Property Tax Management is one of the services that LERETA, LLC provides. The objective of this project is to build an internal tool that automates existing operations allowing the company to be scalable and process orders efficiently.

PLATFORM
Web

DESIGN CHALLENGE
• This application will be built from scratch and on a new platform.
• The development team’s unfamiliarity with property tax regulations and the existing internal processes.

APPROACH + DESIGN
• Participated in Systems tear downs to familiarize myself with the existing technical environment.
• Joined Product Manager’s requirements gathering efforts including Subject Matter Expert interviews.
• Provided assistance in our Generative Research activities.
• Collaborated with designers and product managers in creating a user flows.
• Created concept prototypes for interaction discovery and requirement generation.
• Interfaced with visual designers and front end developers throughout the project lifecycle from concept iterations to final version.

NOTABLE RESULTS
• Designed an Acquisition workflow where loans are onboarded into the system.
• Designed a Loan Profile layout highlighting content hierarchy and relationships.
• Established user interaction standards throughout the application.
• Developed and maintained a UX Pattern Library.

In ultimate self-service fashion, this mobile app enabled customers to, off the shelf, activate and then provision their Android smartphones. Customers were given the ability to manage their accounts and data plans. They can pay their bills, purchase add-ons, share and manage data between devices conveniently on their phone. 

PLATFORM
Android, iOS (control app)

DESIGN CHALLENGE
• Evaluate existing user experience on a partner's mobile app.
• Assess general visual design direction and make appropriate recommendations.

APPROACH + SOLUTION
• The app was in mid-development with a firm launch date when I joined the project. It was essential to work closely with the project manager not only to understand the scope of the role but also to identify where the issues are occuring in the development process beyond the typical design needs such project may need.
• Met with the brand and marketing managers to gain their product vision and get a perspective of the campaign. At this point, I was well-versed on the Virgin Mobile brand but not specifically for this service. Collected all branded image assets already developed and to build upon them.
• Met with developers onsite to understand the platform capabilities and/or limitations as well as the level of effort required on any frontend user interface implementations.
• For initial launch, a practical visual design direction was proposed based on actual technical feasibilities and realistic development time require considering available time and resources.
• Prioritized a list of UI issues found to help the team strategize product iterations.

MY ROLE
• Set visual design guidelines. Rebrand app and produce graphic assets.
• Brought interaction patterns up to date where it's technically possible and improve general user experience.
• Collaborated with subject matter experts on the activation and purchase flow.

NOTABLE RESULTS
• App launched on schedule despite limited time and resources.
• Improved error handling and flow reduced customer support calls and device return rate.

As a business, Sprint was looking for ways to offload stress on their cellular networks. Wi-Fi Calling was one of the best ways to achieve that. Therefore, it was in its best interest to encourage customers to utilize this feature. To increase user adaptation, it is essential that the Wi-Fi Calling experience be seamless, unobtrusive and natural to the operating system as possible.

PLATFORM
Android, iOS

MY ROLE
• Updated 911 Address Validation flow by collaborating with user researchers, legal, developers and internal stakeholders.
• Investigated imminent OS update for UX impacts (Android M permissions rules) and designed a proactive solution with team members.

NOTABLE RESULTS
• Increased Wi-Fi Calling adaption rate due to validation success.
• Mitigated potentially unpleasant user experience side effect due to an OS update.

A device configuration process in which a single software supports multi-brands allowing for cross-channel sales distribution flexibility.

PLATFORM
BREW, Low tier phones, 1x network

MY ROLE
• Assess UI branding impacts.
• Created single visual design standard for all brands.
• Obtained buy in from each brand on new design approach.

NOTABLE RESULTS
• The process enabled company to bulk purchase devices which translates to massive savings.
• Consistent OEM configuraton equals faster developing time.

An update to the product experience was necessary as Virgin Mobile expanded its services into the postpaid world. The idea was to build on the company's strong brand equity and improve the product interfaces to reflect the new premium class of devices and services. 

DESIGN CHALLENGE
Interface design for company's line of premium mobile products.

MY ROLE
• Designed main menu layout standards for multiple mobile device types, increasing usability while highlighting revenue-generating products.
• Designed and produced main menu icons, resulting in unified aesthetic and strengthening brand voice.
• Created visual design specifications and guidance to phone manufacturers and app vendors, which clarified and expedited development process.
 

Boost Mobile boasted a robust product portfolio. From smart and feature phones to apps and mobile services, a consistent product experience would serve to enhance the customer's relationship with the brand.

DESIGN CHALLENGE
Employ varying but consistent look and feel across company's suite of devices, products and services.

APPROACH + SOLUTION
• Collaborated with the brand team to establish visual guidelines. I provided specifications including main menu configuration and color usage. They provided current marketing images like startup animations.
• Applied visual design to the default browser site (WAP) for a finished professional look.
• Reviewed and provided UX recommendations to partner apps such as Boost 411 and Boost Blocker.

When the first generation Android Operating System came out, we were eager to exploit its widget feature to enhance our customer's user experience.

DESIGN CHALLENGE
Identify a user need or company service that would benefit from a widget.

PLATFORM
Android

APPROACH + SOLUTION
• Reached out to project managers, customer support and customer experience personnel to gain knowledge and gather information;  hopefully uncovering customer pain points.
• During research, it became apparent that 2 concepts would greatly benefit from a widget's quick access nature: Live Music Streaming and My Account access.
• Live Music was an existing streaming service. It felt natural to expose this service up via a widget.
• My Account widget is a solution for a prepaid user's need to quickly glimpse their account balances. 

Infographics presents data in an attractive, easily relatable way. These images are the result of an internal infographic exercise performed via online tools. I translated live data from our UX researchers into an engaging infographic. In this case, Piktochart was used. Blocks of background color served to divide content groups. Clipart were added to enhance the content data.

I've worked on a variety of personal hotspot devices and for a few vendors such as Novatel and Sierra Wireless.  Most work was around branding the activation wizard and control panels. It involved creating visual design specs and providing customized set of icons. In one particular case, I drove an installation flow change from a PC-centric method to a Mac way.

Virgin Mobile developed a few sub brands to expand its reach, perform focused marketing and gain flexibility in business strategy. In general, these brands had lower tiered devices in their portfolio.

DESIGN CHALLENGE
Design the User Interface and mobile experiences for CommonCents, payLo, and Assurance Wireless brands. 

SOLUTION
• Formed individual experience for each brand with identifying colors but retained a consistent iconography for lineage.
• Design work consisted of iconography, main menu configurations, screen backgrounds and power animations.
• Collaborated with musicians to create and develop the sound profile for each brands to be used in power animations and ringtones.
 

These 2 apps were 2009 Mobile Excellence Award winners.
Connect: Best Mobile Social Network
MyPix: Best Mobile Service

DESIGN CHALLENGE
In order to make these existing mobile apps available to a wider user base, they needed to be supported on low end devices.

MY ROLE
Provided augmented designs and specifications to make Connect and MyPix apps, designed for premium phones, responsive to low end feature phones.

SOLUTION
• Designed an HTML based interface, stripped interface of inessential graphics, for quicker loading times.
• Responsive layout design adjusted to screens as low as 128 pixels in width.
• For ease of navigation, employed shortcut techniques such as segmented pagination system and back to top buttons.

MindSpring was a VoIP service developed by EarthLink. With the client, users could exchange messages and make audio calls on their computers. 

PLATFORM
.NET Framework

MY ROLE
• Served as the lead visual designer for this project.
• Designed interchangeable skin themes and developed custom emoticons.
• The ability to switched skins became invaluable in testing concepts and created co-branding opportunities.

These examples consists of pre-CSS web design work. My web experience started as a lead visual designer for an online community startup company, then continued on as an in-house designer for a major internet provider. Lots have changed over the years in terms of technology, conventions, techniques and consumer behavior behavior. Plenty of lessons were learned, but the design principles remains and the key is to adapt.

In the advent of web 2.0, EarthLink launched a variety of web apps. User gained more control of their start page and were able to tailor information to their preference. With just the start page, users can perform multiple tasks such as get information on local news or sports scores, monitor stocks or eBay bids, search and buy movie tickets. 

MY ROLE
• Collaborated with project managers and developers for each channel.
• Provide visual design and page layouts which includes widgets for the start page and full page for a channel.
• Designed the interaction for the personal settings and preference page.