What is your background?
As a kid, I had an affinity for drawing and painting, and in my earlier childhood days, I wanted to become an animator for Disney Movies. As I got older, my interests shifted and I realized I was drawn to ideas and humor. So when I arrived at Art Center College of Design, I decided to study Advertising and Design where I received my BFA. After running the family businesses in restaurants and having side design jobs, I realized that Design has always been my passion. I have always been so curious about how design influences and drives our culture in such powerful ways. In 2017 I completed a nine-month mentorship focused on UI UX Design and Frontend Development. This program integrates on all aspects of UI UX design and the foundation of Frontend Development.
What is your design process?
I'm driven to solve real human problems people face everyday. Whether it's a making a quicker onboarding or designing a wardrobe app from scratch, these are the types of challenges I love to face through a user-centered design process. I would describe myself as being a generalist. During my mentorship program, I learned everything from how to craft user survey and evaluate user research, to Information Architecture such as wireframes, user flows, user stories, etc, to UX principles, to visual design, to user testing and iteration, and to prototyping. I feel very comfortable taking a project from early inception through final implementation which could mean creating high fidelity prototypes in InVision. I like to iterate based on the findings of usability tests as much as possible. I like to test often and test early so that there aren't many problems down the road. Designing products based on user research is vital in my design process. What I believe to be important in creating a successful product are goal-driven design, usability, easy learning curve, feedback and iteration, familiar UI patterns, and strong visual design through a user-centered design process.
Where else do you find knowledge and inspiration in design?
I can be found listening to the latest UX podcast, following up on the top UX designers on youtube and newsletters, reading up on Nielsen Norman Group, A Book Apart, Medium Articles, and dissecting new apps on the market. I like going to museums and looking at Architecture to grab inspiration other than user research. I like to read up on sociology and psychology topics because I am very interested in what makes a person feel emotion. My knowledge of Frontend development wants me to learn more about bringing a static design to life. When it comes to visual design, I like grabbing inspiration from Dribbble, Behance, Daily UIs, and Pinterest and practice my visual design skills mainly on Sketch and Photoshop.
When you're not designing, you are...
Playing golf and basketball with friends and family. It allows me to spend time with people that I value in life and to get away from everything in the open nature. My friends would describe me as a well-rounded person. I love everything from sports, to travel, to museums, to movies and music, to food and beer, and to adventures and hikes. Currently, I am watching the show "Ozark", adoring my baby nephew, and on the hunt for finding the best Japanese whiskey.
“I STRIVE FOR TWO THINGS IN DESIGN: SIMPLICITY AND CLARITY.
GREAT DESIGN IS
BORN OF THOSE TWO THINGS.”
-Lindon Leader
Interested in working together?