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