My Approach
The reality is that every program is unique.
However, there are several methodologies and practices I use on repeat to understand, define, and produce world-class work. The foundation of my approach is built upon rigorous project planning and management.
Every project starts with writing down the intent, goals, challenges, and opportunities. We must first agree upon what we want to do and why we want to do it. This effort creates the shape of the program and gives us success criteria.
01
Scope
03
Concept and Strategy
Audit and Synthesis
02
Drink from the fire hose. Get buried under a pile of documents. The goal is to learn about what has been done already to understand how mental models are leveraged and what consumers tolerate. Then write it all down and organize it into categories.
Develop a set of quick-hit concepts that embody the learning from the Audit and Synthesis phase. Use mood boards, animatics, or comps to communicate intent. Then strike a trajectory by outlining a strategy that communicates the “what” and “why”.
Roadmap and Prioritize
04
Unfortunately, not everything can fit into a single project. But to know what can be left on the cutting room floor, we first have to write down all the requirements, features, and specifications. We can then prioritize using business value and technology risk.
05
Design and Production
Start pushing pixels and bring the experience to life. Design layouts, patterns, and rules for the supported ecosystem. Collaborate with brand teams to know how the product, offering, or service needs to show up and refine the color palette and hues for production.
Develop and Deploy
06
The last mile. The culmination of insights, strategy, and design are brought together and manifested through code. In an iterative process, technology teams absorb the culmination of the past phases and realize the vision.
My Philosophy
A great experience is a simple one. Simplicity is where magic happens. You want your visitor to walk away talking about the depth of their experience, not how confusing it was or how they would do it differently.
As a designer I strive to always design for fringe cases and non-traditional consumers because without doing so, the product experience will never reach its full potential. Authenticity is found in the cracks and details.
As a technologist, I believe that innovation is constant and incremental and the newest technology is not always the right technology. Technology is a tool that can elicit a wide variety of emotions and is core to human-centered design practices.
In the end, if you can activate your customers' imaginations so that they hardly realize that they’ve used any technology, you’ve created a great digital experience.